Two days ago, a mobile phone case swiped the screen. It turned out to be a celebrity!
Nothing else, a "liquid quicksand phone case" bought by a lady for 500 yuan was stopped by airport security in Chengdu.
In the end, because she had no luggage, it was difficult to check in the phone case alone.
I chose to send it home by courier. After all, 500 yuan is still very popular.
But if I tell you that the mobile phone case also has a chain of contempt, the net red quicksand mobile phone case is nothing at all.
The high price of 500 yuan is definitely a loss and is directly ignored. Would you say that Shule is nonsense?
Next, let's enter the popular science link - the contempt chain of mobile phone cases, and see what is the existence of the top of the contempt chain, and it is only a small category such as games.
And it's not by adding gems and plugging in this kind of treasure, to upgrade.
The mobile phone case, which seems to be a standard item in the ten-yuan store, seems to have never been an industry. But if from the point of view of the contempt chain:
Ten yuan is destined to be despised by feelings——>feelings are inevitably despised by materials——>the top match of the material may be inlaid with gold and jade——>can you come across a mobile phone case that can achieve several functions?——>in the mobile phone case The top-level existence is to upgrade the mobile phone case to a mobile phone plug-in.
Of course, I'm not talking about those phone cases with power banks...
Except every year before the new iPhone is released, some mobile phone case dealers in Huaqiangbei always have to gamble on the size of the new phone, so as to seize the opportunity of a standard one on the release date.
There are generally two ways to play mobile phone cases in China, one is to follow the trend of copycat fashion; the other is to gamble on the size of the next-generation iPhone.
In foreign countries, mobile phone cases have become a brain game, from simple accessories to tool applications. For example, in March, a company called Wanle Cases launched a mobile phone case priced at 506 yuan, and this expensive and a bit scary case, the biggest effect is to turn iPhone series models into Game Boy handheld games in seconds machine.
What's the point of this? If you are familiar with the history of Nintendo's handheld consoles, you may say that from its release in 1989 to its discontinuation in 2005, this game console sold 200 million units, which is the feelings and memories of the post-80s and post-90s.
Just this, there will be a lot of ashes to pay, after all, that generation of game boys is now the main consumer group of iPhone.
But it's not over yet, if the brain hole is just hung up with feelings, it's Luo Yonghao.
Open the toolbox of the mobile phone, personality is not only an outlet for feelings
Many years ago, there was actually a big name who wanted to make a fuss on the phone case, and his name was Luo Yonghao.
On September 6, 2015, Luo Yonghao's personal public account announced the cancellation of the limited edition "Super Mario" backshell customized for Nut phones. Originally, he wanted to use various personalized mobile phone back shells to allow users to find more emotional outlets, and then vent their enthusiasm for consumption.
Unfortunately, copyright issues tied him.
However, if there are no copyright issues, it is questionable how much sales such a Mario-patterned back shell can bring.
After all, Taobao does not need 10 yuan to solve such emotional catharsis, and maybe there are more tricks.
Going back to the previous game phone case, in addition to deforming the iPhone, it can indeed play games, and provides users with 10 ultra-classic games including "Tetris" and "Snake".
In fact, this is not a particularly fresh idea in the mobile phone case industry. Almost every year, there are Game Boy phone cases that are suitable for different mobile phones. In 2016, there was a man nicknamed Gabbelago. He felt deeply that playing games on his mobile phone was not enough to touch him. He deliberately spent a few months exploring, but he was stunned to use 3D printing technology.
A Game Boy-shaped mobile phone case was released, and it was specially made for playing the AR game "Pokémon Go", which can be regarded as keeping pace with the times with Nintendo's products.
It is said that the earliest such idea to make a smartphone "retro" into a Game Boy came from an April Fool's joke in 2016.
At that time, a company specializing in the creation of various game-themed peripheral accessories released a concept map of the Game Boy-themed mobile phone case on April Fool's Day, which can be played directly by inserting a card.
As a result, the joke was sought after by users, and the company launched this phone case at the E3 exhibition (the world's largest and most well-known interactive entertainment exhibition) held in June of that year.
But unlike those gaming phone cases that followed suit, it didn't have games built in, but instead allowed players to insert their own Game Boy cards for entertainment.
In other words, it is to revive the old games in the hands of players along the way, full of feelings and practicality, and full of personality.
However, this toolbox is not just imitated by those who want to imitate the cottage, but the technical content is real.
Not only add "special effects" to mobile phones, but also special effects
Just let the phone pass through a special case to revive some memories of the past? This is just a starting point for the creative mobile phone case. The mobile phone case can be an interface, and by the way, the mobile phone can have more special effects.
As for technology, it sinks in the bottom layer invisible to users, serving as a moat in the process of creative retention and marketization.
It's still a game, what else can you do other than make it into a game console?
At the same E3 exhibition, Bethesda, the developer of Fallout 4, launched a Pip-Boy watch-type phone case.
Such a watch-type mobile phone case is not like most of the same kind to solve the problem of wearing mobile phones during sports and fitness. On the contrary, this seemingly bloated and somewhat sci-fi game peripheral has built-in game software, and various buttons can be used at the same time. to control game functions.
In addition, the watch is equipped with a small screen, which can display the game screen, such as map, energy status and other information on the screen.
Of course, just as an upgraded "plug-in" equipment for popular games is not enough to attract users better.
Necessary features like reading messages, making calls and listening to music via Bluetooth also allow the case to go beyond personality.
More mobile phone cases with improved gaming experience also stand out from various angles such as folks and manufacturers:
For example, in response to the extremely power-hungry characteristics of "Pokémon Go", a 3D printed mobile phone equipped with a battery pack was developed; there are players who have further conducted in-depth research on this game on the basis of adding batteries, in the mobile phone case. Put a cheat sheet - such as the Attributes Comparing Table,
Let the mobile phone turn into a wizard book; some technical teams, because players prefer the handle operation experience, integrate the handle into the mobile phone flip case, and the combination is very similar to another Nintendo classic touch screen handheld NDSL...
Now that there are Game Boy and NDSL, how can the PSP, the same classic Sony handheld, be missing. In fact, as early as 2015, a team launched a resurrected version of the PSP handheld phone case.
Of course, it's not just the appearance, in fact, its appearance is to solve the user's discomfort when playing action games and first-person shooter games on mobile phones. By the way, it can also be used as a shooting button when taking a selfie, or to control audio and video playback. , to provide a new unlocking scheme.
At this time, this mobile phone case has some interesting changes, with the properties of an electronic product instead of a physical shell, and it has truly become a unique gamepad. But it still doesn't need batteries, but uses low-power wirelessly collected electrical energy to support its own operation.
This is black technology and a real stunt, not a simple special effect of making some sentimental articles on the phone case.
More importantly, these expensive mobile phone cases, whether crowdfunded or sold directly, do sell well. The reason for this is that in addition to their attractive feelings, they also meet the rigid needs of long-tail users, and provide An exclusive, functional pose.
There is only one store, there are no other branches, the creativity is big enough, the cottage is difficult enough, and the business is good enough.
Let more black technology and brain holes be integrated into gadgets
The author has come into contact with many people in the mobile phone-related industry, but every time I communicate, I can feel a common word from their quite excited words - let's make a big move.
and then? Either do some tinkering on the phone or follow the trend of some special effects such as full screen, or toss some hand-painted, modeling or other decorative elements on the periphery, there is nothing else.
Of course, there are also occasional creative ideas that seem a bit weird and weird.
For example, hiding a hidden compartment in the phone case, claiming that you can put a ring or condom; or "installing" games directly on the phone case, such as letting past board games such as mazes, puzzles, and marbles appear on the phone case. ...
Feelings + games + fun, compared to the quicksand mobile phone Kelai, it is not a single star.
These gameplays are indeed quite exciting, and there are similar products on some foreign mobile phone cases. However, in addition to the problem of audience acceptance, the moat to prevent copycats also seems to be rather lax.
The creative economy is exactly like this. It is not that there is no brain hole, but that after creativity has become an economy, perhaps after the first pot of gold has been made, it will face the invasion of countless copycats, and the market will be lost like this.
The creativity of the mobile phone case may illustrate a problem. The creativity itself still needs to work with black technology, brain holes, and other effective moats to have a longer market window period.
How to do it? Let’s talk about the brain hole first. As mentioned above, there are a lot of game phone cases. The brain hole comes. Why can’t we reverse the game?
There is really such a thing. A Japanese start-up company called Momo has launched a mobile phone case. Let’s talk about it first, but as a parent, I am happy to pay for it.
Because the phone case can be fixed with screws, the phone cannot be freed from the phone case unless the corresponding app on the parent's phone allows it.
At the same time, the mobile phone with the case will automatically black out and cannot be woken up once the child plays with the mobile phone for longer than the set time range.
By the way, coupled with the function of automatic alarm to parents when a mobile phone case encounters a huge impact, child safety watches are not so overbearing.
Black technology and creativity are very obvious in it.
There are many similar examples, such as mobile phone cases with NFC (non-contact radio frequency identification) that can play games without touching the screen of the mobile phone, which directly subverts the gameplay of traditional mobile games, and is full of experience and technology...
Perhaps, this is the effective posture of the creative economy, not only to combine culture and break the shackles, but also to have practical value, no longer just an ornament, using black technology to maintain a moat against copycats, the result is possible success.
If it can not only be a niche product, but a rigid demand by the public, then congratulations, Jobs may be possessed. (Published in the "Le Dao" column of the April 2018 issue of "Creative World")
Zhang Shule People's Network, People's Posts and Telecommunications columnist, Internet and game industry observers