RF devices are already ubiquitous, the technology and applications keep growing, and there's emerging opportunities for innovative applications.

FWIW, I "funded" the Kickstarter for Flipper Zero because my startup was doing something a little innovative with various kinds of RF tags, to help solve a significant societal problem. (Which, besides what we could've contributed to a country in monetary value of our company, the application domain had significant implications for national economies, as well as for public safety. All things that lawmakers care about, in addition to reducing auto thefts.) We had Android diagnostic software, plus bespoke iOS apps with NFC that I wrote, but a Flipper Zero would've helped me work better and faster at some things.

That's nice, thank you for sharing.

I agree with OP, it's bad that its being used to try and take down phones on flights and also if it's being used to steal cars.

The Flipper Zero is a small-form computing device that is immensely popular, not particularly niche.

> Any(sic) incredibly small number of engineers and scientists would ever use this device.

I personally know over a dozen people who own them and have tinkered with them in various ways. I managed to "break" my air conditioner unit (permanently setting it to C, not that bad of a "break") with one. Definitely less popular than a Pi or Arduino, but growing in popularity very fast.

> immensely popular

Numbers? I see in 2023 they did 80m rev which is what, half a million devices sold worldwide? That’s very niche. % wise close to 0; it’s a geek tool. Nice but not immensely popular.

You'd be surprised how much 500K means if you're not Samsung or Apple. There's recent products you'd say were clear hits and sold an order of magnitude more than that, but in actuality, it was exactly 350K.

It’s a great achievement by the company; I am not refuting that. It’s still a niche product no one but a few tech people heard off it or would buy it.

Microsoft only managed to sell 140k Xbox Ones in Japan. Just throwing a comparison.

So xbox one was a small niche in Japan.

No, you're still missing it.

500K is a _lot_.

Runaway success unless you're: A) Apple B) Samsung

The 350K product I'm referring to defined a whole category for years and is universally well-known in tech.

To be 100% clear, next time you see "500K sold", your decision tree is:

Is it Apple? If yes, can be disagreeable whether it is well-known / successful.

Is it Samsung? If yes, can be disagreeable about whether it is well-known / successful.

Still here? It's well-known and successful, you'll look silly if you choose to be disagreeable.

But I didn’t say 500k is not a lot or that it’s not successful; I say that it is a niche and it’s not immensely popular. It’s successful in its niche. Again, the comment I replied to used those terms and that’s just not true. I don’t care and wish them all the luck and selling 100m of these things, but if I have to think about how many zeros behind the comma to write the % of human owners, this is not a non niche or popular product. Knock on your neighbours door and ask what it is; they won’t know and they also would never ever buy one.

It's not a niche device - it's explosively popular and is obviously serving as a gateway for some young people into engineering and hacking.

I couldn't possibly comment on the practical consequences to STEM of banning it. I wouldn't make that argument. But it's silly to claim that it's a "think of the children" argument and nothing more.