Welcome Back, Flowbee

Somewhere, someone was thinking that a razor combined with a vacuum cleaner would be a godsend for those looking to have a clean cut look everyday. That someone was Rick Hunts from the place where all geniuses live in the US, San Diego.

I thought about the Flowbee today as I looked in the mirror and realized it could be months before I got my next haircut. I thought about cutting my own hair and then reminisced about the last time that happened, when I was saving costs in university and cut my own hair with a razor. My male peers seemed to like the style unanimously while female peers didn’t. They were also quick to notice that the cut was fairly uneven. After that, as well as a few other instances of horribly bad but cheap haircuts, I vowed never to cut my hair or to cut corners, so to speak, with haircuts.

For a brief period, I though that the Singularity would make all forms of manual arts irrelevant soon. “Good thing I’m not am oral hygienist” I’d think. Not realizing that people evolve with the tools. Haircutters become driven to an art and can have a better living rather than a worse one in a technology revolution. Many people will go to a better version of the Flowbee for standard haircuts but more will also pay higher for an experiential haircut that might also involve technology.

We will need tech that keeps both parties safe but can also improve performance. Maybe for the haircutter this will mean haptic scissors and AR goggles. Or virtual dentistry. Or maybe it’s Zoom based hair consultants who will walk you through your own haircut?

Isolation is going to drive many new models of business.