Don’t Just Make Content: Hardware Blazes the Way to the Next Big Thing
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When you think about the biggest innovations of the past decade — those that inspired mind-boggling IPOs and buyouts — most happened in the field of software. With an idea, an internet connection and a text editor, it was possible to develop the next Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Hardware, on the other hand, was a game reserved for the big boys like Apple, Microsoft, Sony. It took years of R&D and serious cash to build prototypes and infrastructure for mass production.
But now, fueled by innovations in prototyping, crowd funding, micro controllers and the declining costs of electronic components, hardware startups are poised for a big run as well.
One example is FiftyThree — a 20-person app-development team in New York that created the wildly successful Paper app, which is loved for its simplicity. FiftyThree wanted to increase Paper’s value without making it more complicated. The answer came in the form of hardware — a stylus, aptly named Pencil, custom-designed to add functionality without increasing complexity. When paired with the app, you flip your Pencil to the eraser end and swipe away your content. It’s an intuitive action that eliminates the steps of sliding open the app’s tool drawer and selecting the virtual eraser. This was a hardware innovation that until recently never would have been possible for such a small team.
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