I guess we weren’t the only ones who gaped: “WTF!” at the multiple ads for the Olympus m:robe 500i during the Stuporbowl. This combination low-grade digital camera and music player gets our vote as being one of the worthiest future high-tech boat anchors destined to drag the sludgey bottom of the swamp that is the consumer tech marketplace. What where these developers thinking? As an AP review succinctly puts it:
“Olympus thinks consumers want a 1.2 megapixel digital camera (with no zoom and no flash) controlled by a color touch-panel screen. Olympus also thinks you’ll want to mix some of your images together with music and watch a slideshow on the palm-sized screen with all the fingerprints you’ve just smudged on it while taking the photos.”
Ouch. That’s gotta hurt. What’ll also hurt is the removal of $500 from the wallets of the chumps who actually buy this thing.
Wanna cringe some more? Want to know what “m:robe” stands for? The “m” is for “music,” the “robe” is for “wardrobe.” Music wardrobe. Huh? This ain’t no iPod Shuffle. You don’t even wear it! I want some of what these people are smokin’