http://cargocollective.com/benjaminhelle/iPhone-case-fixed-on-the-wall
Product Summary
ON/OFF the WALL is an iPhone case that plugs directly into a wall outlet. It is designed to charge your phone, while also allowing the owner to use it at the same time. It is only compatible with iPhone versions 4, 4S, 5, and 5S. The socket part of the case is designed to fit all types of sockets, whether the plug goes into the wall or not. With the right kind of applications, you can also use the case to turn your phone into a home conductor and easily manage settings like lights, stereo volume, door lock, and much more.
While the idea sounds very useful on paper and looks great on a canvas, it will probably not be adopted for the reasons below.
Relative Advantage and Complexity
As I see it, ON/OFF the WALL (abbreviated as OtW from here on) cannot serve the the purposes that it was designed to in a meaningful way. There are many other “dock” style chargers that people use to hold their iPhones in their rooms; the most popular and well-known example is the iHome. The iHome charges your phone, while also serving as an alarm clock and speaker. Since OtW must plug directly into the wall, it is also a lot less versatile than the iHome, which uses a cord to allow the user to place the device anywhere they want within reach of the cord.
Another issue of practicality that hinders OtW is the fact that the user cannot type on the phone while it is in the dock. In an age when everyone is connected to everyone at any given point in time, it would be annoying to have to take the phone out of its cradle every single time a message or email arrives. Also, for the speaker functionality, the new iPhone 5S models have their aux inputs at the bottom, which OtW does not facilitate.
Among the two main “competing products” (quoted because the standard charger is too obvious of a competitor) named, OtW loses out hard due to some practicality issues. However, if we were to compare OtW to other real home conductor products, OtW might have a relative advantage in complexity and affordability. Note that this advantage only comes under the assumption that there are iPhone apps that allow the “home conductor” function to work as intended. As far as I know, there are no apps on the market that allow homeowners to use their phones as all-in-one home conductors, in which case, OtW would be useless.
Compatibility
OtW is definitely compatible with the needs of today’s society if used as designed. I would imagine that there is not much “home conducting” to be done when the owner is not home; instead of investing in an expensive home management system that would overlap with functionalities that the iPhones are already capable of doing anyway, the money could be spent somewhere else. The case would be a fashionable placeholder for empty plugs in the house, while providing a cradle for a mini control center in one’s home. Especially because many technological advances in recent times allow for centralized control of various functions around the house, this could prove very useful. However, it should be noted that - at least in North America and most of Asia (regions where I’ve lived), most wall power outlets are located near the floor. If my assumption that plugs in most parts of the world are also located near the bottom of the wall, this invention is absolutely useless because no one wants to have to drop to the floor to adjust their home settings.
Adaptability / Reinventability
There isn’t much room for adaptability in this case since the functionality is set in stone; the plug part of the case cannot be detached from the sleeve part, which means that the case is not portable at all due to the protruding prongs. Another point of inadaptability, which is a regional problem that only affect some of us, is that in North America, the round prongs that are shown in the pictures do not fit the wall outlets. This means that, in order to use this specific product as designed, those of use in North America would need to add on another adapter at the plug, which would make it even bulkier and detract from the the wall-hugging case design. The size and hole placement of the case also specifically fits the iPhone, which means it most likely can’t be used with any other types of phones.
Observability
If used as intended, the product would have very observable results. Buyers would see the product hanging on the wall, be able to dock their iPhones in it every time they come home, and actively use it to control various settings around the house. The case itself wouldn’t have an effect, but they would see the case holding the phone in place and acting as a “home-conductor case”.
Conclusion
OtW has zero chance of being adopted unless two minimal conditions are met: 1) the development of sufficient apps and/or programs that allow iPhones to act as all-in-one home conductors, and 2) the general trend of wall outlet placements change and more outlets begin to be placed higher up on walls where people can actually use them as home conductors. Even then, there is no guarantee that people will love other aspects of the product design, such as material and color. At this point, while the sketches and prototype designs look impressive and aesthetically pleasing, ON/OFF the WALL does not have a place for adoption within practical inventions of 2013.
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