A day after Apple caused the tech world to pause and take notice with its usual splashy reveal of new iPhones and so forth, Seattle-based smartphone lens and case maker Moment had an announcement of its own on Wednesday morning.
With a video on a dedicated page on its website, Moment showed the world its first $1 case. Made of cardboard.
“This is no ordinary, non protective cardboard box for your phone,” the product description reads. “No, it’s the world’s first all natural, cheap as s–t, case for your expensive phone. Organic, simple, and boxy this case redefines all possibilities. And it comes in one color … dirt brown.”
And sure enough, there are links to purchase the case on Moment and on Amazon.
The 4-year-old startup, which builds camera lenses, cases and other accessories for smartphones, was founded by Marc Barros, who previously headed up the action-sports camera company Contour. Moment last year landed $3 million in new funding and scored an Apple Store distribution deal.
In the video, the enthusiastic Barros tells a not-at-all-packed room of what are probably Moment employees that “the future of photography starts in your pocket” as he pulls out his phone in one of the new cases.
To further the fun, Moment is also selling a waterproof case (Ziplock bag) and charging case (battery + rubber band).
“Guaranteed to make your phone not waterproof, to make your fancy touch screen not usable, and to produce blurry pictures like you took them through a plastic bag,” the description reads.
In an email to GeekWire, Barros said the product line was “inspired by the brown Amazon box everyone relies on. We wanted to bring that to your expensive camera phone.
“We worked on this project for a few minutes so it’s definitely the worst case we’ve ever made. But we hope people buy it for their friends as a joke,” he added.
The moment of levity is certainly deserved for a company that’s been hard at work at its offices near Seattle’s Safeco Field.
Moment celebrated with champagne back in March when its third Kickstarter campaign was met with great success. The crowd funding effort to raise money for products, including a new wide angle lens as well as cases for the iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 6, 6 Plus and Google’s Pixel, ultimately brought in $767,897 from 5,149 backers.
“The Moment community has been incredible,” Barros told GeekWire at the time. “We are humbled that so many existing customers support us with new products, especially taking the risk to pre-order. We don’t take their support lightly. We have to deliver on our promises over the coming months.”
Moment also walked away with Gadget of the Year honors at the 2017 GeekWire Awards in May at the Museum of Pop Culture. The company beat out finalists that included AWS Snowmobile, Bertha the Seattle tunnel machine, Nintendo Switch and Amazon’s Echo Dot.
“It’s very inspiring to work with such a hard-working group of people,” Moment engineer R.J. Lincoln said on stage. “We wouldn’t be here without the whole team. And this is a really inspiring community and we’re very lucky to be apart of this.”
