Remember when kids used to play stickball, marbles, and hopscotch instead of iPhone games? Well I don't either. But this Kickstarter project wants to revive a medium of simpler times -- with a modern twist.
The Can is a tin can telephone wired for IP phone use. It has a microphone, a speaker, and a jack for your computer, phone, or tablet so you can pretend you're 7 years old and it's 1939 again.
Aside from its patently ridiculous design, alternately listening to and speaking into The Can seems like more fun than just slapping a regular phone to your skull.
As the video below shows, The Can comes in Commander and Mini editions, with the former featuring an indicator light for missed calls. The Mini, meanwhile, jacks into your cell phone with a TRS connector.
There's no point in asking "why?" for something so absurdly awesome, but creator Monkey Wrench Design has this to say: "Cans were made in America along with string and were intended to feed and entertain children. We aim to continue this long lineage of American-made can-based entertainment by manufacturing The Can in San Francisco."
That's the main reason they're seeking $30,000 to get the project going. The cans themselves are also of U.S. origin: "We really like the taste of canned cream corn. The cans mostly come from our love of this Midwestern ambrosia."
Like the Canadian man who uses the Atlantic ocean as his private Internet with bottled messages, The Can brings back a quaint, inconvenient medium to the 21st century.
Meanwhile, I'm hoping Twitter will launch a telegram function.
(Via Technabob)