Top Technology Hearkens Back to Simpler Times for Modern Customers
In the tech sector, sometimes going old-school is the best way to innovate. In these innovation strategy examples, I’ll showcase two companies with new products that rely on either recreating and updating pre-existing products, or using a mixture of tangible and digital elements to transform the way we use technology. These companies can be understood to have benefitted from “vintage innovation,” a term coined by John Spencer, a professor of instructional technology.
Spencer argues that vintage innovation is so powerful in the educational sphere because it is “disruptive by pulling us out of present tense and into something more timeless.” Vintage innovation is the use of “timeless skills in new contexts.” While Spencer’s focus is on creating instructional tools for the classroom, vintage innovation can be equally valuable in the marketplace as an innovation strategy for the creation of new products.
Innovation Strategy Example:
Brick for Distraction-Free Living
Our first innovation strategy example case-study is the “Brick,” a plastic magnet with an accompanying app. The basic concept of the brick is simple: when a user scans the Brick, his or her phone becomes “bricked,” meaning that certain functions (selected in advance on the app) become inaccessible until the brick is scanned again. The Brick addresses a demand similar to the one addressed by the minimalist phones I wrote about last year: the smartphone has replaced, in a single device, many other technologies, and it is very useful to have on hand. However, the power of the smartphone, with its connection to a near-infinite amount of information, seems to come with a similarly infinite quantity of distractions.
The Brick responds to this modern problem in two ways, both characteristic of vintage innovation strategy as articulated by Spencer. Both have to do with the recognition of something “timeless:” a timeless problem, and a timeless aspect of human nature.
First, the Brick responds to a timeless problem: human beings have a finite amount of willpower. The “bricking” of the phone facilitated by the app is a recognition of this human limitation. But there are plenty of apps that will disable certain functions on your phone. What truly sets the Brick apart is the recognition of a timeless aspect of human nature, namely the fact that human beings are embodied creatures. By linking the functionality of the app to the presence of the plastic magnet, the Brick maps aspects of digital life onto a tangible object. Other screentime reduction apps, such as the native screentime reduction functionality on the iPhone, are controlled by flexible software on the phone itself, meaning that if a user is in possession and control of the phone, ultimately they must rely on their willpower not to disable the app. The Brick app, on the other hand, can only be turned off when the user is near a physical magnet, meaning that if the user leaves the magnet in a difficult to reach location, he need not use his willpower to resist disabling the app. As Jessica Fiero, describing her use of the Brick on CNET, writes, “the Brick often forces you to actually get up to scan your iPhone on this external device,” creating a physical barrier to distraction. This is truly vintage innovation: the bringing together of the digital and physical realms.
By leveraging the timeless insight that human beings have bodies, even when they are operating digital devices that obscure the importance (and perhaps even the existence) of the body, the creators of the Brick were able to create a product that meets an increasingly salient consumer demand, the need to regulate the use of addictive technologies. According to the New Yorker, the Lightphone, a minimalist phone similar to the Boringphone we covered last year, has seen rapid growth:
“From 2022 to 2023, its revenue doubled, and it is on track to double again in 2024.”
Minimalist phones are similar to the Brick in that they remove the possibility of distraction, not with an easily toggled app but with something more final (in this case, the operation of the phone itself). The Brick, by contrast, allows for a more flexible experience, effectively allowing a user to toggle between the experience of a minimalist phone and the experience of a normal smartphone with the aid of a separate physical object. Nonetheless, the increased interest in minimalist phones demonstrates the demand for an experience similar to the one provided by the Brick, and both can be considered vintage innovations by recognizing the timeless problem of finite human willpower. The increasing demand for minimalist phones demonstrates the potential profitability of vintage innovation.
Innovation Strategy Example:
Freewrite for Distraction-Free Drafting
Our next example of a beneficiary of vintage innovation strategy, a company called Freewrite, sells what it calls “distraction-free drafting tools.” The updated typewriters sold by Freewrite are intended to promote drafting uninterrupted by editing: just as in the case of the Brick, the concern is with technology that is itself so powerful and multifunctional that it tempts its human users to unproductively divide their attention. Furthermore, Freewrite seeks to provide a “distraction-free environment in a unique dedicated hardware format.” Freewrite’s products are a straightforward example of vintage innovation, as they combine features of a typewriter with features of a laptop: while the devices are not able to browse the internet or get notifications (which minimizes distraction), they do create digital files in which writing is saved, and they automatically upload a user’s work into the cloud.
In the case of Freewrite, the company also profitably leans into a vintage aesthetic: Freewrite’s vanilla Smart Typewriter is available for $649 on their website, whereas the functionally identical Ernest Hemingway Freewrite Signature Edition sells for $999 (though, of course, this price also includes the Hemingwrite Attaché Case). Freewrite, much more than Brick, positions itself almost as a lifestyle brand: it seems to be selling the fantasy of becoming a writer, for all that word evokes, as much as it sells smart typewriters. One of its products, for example, is described as “Best for travelers and adventurers.” Of the Hemingway-themed version, would-be purchasers are informed that the typewriter:
“captures the vibrant spirit of its namesake and serves as a timeless companion for the most daring of writing adventures.”
This is another salient feature of vintage innovation as an innovation strategy example: it is possible to create new products with enough nods to the past to evoke nostalgia (or in this case a potent blend of nostalgia and fantasy).
For Freewrite, vintage innovation seems to have yielded success: founded in 2014, the company has since diversified its offerings from one model of smart typewriter to three, even partnering with the Ernest Hemingway Estate to offer the aforementioned themed version.
In this innovation strategy example, we have discussed the benefits of vintage innovation strategy in creating new products. In both the case of the Brick and Freewrite, we have seen how companies are able to use old strategies to address new challenges. In the case of the Brick, we have seen how vintage innovation strategy allows for the creation of products that connect with human beings though different layers of their experience (in this case, digitally and physically). In the case of Freewrite, we saw how vintage innovation can also unlock the selling power of nostalgia, even for new products.
Insight to Action can help you leverage vintage innovation, and a host of other innovation strategies, in your own business endeavors. For more information on innovation strategy examples, customer segmentation, positioning strategy, and more, see our resources page. Our newsletter is a great source of information on the ever-evolving world of market strategy. Finally, we hold office hours at which we would be happy to discuss the possibility of working together.
