By hipstomp From core77

Last year we wrote about the Knee Defender, a pair of plastic gizmos that an airplane passenger can use to prevent the person in front of them from reclining. We wrote it up in utter dismayed fascination at a product directly designed to increase one’s comfort while inconveniencing another; we called it the “Me-first” approach to product design.

Now it’s in the news, after a flight was diverted and a man and woman tossed off the plane for arguing over the thing. On Sunday United flight 1462 was en route from Newark to Denver when a fortysomething woman tried to recline her seat. She could not; the fortysomething man behind her, using his laptop on the seatback tray, had deployed the Knee Defenders. United officially bars their use, and this is what happened next according to the AP.

A flight attendant asked him to remove the device and he refused. The woman [whose seat was barred from reclining] then stood up, turned around and threw a cup of water at him, [a law enforcement official] says. That’s when United decided to land in Chicago. The two passengers were not allowed to continue to Denver.

USA Today subsequently interviewed the inventor of the me-first device. Unsurprisingly, he passed the buck:

“Sometimes people do things they shouldn’t do on airplanes, but as far as I know this is the first time anything like this has happened,” involving the Knee Defender, said Ira Goldman, the man who invented the device in 2003 and continues to sell it online.

“United could make seats that do not recline, but they have not chosen to do so,” said Goldman. “In the meantime, the Knee Defender says right on it: ‘Be courteous. Do not hog space. Listen to the flight crew.’ Apparently that is not what happened here.”

What do you guys think, is this an irresponsible product design, or do you have the if-you-design-a-car, someone-will-use-it-to-rob-a-bank, it’s-not-my-fault attitude about it? And do you think we’ll see more me-first product designs in the future? One popular NYC pet peeve is guys who sit on the subway with their knees spread wide open—what’s the ID fix for that?

IMAGE: kneedefendernews.jpg

For more on this story go to: http://www.core77.com/blog/social_design/plane_diverted_passengers_thrown_off_over_knee_defender_altercation_27536.asp?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+core77%2Fblog+%28Core77.com%29