New out of phone (1) hype, Nothing trying NFTs

Nothing gets into non-fungible tokens. The company announced Tuesday that early community investors will be the first to receive “Black Dot NFTs”, which will provide “exclusive benefits” to their owners, in addition to being collectibles.

Hype machine – Maybe I should not be surprised. Although their brilliance has certainly faded since last year, NFTs and the larger “web3” ecosystem are part of the current hype generator du jour for a certain type of power player in the technology industry. Nothing is a fan of generating hype, and as more details have leaked about the phone (1) that could dampen the tension as the fact that it will be powered by Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 778G + chip, the company unveils a new component of the plan that can get your fans even more engaged.

It’s just a shame that given all the baggage that comes with NFTs, from the relative quality of the art associated with them to the many scams they’ve been a part of, nothing has done almost anything to explain the purpose of the new tokens.

Not quite a DAO? – Not to suggest that nothing scams anyone, if something that addresses NFTs as a way to strengthen a notion of “community” makes sense. When Nothing announced its first round of community investment in 2021, it said it wanted community members to be a big part of the company. “As part of this process, we will also elect a community member to our board, so that we are always kept in check and reminded of what users want,” said Notting’s CEO and founder Carl Pei.

Strangely enough, it sounds like nothing has gone back to a DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, where token holders get the right to vote, except that Nothing’s community investors only get one vote on the board instead of being the whole company itself.

Of course, I can not really claim that this is a DAO either, because much like Nothing’s previous announcements, although what is shared fascinates you, there are not many details to go into here.

Just start a phone – If there is any pity for nothing, it is the same thing that used to drive NFT auctions at ridiculous prices: inexplicable hype. Lots of talk about community, vague notions of what was better in the past, and a promise that this time things could be different – if only you were involved.

Currently, these NFTs are only for Nothing loyal, investors and anyone who pre-orders the phone (1), so it is difficult to say whether the sale of JPEGs and MP4s is part of Nothing’s business going forward, but it is convenient . example of how the business works. All it needs to do is launch a good, affordable phone that looks cool. Sounds like it might even do it! But in the meantime, we get the slow flow of information, blockchain-based flights and endless hype cycles.

Carl Pei is clearly incredibly confident in what Nothing plans to offer, and I’m sure that complaints about NFTs and lack of information sound a lot like “feedback” he has already received.

It does not change the fact that people actually need to use the company’s products to find out if they are worth all the trouble. I’m still excited about the phone (1) – the launch is coming in just six short days – but until it comes, everything else is just a distraction.