RANDO FOR IOS TURNS PHOTO SHARING ON ITS HEAD, AND IT’S A LITTLE BIT THRILLING.
Today we take sharing for granted. At any time, practically anywhere, we can broadcast what we’re seeing, doing, or thinking to more or less everyone we know--and, in some cases, to plenty of people we don’t. Looking at the fantastic success of services like Twitter and Instagram, it’s clear that we’re enjoying the megaphone. So where does this little app called Rando get off limiting our photo sharing to one single person? And a total stranger at that?
Rando is a social photo app that lets you share with one person -- a total stranger (Click Image To Enlarge)
At first glance, that core functionality seems so hilariously limited--so backwards in comparison to how sharing is supposed to work--that you might think the app is some sort of early April Fool’s prank. But it’s for real. Rando lets you take one picture, which it then delivers to one of its users, selected at random. They have no way of giving you any feedback, and sender and receiver remain totally unknown to each other the entire time. Every so often, you become that random recipient and get some other user’s picture delivered to your phone.
You’re the sender of these anonymous images and the recipient, too. The idea was inspired by the old-school film era goof-up: getting someone else’s pictures in your envelope. Images take the form of a circle--a tiny keyhole glimpse into another life. (Click Images To Enlarge)
The idea, the developers explain, was born out of fond memories of the occasional mix-ups that occurred in the days when taking pictures meant dropping off film to be developed. Every so often, some absentminded clerk would slip someone else’s photos in your envelope, and you’d get an unexpected glimpse into some anonymous life. If you’ve ever looked through some old packet of photos at a flea market, you’ll be familiar with this unique mix of voyeurism, mystery, and serendipity.
The idea might seem silly in the age of unprecedented, ubiquitous sharing. And it is--to an extent. But it might also make you rethink what you truly value about social networking (Click Image To Enlarge)
Rando only gives you a single photo from any given stranger, and only a photo that someone willingly fired into the digital void, so it’s a little less creepy than all that. But once you play with it a bit, you realize that it’s not an entirely ludicrous idea. In fact, it becomes a little bit thrilling.
On a very basic level, there’s something exciting about the way the app strips away everything but the photos themselves. Matt Miller, co-founder of ustwo, the digital design studio that created the app, said.
"It’s an experience that offers freedom for users on a number of levels. No comments, likes, sharing, re-sharing, friends, titles, captions, hashtags--it’s just you and the pictures."
All the images are cropped into small circles, emphasizing the sense that you’re getting an intimate, valuable peek through the keyhole into some distant life.
But Rando’s true value may be what it says about how all this sharing is affecting our photography in the first place. It makes you realize the burden photos can take on when they’re snapped with a final destination of Facebook or Instagram in mind--that nagging sense that they inevitably go out into the world as some kind of social currency.
Miller says.
"The intention was to create an experience that was more about giving than bragging, and I hope the app will get some users reflecting on why they use social media more generally."
Because a stranger doesn’t care that you’re drinking a cocktail at a hip new bar; he only cares if you can make an interesting picture out of it.
COMMENTARY: 2013 is turning out to be the Year of Creepy Mobile Apps. I thought I was all creeped-out when I blogged about Apple's acquisition of location-based mobile appmaker WifiSLAM.
Rando, the new iOS mobile app creeps me out a couple of notches above WifiSLAM. Rando is screaming for user missuse and exploitation for the pure exhaultation of creeping out somebody you don't even know. Imagine receiving an anonymous pic from someone you don't even know. Let's say the photo offends the receiver, and the receiver of your anonymous photo decides to creep you out by reporting the incident to the local law enforcement officials.
Rando also opens the door to spammers, so I would like to know what procedures are in place by Rando to control spammers.
Rando calls their app "an experimental photo exchange platform for people who like photography." Somehow I think that this app will appeal to the voyeur that dwells inside all of us.
I can hardly wait to hear about the creepy photos making their way to unsuspecting individuals. LOL
Rando Product Overview:
- Category: Photo & Video
- Updated: 13 March 2013
- Version: 0.5.1
- Size: 3.6 MB
- Language: English
- Developer: ustwo
- © 2012 ustwo™ Studio Ltd
- Rated 4+
Rando Requirements:
Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation), iPad 2 Wi-Fi, iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G, iPad (3rd generation), iPad Wi-Fi + 4G, iPad (4th generation), iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular (4th generation), iPad mini and iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular. Requires iOS 6.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
Courtesy of an article dated March 22, 2013 appearing in Fast Company Design
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