chair question  

I agree heath..
...with your statement of the problem. I would like to see the final design before making a judgement on the ability of the designer to reconcile both the new technology and the emotional connections you clearly stated.
I have learned that the worst possible attitude in design is to anticipate the outcome. To design is a process and the outcome of a process can not be judge by the challenge of the problem. I suspect that anticipating the outcome is the source of a lot of bad design and being afraid of working on a difficult problem would leave a lot of problems unsolved

anticipating the outcome
Hello Koen! Can you give us an example or more
details about a bad design where the result was
anticipated?

I read Koens comment as meani...
I read Koens comment as meaning designing for a specific market with focus groups and surveys etc.
It would be great if he could comment further.

It took me some time to be...
It took me some time to be able to add some valuable response on this topic.. but here am I now, and there are two things I want to share 🙂
1. I've been to Paris approx. a month ago and there was a great example of special approach in chair design. In churches, they didn't have benches, but I was really surprised in whatinnovative way they solved problem of organizing chairs (also to make it easier to rearrange or just tidy them away. in first case, It's just putting them together with a piece of wood, but the other, more edgy chair has special assymetrical detail that makes it much easier to form a row... (maybe it's nothing exceptional for you, but im my country I've only seen benches 🙂
2. one more thanks for advices you gave me 🙂 according to chosing a topic for my master thesis. I've just returned from an unforgettable workshop, about designing toys for disabled children, and although might design a chair sometime, I would try something completely different now. As "kdc" has mentioned in the beginning of this thread, I'm gonna stop, look and listen. to see the difference. And I think I can learn a great lesson from blind children especially, because I think they wouldn't understand at all, what's the I-Pod obsession all about 🙂
So in case anybody of you has some info or opinion to this 🙂 It would be great.. as I feel it won't be an easy task.
PS
http://picasaweb.google.sk/brnkulik/Chairs#5266738372970764530