Vanakkam! (Greetings in one of India’s 20+ beautiful languages)

I’m Kirubhas, an Embedded Systems developer and tech support/movie-tv guide to my friends.

I always like things I own to feel truly mine. I am a minimalist too but the current tech products are either bland or chaotic. I just sit and look at some products with real drip from certain Nordic companies( IKEA, Jays etc). Nothing, I hope, would be minimal yet possess character, while focusing on the basics of function.

There are two quotes I love. One, attributed to myself:

Form enables function. It’s not either form or function. It’s always the both.

The other, from The Usual Suspects(I basically love every Hollywood movie that came out in the 90s):

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.

As for tech that dropped my jaw,

It’s the iPhone 5S. I’ve never owned an Apple product but that was peak design, build and everything. Nothing has come close to it even till now. Period.

Just look at that Beauty

And that’s my spirit gadget

Related discussions

Nice to meet everyone! I go by Zer0 or “0” in the community (inspired by Nothing), and am based in the city that never sleeps - New York City! I am born and raised in New York so my lifestyle has always been fast-paced and adventurous. That said, I am very excited for what’s to come with Nothing and the visionaries behind the company. We live in a society that has been overcome with technology products left and right. What I expect and hope for from Nothing are products that blend seamlessly with our lifestyles, so that technology is not a burden that we must accommodate, but vice versa.

The first piece of technology that made my jaw drop was the Nintendo Wii! As a kid, my family never saw the benefit of gaming, which is understandable. The idea of having my brother and I just sit on the sofa all day, staring at the T.V., not thinking about anything else isn’t the healthiest idea. However, with the Nintendo Wii, there was the incorporation of movement and motion. It was one of the first mainstream consoles to institute motion-tracking technology, which made it all the more appealing to my parents. On the Christmas of the launch year, they bought one for my brother and I.

For my favorite movie quote, I apologize in advance for the generic pick, but it has to be “With great power comes great responsibility.” As I’ve grown both personally and professionally, I’ve found myself resonating more with this quote. There is always someone looking up to you, so you should always be your best.

My spirit gadget has to be my Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus. Music, in general, allows me to transcend to places beyond reality. It’s a much needed experience when you’ve been stuck at home the past year. With the portability and accessibility that wireless earbuds provide, I’m able to listen to my favorite songs wherever I am. I have my fingers crossed that Nothing beats the Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus 😄 .

Looking forward to meeting all the community members, and of course, the future of Nothing.

- 0

  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.

    Hello all.

    Was excited to receive my invitation to join the community this morning.

    I’m a long-time tech enthusiast (how many hours have I spent flashing ROMs to my various Android phones?), and I’ve participated in many betas and testing/feedback opportunities for technology products. My long-standing frustration has been that in almost all those opportunities, while I actively participated and provided useful feedback and suggestions, ultimately those products where so far into their life cycle that the company was really just giving us lip service and no real changes were made as a result of our input. In the end, they simply weren’t interested in hearing constructive criticism or critique, they just wanted to hear how great things were, even when that wasn’t reality.

    I’m excited to see Nothing start this community and to be invited to be involved early in the process. I look forward to being allowed the opportunity to provide honest, sincere feedback and thoughts and have them considered and not ignored. In the end, I’m just looking for a better experience for both myself and others, where the technology just works and fades into the background. So I guess you could say, I’m interested in Nothing, Nothing at all. As far as the questions…

    1. US, specifically the Midwest.

    2. As I mentioned above, I’m looqqking forward to the truly open, two-way conversation about the philosophy, design, approach and products themselves.

    3. The original Galaxy X, specifically the T-Mobile variant, the Vibrant. It was my first exposure to the Android OS and the addiction called flashing ROMs. 😉

    4. “Brothers can’t shake hands, brothers gotta hug!” (Tommy Boy, man I miss Chris Farley).

    5. Right now my spirit gadget is my Pixel Buds 2. They are very comfortable and light and I usually them pretty much all day for work. The design is great and I forget I’m wearing them and they just fade into the background, which is exactly what Nothing is attempting to accomplish. However, they have some weaknesses and I’m curious to see if the Nothing earbuds address some of those weaknesses.

    Howdy all!

    My name is Jason and if you couldn’t guess from my username, I have a red beard lol.

    I’m currently living in Houston, TX with my beautiful wife, wonderful 18 month old son, and goofy German Shepherd dog. My favorite thing about Houston is the my family and friends that are here and the incredible food we have. Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the country and we have the food to prove it! You can find nearly every type of food you could think of.

    I’m really interested in Nothing because I loved the vision and passion that Carl brought to OnePlus. The idea of bringing incredible technology to people that helps them work and play without getting in the way. I’m incredibly excited to see what Nothing and it’s team are cooking up. I love technology, but I also agree that the best technology is the one that seamless integrates into your life so you almost don’t even know it’s there.

    The first piece of tech that probably surprised and delighted me was the first PalmPilot I had when I was kid. I begged my parents for one and they finally agreed and I was in love with that thing. I constantly poked around on it and played Bejewled waaaaaaaay more than I should have.

    Oh man, as a former actor and current movie buff, it’s so hard to pick one favorite quite. One of my favorites that I go back to and kind of adopt as a mantra every now and then is: “Every man dies, not every man really lives” from Braveheart (one of my all-time favorite movies).

    My spirit gadget would probably be the Nexus 4. It was the first Android phone I had where I really rooted and modded it like crazy and loved every minute of it. It’s what really got me into the Android ecosystem full time and loved tinkering with that thing. I really miss it. I’ll dig it out of my drawer every one and then and mess around with it just for fun.

    Thanks all! I am so incredibly looking forward to this new journey and am SO EXCITED to be a part of the Nothing Community!
    Let’s do this!!!!!

    Hi everyone, My name is Stephen. I’m from Vancouver, Canada and I’m excited to be part of this community.

    Being an early supporter of the OnePlus One, it was amazing being part of a community that consisted of people around the world from different backgrounds that were able to share common interests in software, tech and design. I found it fun to be part of such an engaging community that not only wanted the company to grow but empowered others to think about tech outside of the conventional scope. I hope that the Nothing company and community also create that experience and much more.

    The first piece of tech that blew my mind was my very first smartphone, the iPhone 3GS - It really felt like I was in a different world having a touchscreen. It basically lead to my heavy interest in tech, design, UI and UX. It changed the way I perceived tech and the use cases in a real world setting. It boosted my curiosity in not only tech, but the science, engineering and pretty much everything that went into creating a smartphone.

    One of my favorite songs is J. Cole’s - Love Yourz. It’s hard for me to choose a favorite lyric from the song but the chorus is simple and has a strong message: No such thing as a life that’s better than yours.

    My spirit gadget are my wireless headphones - WH-1000XM4

    Hi community, my name is Louis and I’m from London, England! insert audience cheer and corny TV gameshow music I’m looking forward to being part of this community and the new tech movement that Nothing could potentially deliver.

    My interest in Nothing really comes from the same sort of reasons I originally joined the OnePlus community - my common love and interest in game changing tech at affordable prices, that was aiming to stand out from the ‘big dogs’. I imagine Nothing to produce great things in a similar fashion to how the OnePlus One grew on fans and enthusiasts alike, which is something I would absolutely want to be part of.

    Without going down the cliche road of voting a mobile phone as the tech that dropped my jaw (albeit my Nokia 3510i did, thanks to a colour screen and GPS technology), I would have to say that my very first MP3 player really blew me away. Prior to this, I was walking around with my Sony Discman with Shockproof technology so my discs wouldn’t skip 🤣 and I had these huge wires coming out which would cause a trip hazard, plus just the extra weight and ability to only listen to the same 8-10 tracks before having to change the disc was a ball ache. Enter the MP3 player. Now, this was amazing to me as a young boy that I could download music online, have it in a digital format and via USB I could transfer it to a device that was no larger than a pencil! I suddenly had 100’s of tracks to listen to and shuffling, updating and changing music was great. Note here that I didn’t have an iPod until much later on as I couldn’t afford it, so I had to make do with a nonbranded MP3 player - I wasn’t cool at the time lol.

    Regarding favourite movie quote, I could give many that link me to James Bond or Star Wars film, but my initial memory of a film that I watched over and over again was The Matrix! Without quoting some of the most famous lines from that film, one that still resonates with me today is from Agent Brown (one of the many Agents):

    Perhaps we’re asking the wrong questions…

    I think this quote is perfect in everyday life, in our personal lives and in our work. Solving solutions and getting to the end goal requires us always to ask questions, in order to produce something, so sometimes perhaps we are asking ourselves and our team the wrong questions?

    I love all tech, but if I was to pick something that represented me as a spirit animal then it would have to be a coffee machine. I am a self proclaimed coffee snob ever since I did a training day at a local brewery, since then my knowledge and interest in coffee has grown substantially. Also it’s one of the first things I start my day with, I am sure many of you sit in the same boat as me here 😄

    Good day everyone,

    My name is Aaron and I’m a network systems administrator from Texas in the United States. I’ve been following closely any news about Nothing since it was announced, and I’m excited to just be present and involved as this develops. While I wasn’t able to be an early investor due to my region, I’m hopeful to be an early adopter as well as a support for the Nothing goal.

    Having appreciated the impact made on OnePlus and their products, I was instantly interested in Nothing when I heard the news about its formation. Reading the mission of Nothing, I was immediately on board. While I love most anything tech-related and I am drawn to new gadgets and their features, many products seem to require the user to adapt and not the product. I’m fascinated by the idea of products that work for the user in a subtle and quiet way, with function over loud flashy presentation.

    Given that fascination, one of the first tech products that I was “wowed” by was my first round smartwatch. I purchased an LG G Watch R, as it was one of the first smart watches I could find that looked like a watch, but gave me the functionality of a smart-connected device. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before updates and bloated software features removed its functionality. One of my current favorites is the smart bulbs that I have in my home. The ability to set lighting brightness and toggle the lights anywhere I am is a luxury hidden behind every lampshade.

    As I’m a fan of the Star Wars universe, I’ll throw out a quote from there as one that made me laugh recently:

    (K2S0 speaking to Jyn Erso in Rogue One) “I’ll be there for you…Cassian said I had to.”

    All in all, I’m glad to be here and I’m hoping I can be a positive influence in the community as a whole.

    -- Aaron

    7 days later

    David

    1.) Hi, mein Name lautet Benjamin, ich bin 31 Jahre alt und ich wohne derzeit in Düsseldorf, Deutschland.

    2.) I am very interested in nothing and I am of the opinion that no nonsense is promised in this company that is not kept. My hope is that the products will blow my mind like the first impression of nothing. I am very confident that we can achieve a lot and great things together here.

    3.) Unfortunately, I haven’t had this feeling with a product yet, which is why I have placed my hopes on Nothing. Since I am enthusiastic about technology, I find the technology very exciting, which enables electrical circuits to be flexibly printed and applied to the skin.

    4.) My favorite text from the band “Architects” is from the song “Doomsday”

    5.) Unfortunately I don’t have a Spirit gadget at the moment

      David

      Nice to meet you. I’m Japanese and I live in Japan.

      I am very interested in how nothing’s philosophy of “Technology should fade into the background and feel like nothing” will be reflected in their products.

      The technology that has impacted me the most is the Essential Phone PH-1.

      It is a unique smartphone with a great design that will last for years to come, 3 years of OS updates, titanium material, attachment functions and other unique features.

      "Than giving me a hand as I fall

      Than choosing kind words for me

      Next to me I want you believe me

      That we can go to the end of the world together"

      (Acacia - BUMP OF CHIKCEN)

      This is my favorite lyric.

      (By the way, this song was made for a Pokémon music video, and apparently Carl Pei is a big fan of Pokémon.😂)

      I’m looking forward to working with this community.

          __ESUEiBSPWD (By the way, this song was made for a Pokémon music video, and apparently Carl Pei is a big fan of Pokémon.😂)

          Hello and welcome,

          perhaps you know this already, but Nothing is also using Pokémon as codenames for product names. You can see that, for example, on the “Community Equity Funding Presentation” as it was posted on Reddit.

          I never owned a PH-1, but it was a device that caught my attention since it was released. The build quality and the decisions Essential made with the software were something I truly appreciated.

          Even the images shared by Kevin Hoffman, lead designer, got me intrigued about what could have been.

          Welcome once again, wishing you a lovely stay ahead.

            Hello everyone!

            My name is Antonio and I’m from Queens NY. I’m so happy to be here 😊!

            I’m currently a stay at home father of 3 that does “nothing” all day 😎. Well I take care of my boys 24/7 and in my spare time I like to test out and play with whatever electronics I can get my hands on.

            My journey with technology started when I was really young and I took apart my remote control car and started messing with the wires and the batteries and all the electronic parts. Ive always wanted to see what was on the inside of things and how they worked. My parents didn’t like that I liked to open everything up, but at least I put them back together in working condition….most of the time 😂 lol

            Being part of a community of tech enthusiast means everything to me. Places like this give me a sense of belonging and I love making new friends. The first forums I joined that I had this feeling was the Hiptop/Sidekick forums “Powered By Danger”. This was quite some time ago, so I’m giving away my age a bit, but that was where I fell in love with community forums. So many people from that community I am still good friends with today even though it’s been over 10 years since they shut down.

            Shortly after that I found a home on XDA, which lead me to the CyanogenMod community, which led me to the OnePlus community, which lead me here! The crazy thing about being here is, that Nothing feels like the culmination of everything I’ve ever had an interest in, all in one. Hiptop/Sidekicks lead to Android with Andy Rubin. Android lead to OnePlus. Andy created Essential. Carl Pei creating Nothing introduced me to Teenage Engineering. And in some crazy way, it just all comes together for me.

            I love tech. I love Mobile tech. I love transparent tech. I like to customize everything I have in clear, transparent shells. And if I can’t do that, I find a dbrand skin that looks transparent lol.

            My avatar is made up of the Essential phones 360 camera, the OnePlus One and a Pocket Operator. I am so ready for whatever Nothing creates.

            Again, I’m extremely happy to be here, and can’t wait to make friends and contribute in any way I can ✌️

            @ Cheetosdust＃646

            Thank you for your reply.

            Yes, I do know that!

            It’s a shame that Essential Products is going out of business, but I’m hoping for the best for Nothing.

            Thank you 😊.

            13 days later

            Hey everyone!

            My name is Yash, I’m from India, and currently a class 12th student studying to become an engineer.

            I believe that anyone who was born before 2010 must’ve seen the development of consumer focused technology in front of their eyes, and just like that, my fascination about technology grew further.

            Great to be a part of nothing 😏

            @Cheetosdust @Antonio_Luis @youbi @[deleted] - is it time to unleash a Wormhole in the Nothing community ? 😉

            3 months later

            Hey everyone! I’m very excited to be here and I can’t wait to see what amazing things this community can do!

            I’m come from the US of A. I’m interested in Nothing because I truly do believe in what Nothing is trying to achieve, we need a tech company to disrupt the market and now I feel like it’s going to happen. I’m very into the design of products, especially when it comes to tech products because the possibilities are nearly endless.

            When I was a lot younger around the age of 11-12 years old my dad gave me his old phone, I don’t quite remember what the phone was, maybe an HTC, but that doesn’t matter. When my dad gave me his old phone, I pretty much fell in love, the things you could do on this little tiny glowing brick, you could easily talk to people from anywhere in the world, you can store memories that can be shared with others years to come and they won’t degrade, you can share your opinions with the world with a single click, you can have hours upon hours of entertainment and I’ve always loved that idea! How all of these things can be done with a single object that can fit into your pocket.

            The introduction to tech with that crappy phone was one of my favorite memories with my dad and now years later we still share that love for tech, from building computers and arguing about which flagship phone is better. But the tech world has gotten stale and kinda boring and now with the introduction of Nothing, me and my dad can finally have something new to talk about! Somethings that’s not boring and something that won’t get stale anytime soon! And I thank Nothing for that!

            Thank you.

            I haven’t been here since day one, but you can be hela sure I’m going to be here from here on out.

              Welcome to the forums, Helasending

              The part of your message about tech bonding you and your dad is a beautiful representation of some of the best aspects of it all, I believe.

              Wishing you a lovely journey ahead here with the Community. In a sense, it’s kind of that bond you described:

              A bunch of people connecting through technology, using it as a kickstarter for wholesome conversions about everything and nothing. 😎

                  Absolutely love your tech story with your dad Helasending 😍 it’s amazing how tech can build amazing life memories and connect us to friends and family.

                  I’ll be sharing that here at Nothing if you don’t mind. And we’re chuffed you’re one of us, hope you enjoy the ride 😉