History

The Ministry of Crap Design is an idea that I had whilst whiling away a flight to South Africa in 2001, and was really because of my experiences in toilets, hence the name. It started in a notebook that a design agency I once employed gave to me as a gift - a suitable use for it I now think. It has developed into this web log and may one day go back onto paper, who knows. In short, it is a cry to those that are paid to design, to whatever level, to just pause to think for a moment.

My uncle always said that you could judge a restaurant on the way that the butter was served. If it arrived in a small pot fresh from the fridge, all was probably well in the kitchens. If it came in a foil packet, you deserved what you got. I developed my own theory; that if the toilets are clean, stylish and all in all a pleasure to use, then the kitchens are probably in a good state. (I always enjoyed the facilities at Harrods, even though on my last visit I spent a pound - pun intended.) Poor toilets….

Anyway, on the way to South Africa I discovered that not all toilets are created equal and this brought into focus things that I had noticed in over 30 years of toilet patronage, but not really given much thought to. Sadly the same must be said for those responsible. Some people who create a toilet do so in the knowledge that they will never have to suffer the results of their handiwork. There are many examples here.

I then decided that toilets are not the only examples of poor design that are forced upon us. The suffering reaches every area of our lives, in ways so blindingly obvious to my layman’s eyes that I can hold back no longer. And so I created this cry to the designers of the world. I am not a professional designer, and my intention is not to be negative about anyone’s product, service or business. I am enough of a realist to understand that everything is created to a budget, but surely many of the things that I have observed don’t actually cost money to get right. It is meant to help, not hinder, so don’t sue me for commenting on your product or service – far better to post a comment and let us know the reality. Bear that in mind if you choose to comment as a layman. My friends involved in the business of design have explained many times why things are the way they are. But sometimes the answer can be as simple as making a toilet door turn outwards rather than inwards, which ends this introduction where it started.

The Legal Stuff

The Legal Stuff Will Go Here.

Casio G-Shock Watch (AWG-101-1AER)

Similar Products Owned

• Timex Boys Analogue
• Casio LCD Digital
• Tissot Self Winding Analogue
• Puslar Analogue
• Swatch (Black)
• Accurist Analogue
• Rolex Submariner (Hong Kong Fake, Seiko movement apparently)
• Casio Digital (Various)
• Tag Heur 1500

Reason For Purchase

In 1994 I bought a Tag Heur 1500 series watch, after a Royal Marine colleague explain why he had bought one and how pleased he was with it. As he had been through SAS selection I reckoned that he probably expected more from a watch than I ever would, so I parted with £450 cash. For about 10 years it has been outstanding, consistently gaining only a second a week, until it needed servicing about three years ago and has not been right since. This year I finally tired of it needing a service every 12 months and being away for 2 months, paying £125 - £140 for the privilege. I also lost patience when the strap needed repairing or replacing, but that is another story.

I bought a Seiko watch for my wife some time ago for around £100 and this has kept perfect time, whereas my Tag has started to lose anything from a few seconds to a few hours a day. I did some Googling to see what I could expect as far as accuracy was concerned, having heard from my brother that his Rolex dealer suggested that he should be happy with his Submariner being only accurate to +/- 10 seconds a day. This was because it was a precision instrument! I learnt a great deal from the Time Zone web site and have decided that I have been had. My new definition of a good watch is one that just works. Prestige brands simply mean that you can afford the problems they bring with them. Hardly a cachet worth paying for.

More Googling resulted in me considering two models; a Seiko Kinetic Diver’s Watch and a Casio Radio Controlled Solar G-Shock. They both met my requirements which were:

• Accurate
• Require Minimal Maintenance
• Robust
• Analogue
• Waterproof (Various water sports, snorkelling being the deepest)
• Fit under a suit shirt (double) cuff
• Visible at night
• Subtle

I found that H Samuels had the two models I wanted so I tried them on there, to find that as I suspected, the Seiko would not fit under my cuff (and was also a little bling for my liking) so the Casio won. I bought it for £99.99, encouraged by the sales assistant telling me that The Gadget Show had recently run a test where a G-Shock was used as an ice hockey puck an performed well. Click the Play button to watch it.


This sounded the sort of durability I was after. Previous Googling had revealed that whilst some sites listed my model for £84.99 they were not clear whether the model was actually in stock. I parted with the cash for an AWG-101-1AER and you can find the technical specification on the Casio UK web site here.

First Impressions

• Setup was as per the instructions, which I went through even though it was set to London, The Rugby transmitter and therefore the correct time.
• The Date shows 1.29 to show January 29th American style rather than 29.1 to show 29th January correctly.
• The moulded rubber strap, which it looks hard to change, can be either a little loose or a little tight.
• The time is second perfect.
• It looks quite subtle by comparison to many watches.
Summary I found this video of what G-Shocks can stand up to. There are lots more on YouTube. Very pleased so far but early days yet and I have my first game of squash in it tonight – though I will be using a ball.

Update

After 2 years of ownership here's what I think:

The Good

Time always spot on

Robust

Still looks good (IMHO)

The Bad

Changing the time is not intuitive - rememebr to take the manual on holiday to say Egypt!!

Hands obscure the left & right digital displays at times.

You can't read the digital displays in the dark

Overall I like it - everlasting battery free accuracy outweighs the visibility issues.

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