5

Nomad’s bringing back the early 2000s with a transparent charging brick

 1 year ago
source link: https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/25/23423691/nomad-transparent-30w-charger
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.
neoserver,ios ssh client

Nomad’s bringing back the early 2000s with a transparent charging brick

Nomad’s bringing back the early 2000s with a transparent charging brick

/

Let’s continue this trend of transparent tech, please.

Oct 26, 2022, 12:01 AM UTC|

Share this story

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Picture of a transparent charging brick laying on a table with several other accessories, including a charging mat, iPad, and Apple Watch.
Please let the future be see-through.Image: Nomad

Nomad, known for its sleek accessories made from leather and metal, is playing around with a new material: transparent plastic. The company has announced a limited edition version of its 30W USB-C charger with a frosty-grey case that gives you a peek at the intricate electronics inside.

As with a lot of modern electronics, there’s not actually a ton to see. Sure, it uses GaN components to achieve its small size, but that’s not really obvious just by looking at it. To the untrained eye, it mostly seems like a neat collection of capacitors, solder joints, and various other components.

Luckily for Nomad, that makes for an incredibly cool aesthetic (at least in my opinion), especially for people like me who can appreciate electrical engineering, even if we don’t understand exactly what we’re looking at.

I don’t know what that Lego-looking thing on the left is, but I love that I can see it.Image: Nomad

Outside of the case, there’s not a lot that’s special about this charger; it's just one of several compact, 30W chargers on the market with an around-$30 MSRP. That’s not to say that it seems bad, just routinely competent. The company says it’s meant to fast-charge iPhones, and is even capable of providing enough power for a MacBook Air. But still... that case though.

As this tweet notes, the nostalgia cycle has reached the late 90s and early 2000s — aka the golden age for fun, see-through gadgets. And while I certainly can’t fault the aesthetics of Nomad’s offering (nor those of, say the Nothing Phone or other recent transparent devices), I’d love to see other companies add a splash of color. Imagine a pink iPhone where you could see the battery, MagSafe magnets, and charging coil. How about an official see-through Switch or Steam Deck? And as long as I’m making a list of wishes that won’t come true, I hope Sony brings back the PSP and makes it transparent, all in a single stroke.


About Joyk


Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK