Why Choose Convenience When You Can Have Better?

In February, Tim Wu wrote in a New York Times’ article that resisting convenience — not to own a cellphone, not to use Google — has come to require a special kind of dedication that is often taken for eccentricity. He summarised how as tasks get easier, there is a mounting expectation that everything either gets easier or gets left behind.

Convenience has the ability to make other options unthinkable. We might prefer to make our own bolognese sauce from scratch. Step 1 begins at going to the farmers’ market to handpick fresh tomatoes. But getting bottled bolognese sauce is so convenient that we hardly ever do what we prefer.

When we first designed Flashlight, the typical response we got was:

“Who needs a Flashlight these days? Most cellphones now have this option integrated into the device.”

The original invention of Flashlight began as a light source when in a place with no power or during power outages. Ever since the general purpose hand-held flashlight has been created, many forms have been adapted for special uses. This includes hands-free flashlights for miners. By reinventing Flashlight, our design aims to instil new meaning for the use of Flashlight. Instead of being a tool hidden in a messy drawer and only taken out during emergency situations (only to find that the batteries are not working), Allocacoc’s Flashlight integrates perfectly into our daily lives.

“How many times does one get to use a flashlight at home? With a conventional flashlight, maybe three times in a year. With the Allocacoc’s Flashlight, that’s infinity.”

It’s hard to imagine but Flashlight comes with various accessories, for both indoor and outdoor purposes, to be used as a night lamp, table lamp, or bike clamp (pictures coming soon!). Support our Flashlight Project today on Indiegogo and redefine this tyranny of convenience.