Ta Dum

Netflix came to your mind? Nah, this has got nothing to do with Netflix. But yeah, it starts with "N" and you can watch Netflix on it!

Some interesting stuff about it:

• It's transparent

• It's got some light shows on it.

Aah, still didn't get it?

Come on, let's explore something about it together.

Something about Remix

So, the product is a hardware tech, and it's Nothing!

Nothing has been the most hyped product lately and that hype is real.

It's the most interesting piece of tech that, according to them; is into making tech fun again!

Lemme ask you, what's innovation?

Leave a comment

I'd say, it's:

Confused?!

Let's understand the concept called;

First Principle

So, the best explanation would be an "Orange Juice"!

Orange juice = Water + Sugar + Orange

See how this final product has been formed by remixing the fundamental elements?!

It's been followed by almost all new innovation that we see.

(Spacex by E.Musk was born using this same principle)

Now that you know about first principle and remixing;

I'd say, yes.

Nothing phone = iPhone + Nokia

Can't relate right? I can understand.

So, 90's folks would know, Nokia ruled the smartphone industry back then and was associated with strength, reliability and innovation!

But then suddenly a guy named Steve Jobs announced (an Ipod, a phone & an internet communicator) device called the iPhone, which changed the way we interacted with this lil device and you know the story.

Now it's Nothing that's bringing back

• That retro essence of Nokia (which had us create music and lights and have fun with this handheld device) &

• The design and innovation aspect of Apple devices (the minimalistic design, the seamless experience, the ecosystem) all under a brand called "Nothing".

Something's knacking?? Wait, it just started…

Something about Carl

Remember that Nothing formula I shared above?

It all has got something to do with this new "Steve Jobs" aka Carl Pei.

Did you know? Carl Pei started his career at Nokia!

And since then he has been around the smartphone or hardware industry, with OnePlus giving him all the limelight and attention, making him one of the most loved tech founders out there.

Now how did a small hardware tech startup get all this traction?!

He knew he ain't gonna sit and make tech boring under a giant's control (BBK electronics who owned OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo and some of the Chinese smartphone brands on which you might be reading this 😅☺️)

He used that podium of OnePlus to build his personal brand and positioned him so well that he made sure Carl Pei is known to the world!

And that worked like magic for Nothing! People went crazy over this new brand that's envisioned to make tech sexy again!

But it's not just his personal brand that worked. There are more ingredients to Nothing's initial traction!

Something about comparison

How many of you have :

No wonder! Even Carl Pei and team associate their stuff with Apple.

Why would they be doing it?

Why do they compare it with Apple?

Listen, smartphone industry is noise and it's Apple vs Android (Google, OnePlus, Samsung etc etc)

So, how do you position yourself above these (Android phones)?!

Learn from Nothing.

They designed, marketed, talked and even Carl Pei has been presented and associated with Apple

Carl Pei - New gen Steve Jobs

Nothing phone - Apple alternative, Apple lookalike etc etc

So why all these drama?

Nothing phone as of now is:

• Just another smartphone

• With some never seen transparent design and

• Nokia inspired Glyph interface and music!

And to stand out from the noise, and be above the next best smartphone brand (Samsung) did all these "Apple comparison" drama.

Think about it.

We all or maybe most of us compared it with Apple rather than what should have been done (compare it with other Android phones)

But but, Nothing ain't gimmicky!

It's changing the smartphone, Naah it's changing the way we experience, feel and interact with tech devices!!

“Nothing ain't a smartphone company, dude!

Didn't you notice, I've just talked about Nothing phone until now?!”

Aah, take a break. Lots of interesting things to be unveiled. Slowly and steadily…..

Something about competition

Let's say you wanna launch an AI app, or the next big thing in the online world (A social app, a ride hailing app etc etc).

How easy is it to get it done?

With the advancement of AI, you can start it within seconds

Wait, I've a space wherein I curate tools that can simplify your job or life. Explore it here:

exploreX

Digital exposure has been immense lately. Every minute 1000s of apps are being launched!

Few succeed, a fact. But the barrier to entry has narrowed.

And Nothing has taken a different approach!

They entered a market where:

A hard to win market!

The TAM is so big! The opportunity is huge! The possibility of bringing a technological shift is higher than software or the digital space!

The smartphone, nah the tech gadgets industry!

Told ya, Nothing ain't a smartphone company but

• a phone launch,

• a transparent design,

• an Apple comparison,

All of these distracted us from the fact that

Nothing is a tech company!

Something about change

Smartphone experience haven't changed since the launch of first iPhone.

Folding phones, phones with dozens of lenses, rolling phones etc etc.

Lot of models or variants to the external appearance of the gadget, but the fundamental way we experience it has been the same and as the Nothing team puts it; BORING!

It's been an experience wherein we are more and more drawn into this ecosystem of digital products where all of them are competing for our attention and to have a control over our daily lives.

The glyph is just a start to experience and enhance the way we feel, interact and limit the control the fundamental of each digital apps pull:

The Notification.

It gets you pick that device up and then get stuck in the loop designed by these digital giants!

And through Glyph, Nothing wants to change that nudge into a better form wherein we have the control over what, when and who the beep is all about.

More experimentations being done by the Nothing team, let's see how they well they pull it off!

Next to talk is about the way we experience a process at present.By process, I mean like the way we get a job done in the digital space.

For instance; you wanna book a ride.

What's the process right now?

Open this device > Find the app (maybe get distracted by other means and end up doing something else) > Open it > Search/Type your destination > Find the cab > Book it…

People tend to design within the app and make the experience seamless but when we zoom out, fundamentally the experience is cumbersome and broken! No one stood up to change the flow of this process!

This process can only be altered through the integration of a hardware device synchronized with software applications.

Nothing is trying to change that fundamental process.

Maybe bring a huge shift in behaviour and control to us and make tech more personalized, easier to use and remove that bad perception towards the tech gadgets (a device that control, and kills our creativity/productivity etc)

To talk about the cons of the digital world, there are a plenty of them.

They have just started the game. Lots of levels to pass through. But they are really onto something!

We are almost at the end of this, few more things and we are good to wrap it up

Something about transperancy

We all know it Nothing has launched a sub brand called CMF.

What kinda name it is for a brand, you'd be thinking!!

A transparent brand and a coloured brand!!

Distracting you again? Yeah kinda but nah.

So for those who don't,

For some of you, it might be a Nothing brand but that's not the case.

Why the name CMF btw?

Design has been often overlooked by the industry. We are all into this digital world and hence the outside world started to look boring just like how Carl puts it.

Yup that comes first. That's gets you attracted towards any product.

Remember that blonde gal or that blue eyed guy who you had a crush upon? 😅🙌

We humans tend to create a notion about a product first visually. Visual cue has to be satisfied to further explore the product.

Nothing took that visual cue a bit deeper to a transparent design.

When I say a transparent designed device, what comes to your mind? Nothing right? The brand "Nothing" right?! XD

All the other gadgets apart from Apple were hard to distinguish with mostly logo being their differentiator.

Nothing changed that through transparent design. It gave them a brand recall, recognition and perception.

Now if you have a designer friend ask him, how simple is it to simplify design?

Share

Minimalistic and simple designs require lot of effort and creativity.

And Nothing being in a complex market, need to move fast and break things faster.

Launching and experimenting with transparent designs under Nothing brand can effect the brand as whole.

If they fail, there's no coming back.

So, they need a plan B.

A sub brand without compromising the design and quality ethos of Nothing brand.

This led to the birth of CMF (Color Material Finish)

So the answer to the question why CMF as a brand name is to get people curious and aware about this design principle and be transparent of how the products under the brand would be!

CMF as a sub brand and as an industrial design concept is into communicating the brands story through visual cues (Color), Material standards (eco friendly materials that enhances the touch), Finish (the luxurious finish and feel of the product)

Now you'd be thinking, but why would they launch it under "affordable category"?

When a thing is affordable but looks, feels and gives a premium experience, the faults within the product goes under the hood.

You tend to praise it rather than criticising for its defaults.

Nothing hypothesis could have been;

A tech gadget being:

• affordable

• looks premium and

• works fine

would get most of them try it out.

So through this;

More users get into Nothing ecosystem (CMF products) > more products get experimented and sold (CMF products) > more revenue for Nothing which in turn helps to enhance the premium experience of Nothing devices and softwares.

The last part….

Something about hardwares

We can't completely avoid offline experiences and be digital or virtual forever!

Every online experiences are fueled by an offline system/process or device

And that's where and why Metaverse and it's logic is struggling to find that wave.

“We ain't gonna be sitting and wearing 24/7 a Vision Pro or Meta VR.”

Think about it.

Softwares are eating the world!

But where do that first touch point to a software application happen?

A phone, a laptop, an earbuds…. A hardware machine that connects different dots and streamlines seamless experience to a digital world!

And that first fundamental touch point is where Nothing is playing and betting upon.

The potential of which is huge but hard and complex.

Hence they have to move faster and doing all these experiences to make they way feel about tech fun and seamless.

Now about growth?

If you launch a software app, grabbing attention is much harder compared to hardware tech.

The Tesla car, the iPhone, the Revolut Card. Every hardware products travel and grab attention whithout much effort.

So think about your software product.

What growth loop can you open through offline–online experience?

You take an ATM card, if it's attractive, people notice.

You take a car, if it's attractive, people notice.

You take a gadget, that's flashy with lights and transparent design, people notice.

That's what simply Nothing as a hardware device is doing, grabbing your attention to its peak!

Now the question:

It's the latter according to me and Carl. 😅

The products that Nothing are into has got lot of frequency.

Be it a smartphone, a smartwatch, an ear buds etc, we use it more frequently.

Hence Nothing has ticked all the checkboxes of their brand strategy and product positioning.

Let's see how well they do in the market.

At last it's us who decides the faith of a brand.

One more last thing;

If you need more such interesting deep dives, you could see some buttons, boxes etc below using which you know what to do.

Do it and lemme know what should I explore next…..

That's it.