Oh, and one more -- one of my favorite gadgets was one that uses no electricity. It's called Owl, I think. It's a camera-shaped shell that goes around your iPhone so you can HOLD the damn thing when taking pictures, like you would a camera. Just a hunk of metal, but Greg Harper said it really does improve your cellphone photography.
It speaks to the biggest problem I've had with consumer devices of all types -- everything is so smooth and rounded now that I find I can't hold onto anything. It's true of my Blackberry. (I'm amazed how many falls onto concrete that thing has survived.) It's true of my landline phone, even.
It's no coincidence that they do this just before Xmas every year...
Like I say in the video, a lot of the gadgets were more on the practical side than I'd expected. Things like the remote-controlled thermostat (which sounds mundane, but check the video - this thing looks really nice, apparently designed by an iPhone designer) or the personal health-monitoring gadgets.
I guess I expected more stuff like Sphero, which basically serves no function. (It's a ball you control with your smartphone -- it moves around and has lights, but basically that's it.)
I had not heard of the Lytro camera before. That thing is freaky. you basically encapsulate an entire chunk of reality. I think it scares me.
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Related Valley Wonk
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