We love innovation. In fact, we celebrate it.
Every year at CES, we spend four days chasing it, looking for the “next big thing.” Eureka Park is an homage to bootstrap innovation – the folks who dream up ideas in their basements, garages, and workshops.
But its those life-changing inventions we remember because they impact us most. I bumped into a web feature the other day, touting the 40 greatest innovations of all time.
Put together by Startup Guide, they include fire, language, trade and farming – all “aha moments” that incurred thousands or in some cases hundreds of thousands of years ago.
And then there are the ones that haven’t been around all that long – penicillin, the radio (good to see), and the airplane – all invented just over a century ago.
And in recent years, the internet, microprocessors, and DNA. Also on that list is the mobile phone, which came along in 1978, and just about three decades later, the smartphone – specifically, iPhone.
Ironically, the guy who invented the mobile phone – the Motorola DynaTac 8000x – apparently rues the day he had that brainstorm. Martin Cooper is now 93 years-old. His brilliant innovation weighed 2.5 pounds and had a mere 25 minutes of battery life.
Like many new inventions, that first mobile phone was rather pricey. In fact, its cost was nearly $4,000. I did the math – that same clunky phone would retail for nearly $12,000 even on Amazon Prime Day.
But why does Cooper regret ever having invented the amazing mobile phone? During an interview with the BBC, the co-host claimed to spend five hours a day on her phone, to which Cooper responded:
“Do you really? Five hours a day? Get a life!”
Ironically, Cooper does not use a mobile phone a whole lot. And contrary to rumors, he does not carry around a Jitterbug phone.
Four decades after Cooper’s amazing innovation – with a little help from Steve Jobs – the smartphone dominates our lives. It has become the most important device we own. Our Techsurveys tell us that as many as one-third of respondents tell us they’re addicted to their phones.
We sleep with our phones, work out with them, play games and watch videos on them, and socialize on them. I’m sure that for many of you (my hand is half-raised), you’re spending well more than five hours a day on your smartphone of choice.
And along the way, these devices have become….well, cluttered…a concept we’re all too familiar with in broadcast radio. Our phones are loaded with apps – native applications and the ones we choose to download – as well as other software that slows things down.
Enter Nothing.
That’s right, a software company launched by an iconoclast named Carl Pei. Here’s his pitch:
“We’ve all experienced the gap between the future we were promised and the one we’re living in now.”
Pei’s goal with Nothing is “to bring people back in time when they felt more optimistic about gadgets.”
And so the concept is to essentially reinvent the smartphone, which Pei announced at a much-hyped event earlier this week in London. Running on a platform called….your guessed it….Nothing OS, Nothing’s new phone was unveiled. Sort of.
Now, if you’re having a déjà vu moment, don’t feel like you’re alone. As I read Pei’s hyperbole and followed The Verge‘s Jon Porter through the event itself, I couldn’t help but have a weird flashback moment to THIS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPPlSkQ1WEQ&t=75s
But Pei’s smartphone had to deliver more substance then George and Jerry’s TV show they pitched to a skeptical group of fictional NBC executives at 30 Rock three decades ago.
You shouldn’t be surprised by the name of Nothing’s new product:
Phone 1
And it does have cool features: an aluminum body, a transparent back cover that displays the phone’s innards, including something that Nothing calls a “glyph,” LEDs that fire up when Phone 1 receives a notification.
It should come as no surprise Phone 1 has an integration with Tesla vehicles, along with it’s own NFT gallery.
The smartphone has Gorilla Glass 5 front and back, it has nice-sized OLED display, and runs on the Android platform. As CNET’s Andrew Lanxon writes, Phone 1 sports “a neat and clutter-free interface that doesn’t preload any nonsense that could slow things down.”
Not surprisingly, there’s even some controversy about the phone’s cryptic logo. A group called Yanko Design theorized it can’t mean nothing. It must mean something.
Theories abound (probably the way Pei planned it), and you can read them here.
The cost (and you’re probably expecting the worst) is just £399 in the UK, which these days, translates to roughly the same price in U.S. dollars. That is, if we could buy this Nothing phone in America. But alas, it’s only available in Europe…for the moment. That just amps up the anticipation. When you look on the Nothing website, you learn in a red font Phone 1 is Out of stock. Of course, it is.
So, there’s a lot hype about a smartphone. Before you dismiss Phone 1 as just a bunch of bluster, remember it’s been a long time since anyone got excited about a phone, or any techie gadget for that matter. Here’s a look at Phone 1 through the Nothing lens:
Meet Phone (1).
It’s pure instinct. Formed as a machine. Told through beautiful symbols. Deeper interactions. And brave simplicity.
Discover more about the Glyph Interface and Nothing OS at https://t.co/WAZe9Avh0J pic.twitter.com/3OHNM5TxZh
— Nothing (@nothing) July 12, 2022
My conclusion?
Nothing from Nothing leaves somethin’.
Good news: We’ll be back at CES 2023, and we’ll be putting together multiple tours. Watch this space for details in the coming weeks.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
- It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - December 25, 2024
- Is Public Radio A Victim Of Its Own Org Chart – Part 2 - December 24, 2024
- In 2024, The Forecast Calls For Pain - December 23, 2024
Think I’d buy the whole Dire Straits library before I’d spend money for Nothing. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
Ooh, good one!
Yeah, but the moment I sent it I thought, “Darn! Shoulda gone with, ‘The only way I’d spend money for Nothing is if you threw in chicks for free.'” Gotta admit, that’s a ton better! Have a good week, Fred!