We asked prominent designers featured in this issue to help us see, through their eyes, pieces of technology that have influenced the way they think about their work. View these pieces of technology on the following pages or in this photo essay.

1972, Polaroid SX-70
Polaroid's first fully automatic, motorized camera was an instant design classic, even starring in a documentary the year it was introduced by company cofounder Edwin Land. The camera is detailed with tan leather and folds into a rectangle the size of a paperback book. Andrew Logan, principal designer at Frog Design, admires it for the "immediacy of a favorable output." He explains: "Instead of waiting days to see if you took a good photo, you could take it again right away."

1977, Atari 2600
The Atari "almost predates the Mac in making computers friendly," says Mark Rolston, vice president of creative at Frog Design. "It was sitting on the floor, being used by 10-year-old kids. It's burned like a brand in the brains of people my age, because that was our childhood." Rolston's colleague Logan says, "Games were played either on big and bulky arcade machines or on a computer. The Atari did a great job of scaling. It sold at a price point average families could afford."