In a clever move to help the environment (and of course promote its brand) the globally renowned Swedish furniture retailer Ikea recently took its first step into the world of technology and started offering its customers an eco-friendly, disposable cardboard camera free with their purchases of the popular built-it-yourself furnishing and home wares products.
The single-use snapper called “Knappa” was designed from mostly recyclable materials by Swede artsy type Jesper Kouthoofd and can take only 40 shots before it’s done. When your snaps are taken you can get them onto your PC or laptop with a handy swing-out USB connector and the devices runs on 2 AA batteries – these can also be disposed of environmentally safely.
The real purpose for the Knappa camera being given to Ikea customers worldwide is part of a “PS at Home” campaign and to encourage consumer interaction and allowing furniture buyers to take the gadget away with them to shoot their latest purchase in its natural setting – rather than the artificially created idealist visions as seen in those chunky Ikea catalogues. Photos will then be shared on the Ikea website to encourage web windows shoppers to visit the store.
Ikea has however denied that it will be making any major move into the consumer tech market, so expect no Swedish-made DIY 55” flat-screen TVs anytime soon!
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