Normally, the only ads you see on this blog are the ones that WordPress.com imposes, because I’m too cheap to pay $4 a month to go ad-free. I have, in the past, plugged my son’s startup Futuristic Lights, which is still in business, even though my son is now working full time for Astranis (a much bigger startup, making a communications satellite).
Today, though, I want to plug my older brother’s business: AirTurn. The core of their business is high-quality foot switches for musicians to turn pages on iPads displaying sheet music. With performances all over the world being cancelled or delayed, there is much less demand than usual for their products. They’re pushing one of their newest products as being useful in the new cower-in-place world: the AirTurn TechAssist, which was originally designed as a high-quality, sturdy music stand to hold an iPad, tablet, or smartphone.
Here is a press release that AirTurn has released about the TechAssist.
Its function is now of use to more than just musicians, as many people are now stuck using tablets and phones to work or do school remotely. I could see the stand being quite useful to video meetings—putting the camera up level with your eyes rather than providing the view up your nose that so many of the tablet-on-the-table conferees use.
I suspect that some video lecturers could take advantage of AirTurn’s Bluetooth foot switches (with 2–6 switches, depending on the model and easy mapping of the switches to keyboard shortcuts on the tablet or computer), but I suspect that is still a very small market, as most lecturers are suffering at the moment from too many new tools to learn, rather than insufficiently rich interfaces.
Disclaimer: I’m not getting anything in return for this ad—my brother doesn’t even know I’m posting it. I’m just worried about the future of his business in the current shutdown and the upcoming recession.