36 T3 Tomorrow ’sTechnologyTodayAUGUST 2019 WWW.T3INDIA.COMOpinion
henyouwritea column
abouttechfor10-plus
years,youdofindthat
yourepeatyourselfa
bit.I’msureyoucanidentifywith
thateverydayconcern.
A pieceI’vedefinitelywritten
a numberoftimesovertheyears
is oneaboutrealinnovationbeing
replacedwithmoremarginal
improvementstoexistingthings.
Andanother isabout thefact
we’relivingin a techgoldenage,
buteveryoneis sousedtoit that
theyareratherunappreciative.
Andso,herewegoagain...
Orrather,wedon’t!In recent
months,thereseemstobe a trend
towards genuinelyout-there
productsandfeatures.Andit’spart
ofa newGoldenAge ofTechthat
I hope we’llallbeappreciativeof.
In the olddays, eccentrics
knockedupwhackyinventionsin
sheds.In theslightlylessolddays,
eccentricsknockedupwhacky
inventionsandgotpeopletofund
themonKickstarterandIndiegogo.
Today,humungous,bazillion-
dollarcorporationsaregetting
inventive,andthey’reprobablynot
in sheds.Althoughinterestingly,
theyareincreasinglyusingcrowd-
fundingsites.Notbecausethey
needthemoney, butasa means
togauge interestlevels,andtoget
early, in-depthfeedbackfrom
thoseplatforms’users,whoare
famously‘veryengaged’/bonkers.
Thereasoncompanieshave
a tendencytobangonabout
innovationbutseldomcomeout
withanythingreallynewis that
it’sa risktodo so.However,
social-fundingplatformscan
helpbyprovidinga ready-made
audienceofearlyadopters.
Somegreat examples of thishavecomefromGilleette
andBose– both,alass,too
latetoscoreaT 3 Innnovation
Awardnomination.TTheyhave
bothdippeda toein Indie-Starter
waterstohelpwiththe
developmentofsomme seriously
out-theregizmos.You ’vebeenFramed
Following2018’sSleepbuds – in-
earbudsfornight-timewear,
designedtosoothyoutosleep
withambientnoises – Bosehas
nowcomeupwithFrames.These
are,waitforit, headphones...that
arealsosunglasses...thatcanhelp
youplaybettergolf...viaa kindof
sonar.That’squiteinnovative,
right?
Slide the Framesontoyour
faceandmusicmagicallycocoons
you(orGoogleMapsdirections,
orphonecalls, oranythingaudio).
Thisdoesn’tinvolveputtingWhat makes Frames standout
from theKickstarter hordes is that
becauseit’sfromBose,ratherthan
someoptimisticstart-up/manin a
shed,theleveloffinishis veryhigh.
Youcanquestionwhetherpeople
actually wantsunglassesthatare
alsoheadphonesandgolfsonar,
butyoucan’tdenyBosehas
deliveredit toa veryhighstandard.
ThatalsogoesforGillette’snew
HeatedRazor.Canyouguesswhat
thatdoes?This is a quiteamazing
bitofkitthatdoesexactlywhat
it saysonthetin.
Although onthefaceofit,
makingaheatedrazormight not
seemeitherdifficultorworthwhile,
whenyouthinkabouttheproblems
facedin makingit workwell– and
thenexperiencetheresultsofthose
efforts– it’squiteextraordinary.
TheHeatedRazorlooks,feels
andis expensive.It heatsupin
literally seconds andthenheats
backupin lesstimethanthat,after
yourinseit withcoldwater.The
batterylastsa weekandrecharges
wirelessly.It is completely
waterproof– a reliefforanyone
notimpervioustoelectricshocks.
GilletteandBosehavetakenvery
wellestablishedtechnologiesand
addedsomethinggenuinelynew,
andcreatedhugelyimpressive
productsindoingso.Let’shope
themarket– ie:youlot– rewards
and encourages suchboldness.Youcanquestion
whether people want
this stuff,butyou can’t
denythequality
W
anythinginyourears,andit’snot
boneconduction;it’smoreliketiny,
verydirectionalspeakersin the
armsof thesunnies. Andit has
apps.
Formanyyears,Bosehasbeen
synonymouswithgreatsound
qualityand, I suppose,innovation
in thefieldsofmarketingand
refiningcertainaudiotechnologies.
This,however, is a whole other
thing.The headphones mega brand has been on quite
the journey since its birth 13 years ago
Duncan Bell
feels the Beats