1. Specific Hardware Is Fun
Don’t lie to yourself; we’ve all felt bored by our phones and apps. I’m not saying new phones have nothing going for them (they do), but the improvements are iterative and everyone, including the phone makers know it. They’re mostly just bigger and brighter screens, larger batteries, and better cameras. Cool — so little reason to upgrade unless your phone breaks.
So it baffles me when there are new companies — with ambitious ideas, maybe too ambitious ones — that are out there making new hardware and consumers are slamming them for trying. I think it’s great that there are now weird, new devices, in refreshing colors and materials (remember that time?) that do not ascribe to the now boring minimalism that, with all due respect, Jony Ive heralded in.
Nobody is saying the Laser Ink Display projector and hand-based gesture controls on the Ai Pin are perfect. Nor is anybody saying the scroll wheel on the R1 is ideal. But they are new and fun ways to interact with a user interface rather than just another tap or swipe on a touchscreen. Nothing loves to tout how it’s on a mission to “make tech fun again” but it’s mostly been with aesthetics like transparent design not with new computer interaction or input.
The same way an instant camera like the Fujifilm Instax Mini 99 is fun to shoot with or a Tamagotchi (yes, Bandi is still making new ones all the time) is fun to play with, AI gadgets like the Ai Pin and R1 are a breath of fresh air in what has been staleness in consumer tech.
