Gadgetory

now some people might say the loomio is a novelty item but to those people I would say this look at the root of the word novelty it's novel which to me says you're just being closed-minded because it's in the shape of a book that is to say judging a book by it's cover that was a joke but this video is actually very serious this is an unusual product for us but I got a special request to do a video about it and I was intrigued so I figured what the hey let's try something a little different the jazz mini is a beautiful and compact aluminum stand for your smartphone that even holds tablets up to eight inches click now to learn more in our journey to determine what exactly loomio is we'll start with their website hello loomio comm seems to suggest that in fact loomio is something much more than just a lamp with words like simplicity possibility and beauty well I don't know anything about that stuff but what I do know is that loomio is an LED lamp in the shape of a book it features an environmentally conscious construction that is recyclable although it doesn't allow the integrated battery rated at about 8 hours to be replaced and you can choose from three different finishes cherry maple or walnut also the pages are made of water-resistant Tyvek the way it works is and I have to admit it's actually about as captivating as most of the pictures in their gallery suggest you simply open up what looks like a fairly ordinary hardcover book and an internal switch automatically turns the lamp on and reveals a surprisingly powerful light source brightness control is strictly analog that is to say you control it by opening up the book more or less the spine is made of wood like the rest of the cover which gives it strength and mounting flexibility so you can open it up on a flat surface prop it up like a book open it up fully and pin it there with the neodymium magnets embedded in the cover and the included magnetic widget or put the included leather strap on the widget and hang it for a completely different effect there are some other creative ideas that were included with the Kickstarter launch video such as sticking it to a metal surface such as a shelf when you're trying to get something from inside a closet but honestly unless I was planning for a place to put my loomio like if I were to run out and specifically buy a metal shelf or a small table to put next to my reading chair that has a metal surface I just didn't find many places that I could stick it that would make a ton of sense I mean the fridge perhaps if the light included with my fridge was already broken perhaps and therein lies the problem a big part of the pitch for loomio is convenience pull it out when you can't find something in the dark pull it out when you need to read a book under a kitchen cabinet instead of three feet to the right where the lighting appears to be perfectly adequate or and this one really made my eyes just about roll out of my skull onto the floor pull it out an emergency situation what defines a convenient solution in my eyes is something that's easier and/or faster than the other way to achieve an objective and given the popularity of smartphones with integrated flashes you're more likely to have one of those handy than a loomio in any of the above scenarios so in short I think those things are loomio trying to be something it's not it's not really any more convenient than a flashlight and if those were better than other solutions I'm sure we'd light our houses with them and carry them around too but we don't and besides for a hundred and sixty dollars I can get a pretty cool flashlight and a book to like pointed at instead if I'm looking at this from a purely pragmatic perspective so we need to detach from practicality a little bit to correctly evaluate what ludmil isn't and what it is what it isn't is something I'm going to start carrying around with me all the time it's just not useful often enough to justify the extra pound of weight and the stress of you know worrying about accidentally damaging its pages with the other junk in my bag so it falls into the same category as tablets for me neato when I'm at home and it's nearby but really too bulky to make part of my everyday life what it also isn't is a light fixture it's 500 lumen rating puts it in the neighborhood of a 40 watt bulb which is an impressive feat for something so slim and battery powered and honestly it works well and looks awesome to the point where I'm sure folks would consider putting you know metal plates on a wall to accommodate it but the issue is that the design doesn't allow it to hook up to your house wiring in any way that would be practical and I'm not going to build permanent fixtures in my house around a light that needs to be charged somewhere else every time before it can be relocated and then used what ludmil is to me though is a really cool fashion statement that has the added benefit of actually coming in handy from time to time I mean say what you will about how expensive it is lighting products are expensive in general so it's not totally out to lunch there but if you pull one of these out and put it on the table for a romantic dinner or bring it out to impress some friends when you sit down to drink some wine and play a game of Settlers of Catan or something it's a fantastic conversation starter and I've seen people spend a lot more than 160 dollars on stuff that's legitimately useless and with loomio it was kind of cool to use my latest gadget to play superhero when my wife was cross stitching in bed and needed a bit of extra light i stood up walked over to the bed and whipped it out for the loomio that is and she was like oh cool that's perfect and propped it up on the headboard so she could see what she was doing not exactly earth-shattering and not the kind of thing that I typically spend that kind of money on but certainly better than useless thanks for watching guys the link for where to buy this product is in the video description below the like dislike and share buttons which you should use accordingly also in the video description is a support link that we'd love for you to use if you appreciate what we do you can get a t-shirt give us a monthly contribution or change your browser bookmarks to sites that give us an affiliate kickback when you buy stuff it helps us out a lot I'd also love to hear your comments on where you would use the loomio or if you would use it at all please feel free to post those and thanks again for watching and as always guys don't forget to subscribe to Linus tech tips for more unboxings reviews and other computer videos