THE APPRENTICE
Just by chance I caught the the Apprentice on TV tonight. I’ve never seen it before, but I guess the show operates like all the other reality shows out there, where the contestants are put into groups and given challenges. This episode the would be apprentices were asked to create a wearable technology line for American Eagle Outfitters and were responsible for presenting their work to American Eagle executives.
The results were predictable, but perhaps an accurate reflection of what people out there think of when they think fashion and technology.
Team Magna created a line they called Wearable Tech, as an extension of the AE line. After interviewing shoppers at the AE store, the team came up with a Game Boy embedded into the kangaroo pocket of a sweatshirt, a track jacket with a zippered pouch for an MP3 player, and a belt with clips for a mobile phone.
Team NetWorth presented a line titled Beach Tech. Their line consisted of a couple of hoodies with pockets in the back (between the shoulder blades) to store a laptop. They had also created a jacket with speakers embedded into the garment, however the item was left behind, and as such was not part of the presentation.
The AE execs asked each team what technology was most important to their customer. Team Magna confidently responded with the mobile phone as their answer. Team NetWorth missed the mark with the Ipod.
Some news articles on the episode here, here, and the entry from the apprentice blog.