London-based start-up Nothing is trying to upend the consumer-tech industry. In this interview, the company's design director, Adam Bates, discusses how.
Since being founded by Chinese-Swedish entrepreneur Carl Pei three years ago, Nothing has moved at breakneck speed, releasing three wireless earbuds and two smartphones ? with a third set to launch next month.
Counting iPod designer Tony Fadell and Reddit CEO Steve Huffman among an illustrious list of investors, the company's stated aim is to "make tech fun again".
"We're a bit bored"
Having joined Nothing as design director in early 2022 after spending 14 years at Dyson, Bates is tasked with ensuring that the brand's products deliver on that ambition.
"I think it's in a lot of our bones that there are some things that aren't right about these products," said Bates, referring to the current offering of smartphones from mainstream brands. "And also that we're a bit bored," he added.
Bates suggests that the current state of monotony within the smartphone industry can be traced back to 2007 and the seismic launch of the original Apple iPhone.
"The iPhone in 2007 was a new format," he told Dezeen. "There were touchscreen phones before but the way they designed the interface ? really we're still with that now."
"When something like that happens and then it catches and it gets traction, other people start doing it as well."
Nothing's product launches so far in...