This is the first in a series of posts describing some of the projects we would love to work on. As a holistic digital design firm, Jackson Fish Market is very fortunate to have really bright clients come to us with super interesting projects on a regular basis. But rather than wait for them to come to us, we figured we might let the world know which projects we’d love to work on. Each of these ideas is something we’re passionate about. And for each we have a deep set of ideas to help make them a reality. So if one of these is something you’re thinking about, call us. We’d love to help.

It seems like every few months we read another article about how scientists are creating low power, flexible, super-thin, high-resolution displays. And that soon, really any minute now, maybe even yesterday, we’ll all replace those reams and reams of paper with flexible, bendable, foldable, and of course disposable, pieces of electronic paper. Of course, we’re not quite there yet. Not even close. But we may be closer than we think if we’re willing to set our sights a little lower.

What we want to create is a display that will retail for less than $10. It does not need to be color. It will play a 3 minute video. It will have no networking. It will run on batteries. Getting video onto the device will be a matter of a USB cable or perhaps a USB stick with a video file that is labeled correctly. The device will have almost no user interface as it will either be off, show the video, or show a still. The device will have rudimentary audio. When the battery runs out, the stored video remains. We’d like it to remain indefinitely so that decades from now new batteries will reveal the video on board.

The design of the device should be such that it will survive being mailed with no packaging and some stamps on the back.

Ultimately we believe these devices can serve as an analog to handwritten notes. Custom videos from businesses to favored customers. Personal video postcards from parents to their children at summer camp.

If the cost is in the $10 range, recipients of these “postcards” may be interested in using them. But we believe that as the cost goes down, the use will become more ubiquitous and the devices thought of as more disposable.

If you’re looking to create something like this, and would like an excited team to help you design the identity, the hardware, the software, and the marketing experiences, don’t hesitate to let us know.