Pink - As Fashionable As Ever

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April 23, 2009

by DeeDee Dobson

Pink in all shades was all over the fashion runways again this spring - evidence that the popularity of the color has not diminished one bit since last year. And manufacturers of all kinds of goods are adding more and more

Dell Wasabi PZ310 Ultra-Mobile ZINK Printer The tiny (4.8″ x 2.9″ x 0.9″) Wasabi color printer is truly a child of its time: it prints wirelessly, is ultraportable and uses inkless technology. Instead of ink, you use ZINK paper (the same kind as the Polaroid PoGo printers and cameras), which has embedded crystals that, when exposed to heat in the printer, magically transform into a picture. It can hold up to 12 sheets, and produces one 2×3 sticky-back print per minute. Why it’s called Wasabi is anybody’s guess - I assumed it was because it was green, but no. It’s available in 3 colors - pink, black or blue - and retails for $99.

Fluorescent Pink Diana F+ Camera When I made the switch to digital after years of shooting with film, I found myself with quite a bit of unused film in my refrigerator door, getting closer to its expiration date every day. I couldn’t stand the thought of just throwing it out, and kept hoping I’d come up with a creative way to use it.

If you’re in the same situation, or just want to give something different a try, check out the Lomographic Society: a worldwide community of photographers not only passionate about shooting with film, but shooting using cheap, mass market plastic cameras made in China, Hong Kong and the Soviet Union in the 60s - 80s. There is no limit to the creative ways you can use these cameras - take the lens off and make your own pinhole cover; shoot with 35mm in a 120 camera (which means the image will be exposed all the way to the edges, over the sprocket holes); advance the film just enough between shots to make one long panorama of an entire roll of film; make double exposures - you get the idea. The Lomographic Society’s shops (both online and “for real”) have tons of cameras to choose from, so you’re sure to find something that suits your style (and leftover film).

They are constantly adding new cameras to their store, and this spring, the flourescent pink Diana F+ Mr. Pink made its debut. This fabulous camera with its cool 60’s retro look uses 120 film, but you can get a 35mm or instant (think Polaroid) back as well. The basic kit ($105) comes with a removable plastic lens (which produces wonderful, soft, saturated, vignetted images) and external flash (with plastic color gel filters). A kit with all the basics plus a 35mm back and 9 rolls of color film is $175. Other lens options include a 20mm fisheye, a 38mm super-wide, and a 110mm telephoto lens.

Sony’s VAIO JS PC This iMac look-alike comes in an elegant pale pink (as well as silver, black and bronze) and I have to say I do like the design. Other things to like, in addition to it taking up a lot less space than ordinary desktops, are: the 20.1″ LCD display, 4GB of memory, the 2.50GHz, 2MB L2 cache Intel Pentium dual-core processor, the 500GB (7200RPM) SATA hard drive, and the built-in microphone and webcam (with face tracking technology). At the time of writing, it retails for $949.99

Dell’s New Inspiron Desktops I’m surprised it has taken so long for colorful desktops to show up on the market. There is no limit to the colors you can get on a laptop, but so far, it’s been black or silver only for the desktops. Well, that’s slowly changing, with the arrival of the VAIO above, and now Dell’s new Inspiron line. They have so far only been released in China, but are scheduled to appear on the US market later this spring.

The 8 color choices include the candy colored “Promise Pink”, which supports the Susan G. Komen foundation (Dell donates $5/sale to breast cancer research). The customizable Inspiron will be available both as a mini-tower and slim tower, and the starting price will be $299.

Poken - Your Social “Business Card” With the growing number of social networking sites, keeping track of your identities and contact info can be a daunting task, and sharing them with friends even more so. Poken - a keychain-sized gizmo with a USB connector and a huge hand - will take care of all that for you. Select which profiles you want to share with people, add them to your Poken, and when you meet someone you want to exchange info with, just have your Pokens “high five”, and voila! The two of you have exchanged your social networking info. The Pokens come in a few different shapes: Panda, Alien, Fox, Bee, Voodoo, and the two pink choices, the Geisha and the Piggy. They cost around $20 and are available online.

About the Author:

DeeDee Dobson adores the color pink. On her blog, she talks about stylish pink notebooks and helps you compare the different models.

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