What insights did you gain about this product and how perception of the artifact has changed over its history. What surprised you about this product.
Find another artifact that has followed a similar path by deviating from some of its original intent.
I think it is really interesting how a chair designed for the navy became so big in the consumer world where it was all about the looks and design. I think this is what surprised me the most because of the fact that the most significant thoughts put into this design was for durability but afterwards it ended up being a good design in terms of aesthetics and this points out how something that maybe wasn’t an important factor at first can become the biggest advantage of it (main selling point). I feel like the sustainability part was a pretty significant point as well because after there was so many fakes this led to so much more waste in the environment. It’s weird to think that a torpedo chair would become so popular to the point that fakes were a big deal. I definitely do think that the consideration of buying the real one versus fakes will make people more conscious about how much money they would save in the long run because they don’t have to buy chairs over and over again since the fake ones break.
Something that followed a similar path could be baking soda. The original intent was for baking and having dough rise but now people use it for many different intentions (in addition to baking). People use it for cleaning (removing stains, surfaces, etc), deodorant, personal care, and natural remedies for skin and sunburns. Even though it has deviated from just baking it still has the original intent attached to it (similar to how the torpedo chair- durability as the main factor).