“Connecting people.” Do you still remember this slogan made by Nokia several years ago? Technology always comes from what people want and need. What things can you imagine to make them “smart”? A smartphone, a smartwatch, smart shoes, or smart home appliances. Have you ever thought about smart … “surfboard”?!
The world is filled with social media; hence, many people don’t want to be disconnected anywhere and anytime. They check their messages, twitts or Facebook feeds all the time even when doing outdoor activities such as rock climbing, kayaking and surfing. Does that really annoy you when doing these exercises but you are unable to check your messages? If you are surfing lovers. Don’t worry, Samsung starts working out with practical methods at your positions- “Samsung Galaxy Surfboard.”
Samsung invited world champion Brazilian professional surfer, Gabriel Medina, to endorse this smart surfboard. The concept of this board is that surfers are “disconnected” when they are alone in the ocean. The board is designed with a built-in LED screen that can display twitts, text messages, the guidance from your coach (it seems you can’t escape anywhere…), and the real time information on the wind and the water conditions. Once you insert your Galaxy S7 into the board, the board becomes smart. It seems to be a perfect board which all surfers need it. Perhaps the next step of Samsung is to design a smart snowboard.
However, is this smart surfboard necessary? It is a question plenty of people are asking. We have been obsessed with Internet-connected devices for 24 hours a day. It is just over the top. Can’t we just focus on what we are doing for just one second? Chris Davis, a famous baseball player, wrote “sorry, not a big fan of this at all” on his Twitter. But Samsung says the concept is aimed at professional surfers who spend hours alone in the ocean.
Although the smart surfboard is a concept, we should enjoy what we are doing rather than being obsessed with a smart device. Therefore, “is smart necessary?” is the issue we have to think about.
Source
1. http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/inventions/samsungs-galaxy-surfboard-could-be-the-most-unnecessary-invention-of-2016/news-story/8619225a619f7e393347fb553057811b
2. http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/5/11/11657666/samsung-galaxy-surfboard
3. http://creativity-online.com/work/samsung-samsung-galaxy-surfboard/46946
4. http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-samsungs-new-digital-surfboard-shows-riders-tweets-and-sea-conditions-171366
Woow! Such an interesting post. To be quite honest; i once got a few surf lessons in Sri Lanka and managing to even stand straight up on such a small unstable board is almost impossible! :O What I do find quite contradicting is the fact that surfing is actually a way of “connecting with nature”. There are a lot of sports (including snowboarding) for which I would understand the actual professionals would like some interacting through a smartwatch/smartboard/smart-anything, but surfing? I doubt it will be accepted amongst the professionals. Especially the fact that you can check Twitter while laying in the water, that just sound bizarre to me. What I do think it could be helpful for is shark activity maybe? I could imagine that it would be possible to locate big objects (such as sharks) faster, which in return could save lives. That’s a real smart surfboard to me!