Design Tunes Up Altec Lansing

The once-innovative audio gear maker is banking on building an internal design organization to turn its business around

New iPod, PC, and MP3 speaker systems released this month take design cues from classic Altec Lansing products

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By Matt Vella

September 17, 2008 at 7:49 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Darrin Caddes has his work cut out for him. In the dimly lit backroom of a ritzy Manhattan hotel, a dozen or so gadget bloggers and technology writers have gathered to meet with Caddes, vice-president for corporate design at headset maker Plantronics (PLT). But instead of the form-fitting ear pieces or business communications gear Caddes is known for, the soft-spoken, 43-year-old designer is surrounded by a range of gleaming iPod speaker systems, their LCD displays glowing blue and orange.

Caddes is charged with hitting the reset button on consumer-electronics manufacturer Altec Lansing, which Plantronics bought for $166 million in 2005. The Milford (Pa.) engineering firm has a long track record of innovation, including pioneering technology that gave voice to the first talking pictures, putting its stamp on everything from professional loud speakers to the audio inside Walt Disney's (DIS) Epcot Center in Orlando, and creating the first speaker system with an integrated iPod dock in 2003.