Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Glif: An atom-based product, developed in bits

Glif: An atom-based product, developed in bits, article in the Economist.
The $70,000 raised so far is a small sum in the consumer product world, but two or three years ago, few of the steps that the Glif took between conception and production even existed. Atom-based production is still messy, but thanks to the efficiencies of electrons, the threshold for even considering it is a good deal lower.

I really like the Glif. I have it sitting permanently on my iPhone 4, it gives a good grip and it's made of high-end dense plastic which feels really good. Just today I used it for viewing video postcast while being out for lunch.
The article was made before the Glif was done, but it has some  interesting data about modern prototyping and funding.


I paid the premium to also get the 3D-printed prototype. I have that one sitting on the tiny, light-weight GorillaMobile tripod, for more flexibility in positioning the iPhone both for viewing and for photographing. (The GorillaMobile comes with it's own adapter, but it's far more fiddly.)


It would be handy if the iPhone 4 camera app had a ten- and two-second self-timer to avoid camera shake, but it doesn't. Fortunately there's a cheap app for it. (Apple outta put it into the standard app though, so you can get all the features together with it.)

Update: Geoff B said:
I use the app Gorillacam by Joby.inc on my iphone4 - adds self timer, time laps, bubble leveler, 2/3rds grid lines and more. Works really well and its free. 

Thank you. It also adds a time-lapse function, and an anti-shake function (Seems it shoots when the camera is most stable). There doesn't seem to be any way to control the focus though.

4 comments:

geoff b said...

I use the app Gorillacam by Joby.inc on my iphone4 - adds self timer, time laps, bubble leveler, 2/3rds grid lines and more. works really well and its free.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Thanks, that seems very cool.

The Dissonance said...

Got this in a Xmas card as it's flat before you fold it. Luv it to death: http://store.androidcentral.com/smartphone-experts-desktop-stand/5A100A6285.htm

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

It looks lovely, but the iPhone (most popular smartphone on the market) is not mentioned in the list of compatible devices, so I guess it is not.