Introduce yourself

Rob

I’d join and share photos!

Cameron

Agreed! @Rob you should definitely make this A Thing

​“You got a dream… You gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.” - The Pursuit of Happyness

Hey there! Welcome to the Nothing Community : ) 

I am Megha Vishwanath, communications lead for Nothing India and I am based out of New Delhi. Much like all of you here, I wanted to hit that much needed refresh button, by being a part of the Nothing story from the get go. 

Like all millennials, I have grown up in a time when technology was constantly evolving. However my first real gadget obsession was with my ‘Little Master’ video game console. It came bundled with a 64-in-1 games cassette, which had a mind of its own and would randomly start jittering (almost always when you are left with your last life line). I vividly remember how this SOS situation could only be resolved when you plugged out the cassette, flipped it upside down and blew air on the green strip that sat under the hood. This desi hack worked – Every. Single. Time.

The rush that one felt while upgrading to a new piece of gadget was electrifying (no pun intended). But I guess with time, as technology progressed, the wow-factor regressed.

We at Nothing want to break that cycle and bring an element of human warmth back into our products.

Once again, welcome on this journey towards Nothing. Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Hello everyone,

I’m Manu and I am the Vice-President & General Manager of Nothing India and it is a privilege to connect with you.

I was born in New Delhi and I currently live in the same city but I have also lived in city of Joy (Kolkata) where I spent my wonder years as a kid and most importantly learnt how to play some mean soccer. My career ambition also took me to Canada where I spent a few years studying business (my thesis in Graduate school was "Ramification of Internet highway on People’s lives, Year 1996, where I had captured how Internet will change the way we spend time, shop, interact, communicate)

I have always been fascinated by technology, which naturally drew me towards working with global tech giants. However, in the last few years, the pace of innovation in technology has slowed down tremendously leading to commoditization of products. In fact, at one stage I was on the verge of leaving this industry, but Nothing’s vision and mission caught my fancy. I joined Nothing in the month of Feb ’21 and all I can say it has been an exciting journey so far. We have a vision of building an entire ecosystem of connected devices for a seamless digital future and for now, we are thrilled about the launch of our first baby Nothing ear (1).

On that note, and perhaps, many of you might not have seen these gadgets ever; trust me, these devices were the most sought after during the late 80s and early 90s. They were my constant companion allowing me to immerse myself in one of the things I like doing the most, listening to pure music.

I am super thrilled to be part of this community, and I look forward to connecting with you.

Cheers I Manu

Hello everyone! My name’s Josh Lanphear, a Graphic & Motion Designer with a love for beautiful and life-changing technology, based out of Phoenix, Arizona, in the US. I’ve been following NOTHING since its inception earlier this year, and have been incredibly eager to see the things that this amazing team is able to bring together. Everyone involved in this project genuinely seems like the punk rock of technology with their approach to looking at things from a different point of view, and it’s created some of the most genuinely amazing innovations the last decade.

In agreement with some of the earlier posts in the thread, the most recent piece of technology that completely dropped my jaw was the Panic PlayDate. Particularly once they added the Studio Dock to the mix. It made it a must-have desk accessory at that point.

Additionally, my spirit gadget is most undoubtedly the Analogue Pocket. It’s a beautiful piece of technology design with every choice being so intentional and true to the spirit of the generations before it.

I look forward to speaking with all of you, and seeing all that this endeavor has to offer!

Hey folks,

keithnyc (aka David…) here with my trusty bud, :

Andy (my tabby rescue cat). Happy to meet ya’ll and to be part of this AMAZING new community. I’ve been following CArl since his early career years, and am consistently amazed at his ability to motivate teams, create supercool products and to interact in such a positive way with the community.

Super grateful to be part of this. Let’s sttart creating some amazing somethings outta NOTHING. :

Hi everyone!!

My name is Tamim and im really excited and grateful to be here with you all as part of the Nothing Community.

1. I am a Dutch architect who has recently returned to the Netherlands after many years abroad, most recently having spent 5 or so years in China.

2. I’m really excited by Nothing because of this idea of technology being present but not in the forefront- a vision of a more intuitive, natural and perhaps human future is conjured for me. I believe that Nothing will be at the forefront of a push to make us focus on living rather than through our tech. I’m very interested in the Nothing Community because being part o a group thinking about, discussing and perhaps shaping technology, lifestyle and aspirations of humanity is exciting. As an architect I spend a lot time working on designing projects that will take many years to complete, which means I need to consider how to make the future a better place, while future-proofing the project as well. I am excited for this community because I think this is very much going to be a part of our discussions but not just on a project or building level, but in terms of humanity and tech.

3. There have been many pieces of technology that were amazing but for me the true game changers were the first Gameboy by Nintendo, and the original iPod. I believe that these two pieces of tech popularized and kickstarted the drive for mobility facilitated by technology, and especially in the case of the iPod it revolutionized the image of tech as being part of a lifestyle rather than it being reserved for enthusiasts.

4. “together we’ll make the possible totally impossible” from Interlude with Ludes by Them Crooked Vultures. Its a lyric that I personally understand as an intention to make the current way of doing things impossible because we’ll find a better way of doing things. Its very optimistic.

   Also “fail as big as a whale” because I believe that as a society we are afraid to try new things because we are too “success” oriented. Embracing failing is also embracing a learning experience and the bravery to try something new and hopefully, eventually lead to succeeding.
   5.

Looking forward to being part of this community and discussing tech, lifestyle the future and beyond with you all!!

manu Hey Manu…

Great seeing you here …looking forward to seeing some amazing things coming outta Nothing

Hello everyone, thank you for having me.

I am from Portugal, a tiny rectangle near Spain.

Nothing, to me, is in a near-blank state. The possibilities of a new start are (also) determined by those who spearhead its continuation. To see what @Carl & company are about to do is enticing enough; even more it is to understand and experience the mythos turned into fruition.

About this community, I hope to see the equal elevating the equal. A digital place where respect and understanding run amok. A healthy community where ideas flow with no distinction between sharing and collecting.

The Spectrum 128K still is that piece of tech. It was my first computer when I didn’t know what a computer was, it was my gateway to videogames, starting to walk digitally barely after I learned how to do the real left-right routine. I don’t know if that opened the “technological compartment” within my brain, but the chase of the Load”” thrill was nothing short of a magical trick at the time.

A delight when the game loaded, to grasp with the concept of patience when it didn’t. The jaw dropped on both occasions.

This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality

Embrace this moment, remember

We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion

That’s a quote from a song called “Parabola” by Tool. From my teen years to my current years, it’s a band that plays close to the bone. Art through thick and thin.

The iPhone 4S. Not guided by specs, but by the overall feeling and emotion; it showed me not just what you can achieve with tech, but how you can feel while doing it.

Looking forward to seeing everyone around.

Cheers,

Cheetosdust

PS: @Melissa TMNT in co-op tested a lot of friendships and forged so many more. While playing that game, we were all strategists like Sun Tzu in 16-bits.

PS2: @Tamim anything with Josh Homme is incredible. “Spinning in Daffodils", for example, is a shortcut to the repeat section on Spotify. Love that you mentioned Them Crooked Vultures.

Cheetosdust

Ditto on Tool, its awesome you mention them!

Spinning in Daffodils is an all time fav of mine, especially live (TCV is awesome live). Live at Roskilde is particularly feral and gorgeous beginning to end with the improv by John Paul Jones on piano at the end.

1. Hi everyone, I’m Dean and based on the (currently) sunny south coast of England – in Bournemouth. I have travelled the world for work and to speak on global stages, but have appreciated rather than resented the opportunity to stay in one place during the pandemic.

2. For me, Nothing represents what I look for in a brand – a sense of adventure, great design and a continuation of Steve Jobs’ band of misfits.

3. The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was the first piece of jaw-dropping technology that set me on my path to combine design, technology and innovation. I began my first company (publishing a magazine and software titles) at the age of 13 and I haven’t looked back since – except to appreciate my beginnings and learn from my mistakes.

4. My favourite music line is from Garth Brooks’ ‘Standing Outside the Fire’:

   
   

   "Life is not tried it is merely survived
   If you’re standing outside the fire"

   
   

   It may be hot in here, but that’s because we’re flying so close to the sun!

5. My spirit gadget is the PRYO Mini wrist-mounted flame thrower. I have integrated this into my XR Immersion suit – something I have developed to showcase VR, AR, bionics, exoskeleton, full-body haptics and the theatrics of the odd fireball or two…

   
   

   

Hi everyone, glad to be here.

Just signed in and took a small look around and I must say that one can really feel the thrill of excitement around here as we all get to witness a blank book being opened and watch from close while the first adventures are being written.

It kind of feels like 2014 all over again, while we see @Carl and @David doing what they do best and get people involved and filled with anticipation about what’s to come.

So let’s start from the beginning, I’m an engineer from Portugal born in the beginning of that beautiful era that was the 80’s. It was then that the tech boom really started, and showed how tech could change the life of everyone. From the magic Apple Macintosh to the amazing NES/Gameboy, or from Walkman, that changed forever how we would listen to our music, to the VHS player, that brought the movies we wanted to see to our homes.

What got me here to the nothing community first of all was obviously the familiar faces that I’ve come to know since long, but then I heard the ideals behind Nothing tech and how it wants to start from a clean state and try to break some those old assumptions that tech has to be evolutive and can’t be disruptive.

History has proven that those that are brave enough to risk a change can really break the mold and take tech to places most people didn’t even knew they would want. From Henry Ford that made people want more than just a better horse, to Steve Jobs that showed everyone that you wouldn’t need buttons to make a great smartphone. Changes like those take huge risks, and not everyone ends up succeeding, but those who do succeed end up doing it in a glorious way.

So what better place to experience nothing attempting to succeed than from inside it’s brand new community.

As for the first piece of tech that probably I remember that got me excited about tech and not just good old toys when I was a kid, was a futuristic early 90’s wrist watch that had fm radio, calculator and buttons to show the hours of a dozen different countries, that thing to my eyes back then really looked it came from a distant future and I then I wouldn’t shut up until my father got me one.

A good fitting movie quote to this is the classic Forrest Gump “Life is Like a Box of Chocolates. You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get”.

Finally and to end this TLDR first post , my spirit gadget would probably be the magic first airpods, it showed that if things were done properly, wires for listening music could be a thing of the past. That was a liberating step to completely change how one can enjoy it’s media content on the go and with no strings attached and just with a small box you could carry everywhere and could fit the small pocket of your jeans.

Curious to see what ear 1 will bring to the table, and looking forward to share my input about it.

Matt Kinect for the Xbox One was poorly marketed, but I did love the way it made me feel like I was Tom Cruise in Minority Report.

I completely agree with you. The problem with the Kinect was overpromising before launch. When the actual product came to be, the expectations were simply too high.

That was for the hardware and the software. I don’t know if you remember a game called Kinect Star Wars, but it promised something way above the actual gameplay experience. The nature of the control system was bound to show some imprecisions.

I bought one and I still have it. When it worked, even if it meant remodeling the room and waiting for the perfect light, it vehiculated that Minority Report feel - and Kinect Adventures had its share of cool moments too.

But that’s the problem with lackluster first impressions. For example, when the Xbox One was announced, there was that fiasco with the DRM restrictions. Sony saw an opportunity and posted this video (Shuhei Yoshida and Adam Boyes) explaining how to “share” used games.