Iterate Weekly - Issue 67
Can we all agree on one charging standard? Ikea lets you redesign your living room in AR, Liquid cellulose shoes are here, Vouch Vault lets you get real recommendations, and Tiny Habits with BJ Fogg!
Welcome to issue 67 of Iterate Weekly!
Just a reminder that you can always reply to this email or leave a comment on the web version. I read all of them, and I appreciate the feedback, questions, and insights from all of you.
Let’s jump into this week’s stories.
🤖 Tech
Can Americans agree on one universal charging standard?
Do you have a tangled mess of charging cables on your desk or in a drawer somewhere? I absolutely have several of them and I’m so sick of checking all the ends to find the one I need in a given moment.
It’s a formidable task for sure, but the European Union has instituted something similar which requires all smartphones and mobile devices to be compatible with a USB-C charger by fall 2024.
There is the obvious frustration of having different cords to charge different devices, but the problem also leads to a huge amount of expense and waste. The letter penned by Senator Warren and others claims "The average consumer owns approximately three mobile phone chargers, and around 40 percent of consumers report that, on at least one occasion, they 'could not charge their mobile phone because available chargers were incompatible,'". The letter also highlights that chargers account for 11,000 tons of e-waste annually.
I personally just returned from a trip where my wife was in search of a micro-USB charger for her Kindle when she only had several lightning cables and I only had USB-C plugs to offer. It’s an incredibly frustrating scenario. My vote would be for universal USB-C support, but please lets just decide on one thing and let that be it!
Anyone else have incorrect plug horror stories?
🎓 Education/Productivity
Do you ever just want to delete your living room?
Interior decorating technology has come a long way in a short time.
Ikea is using some new AI tech that they’re calling Ikea Kreativ. It lets you take several photos of a room in your house and then stitch together a 3D rendering of the space. Then you can zap away all of the clutter that currently exists in the space.Yep, that can include dogs, kids, ugly furniture, whatever you have. Then you’ll be presented with a clean slate to start placing your future Ikea purchases.
The new tables and chairs will automatically resize to fit the proper aspect ratio of your space. You’ll actually get a vision of how the new room would look with the furniture upgrades in place. It may not be exactly the same as seeing a physical layout in an Ikea showroom, but it’s the next best thing.
Kudos to Ikea for trying to make the home shopping experience more enjoyable. Ideally, this will lead to fewer returns or purchases that don’t look exactly as you’d hope once they make it home. Reducing costly returns is a win-win-win for consumers, Ikea, and the environment.
Who’s ready for the future of augmented reality furniture shopping? (although you will miss out on the Ikea food court!)
♻️ Health & Environment
Liquid cellulose is the answer for sustainable shoes
In the world of sustainable fashion, liquid cellulose may be the holy grail.
The design comes from a Startup called Simplifyber who is looking to reduce waste and create a whole new category of sustainable fashion by eliminating the need for sewing, stitching, or any kind of adhesive on their products.
These shoes are made from a material comprised of wood pulp, plants and other bio additives. The material is liquified and then injected into custom molds to be fitted in different shapes, sizes, and styles.
We’re still in the early stages here. Simplififyber just earned a $3.5 million seed round of funding to advance its prototyping techniques. The next step would be to partner with a brand to create the first product, likely a sneaker like the one you see above. If all goes well, it could be available for purchase within a year.
Anyone else interested to buy a pair as soon as they’re available?
🛍 Grab Bag
Jay Chandrasekhar gets revenge with “Vouch Vault”
You remember Jay Chandrasekhar right? No? Name not ringing a bell? You’ve likely seen his face in comedies like “Super Troopers”, “Beerfest” or “Club Dread”. He’s also directed those films and a slew of other TV comedies including “The Goldbergs”.
The app is called “Vouch Vault” and it aims to help people find more honest reviews of things. The aim to “Take recommendation power from anonymous strangers and give it to the people whose tastes you know and trust.” It’s basically an “Instagram for Reviews” where you can follow your friends to see what they’re vouching for.
Chandrasekhar learned about the power of negative reviews when several of his movies were blasted by the likes of The New York Times or other critics. But the films still managed to find success through word of mouth. You’d say that they’re not critical darlings but they’re certainly cult classics and sleeper hits. The kind of thing that your friend would recommend to you. A perfect scenario for Vouch Vault.
It’s not limited to books or movies either. You can vouch for restaurants, cars, basically anything that you like and want your friends to check out for themselves. It’s still in the early days, but it’s a really smart way to break through the clutter of Rotten Tomatoes, Yelp, or other review sites that don’t always feel as personal as they should.
I just downloaded the app for myself, and I recommend you give it a try too.
💬 Quote of the Week
“Plant a good seed in the right spot and it will grow without further coaxing”
- BJ Fogg
📕Content Recommendation
Tiny Habits
I’ve been aware of BJ Fogg for a long time. If you spend any time reading personal productivity or “self-help” books you’ve likely seen his work referenced. Fogg is a Stanford researcher who has devoted his life to studying behavioral change.
I finally took some time to read his Tiny Habits book from cover to cover. And it was well worth the time investment. If you’re looking to make any improvements to your daily routines, or phase out some negative habits, this is the perfect place to start.
There are plenty of easy to understand case studies to help you build your own habit formulas. I’ve already started implementing some things and will likely have some updates in the future.
I highly recommend that you check it out for yourself.
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
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