Even successful companies have failed designs in their product archives. In 2016 camera motion control company Edelkrone–whose gear generally draws rave reviews–had a swing-and-a-miss with their Povie, a neck-mounted smartphone holder. (As for the name, think “POV.”) The idea was to provide hands-free recording capability for influencers who wanted to capture something they were manipulating right in front of them:
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Sure it’s somewhat goofy-looking, but in usage it does seem practical:
Edelkrone is a legit and respected manufacturer, and even B&H Photo sold these. As for what undid the product, I’m not convinced it was the form factor; I’m guessing it was the phone connection method. As the product description states: “It holds your smartphone in place by connecting magnetically with a metal plate that sticks to your phone with an adhesive backing.”
Who wants a metal plate permanently attached to their phone? I bet if they worked out something more convenient, we’d still see people walking around with these on.
Source: core77