Sciman101

Kind of an addendum to the 'Gizmos' post.

I talk about the Playdate a bunch and don't wanna come off as a shill. Similarly, the rabbit r1 is kind of the tech worlds punching bag right now and I don't wanna just, join in to say the same things. But I find comparing these things just, impossible to ignore.

• Both designed by Teenage Engineering for another company
• Both small, square handhelds
• Roughly the same size
• Heavily feature a rotary input mechanism
• Even the same price

From a design standpoint, I think both of these things meet my definition of a 'Gizmo'. Teenage Engineering, for as ridiculous as they can sometimes be, knows how to make a gizmo.

But, aesthetics aside, the functionality of the two devices and how they differ in using their quirky input method, really fascinates me.

Something I've been thinking about lately is the appeal of gizmos. By gizmos I mean gadgets, devices, pieces of tech or tools that have some kind of novelty or charm to them.

I've been leaning more into this since learning about @cathoderaydude's stance on 'the end of consumerism'. This idea that we've hit the endgame for consumer electronics. There is nothing left to invent and no battles to be won. It's an idea I find myself inclined to believe. And as I've grappled with it I've started longing for old tech. Retro computers and stuff that felt chunky, and tactile, and flawed. Back when there were problems to solve.

The problem, of course, is most of that stuff sucks by modern standards. Retrocomputing is a cool hobby but if I want to use a computer, I'm spoiled by modern convenience. Not always a bad thing, but still.

A while back, working on my diy 3d printer project, I realized how pointless it felt. I was learning about design, sure, but it was a design that felt largely solved. Anything hobbyists could do to make a corexy cube-shaped printer had been done. What was I supposed to do from here?

So, while I haven't actually done much formal design work on it, I decided to try designing a tiny 3d printer that focused on aesthetics. It was meant to look cute on a desk, maybe at the expense of performance, but who cares? If I want a fast printer I'll get a Bambu or whatever.

I think this is also part of why I like the Playdate in concept, so much. It's flawed in some ways and extremely limited in others, but that's not the point. I wouldn't buy a Playdate if I actually wanted to play modern games. The tech itself is a solved problem, this just wants to use that vast playground of technological capability to make something weird.