Some office workers are so indecisive that they even consult fortune-telling to decide between Luckin and Cotti. Is this 99-yuan "electronic gadget" the cure for their indecision?
Young people who love fortune - telling have found a new electronic pet.
Recently, Sspai released a small e - ink screen toy. It's only the size of an AirPods charging case, consisting of a small screen and a physical button. Its main functions include providing decision - making guidance such as "The Book of Answers" and "Daily Horoscope". Therefore, it's named 「Pocket Prophet」 and is priced at 99 yuan during the initial release period.
「Pocket Prophet」 is small in size and easy to carry. Usually, it can be used as a pendant, but it can be used at any time to answer questions and solve doubts: If you're not sure whether to go out on the weekend, you can flip a coin; if you're hesitating whether to contact someone, you can roll a die... Office workers who even need to consult Doubao about whether to have curry rice for lunch are crazy about it. This new - era "e - junk" can quickly cure decision - making difficulties.
Keeping Tamagotchi as an electronic pet was the trend of the previous era. Now, young people are into hanging a fortune - teller on their bags.
Do office workers popularly use "e - junk" to decide what to eat for lunch?
To keep up with the trend of electronic fortune - telling, the editorial department of Hydrogen Business evaluated two of the most popular fortune - telling machines on the market, 「Pocket Prophet」 and 「Okay Fortune Pouch」 which was recommended by Papi Jiang before.
First, 「Pocket Prophet」, jointly developed by Sspai and the 「Mind Reset」 team: It's very small and light when held in hand. It features an e - ink screen. The black - and - white screen has a bit of lag, but it has a good texture. According to the editor, "The lag in loading the ink text, with the answer slowly reappearing, actually adds a touch of mystery."
Although it's small, it has many uses. The uses of 「Pocket Prophet」 include The Book of Answers, Current Horoscope, MBTI Personality Guide, Coin Flip, Dice Roll, Electronic Wooden Fish, Random Numbers within Ten and other random gameplay, as well as practical functions such as Bluetooth Page Turner and Clock. Moreover, it is equipped with OTA (Over - the - Air) technology and can continuously evolve. The creator team will explore various new gameplay and wirelessly push them to the device to maintain the long - tail freshness of the product.
The random suggestions provided by 「Pocket Prophet」 are relatively specific. For example, in today's personality guide it gave me, it wrote: "Think clearly about what you want to promote before the meeting", "Break down complex problems into three executable parts today", "Complement the structure when collaborating with INFJs"... It's quite suitable for the daily work scenarios of office workers. The advantage is that it's correct and useful, but the disadvantage is that it's full of clichés and nonsense, more like a collection of leadership catchphrases.
This product has diverse forms of interaction with mobile phones. You can connect it to Wi - Fi, convert your favorite pictures into wallpapers specifically for the e - ink screen, or connect it to your mobile phone via Bluetooth and use it as a page turner, which is suitable for various scenarios such as camera remote control, mobile phone page turning, and song switching. You no longer have to worry about bending down to turn pages on the computer when giving a PPT presentation in a meeting.
However, practicality is just its secondary function. More people buy it to solve indecision and anxiety and assist in decision - making. After all, on this display the size of an earphone case, you can see two of the modern people's favorite disciplines - metaphysics and psychology, as well as two of the Z - generation's most obsessed tools - fortune - telling and MBTI.
The other product in the evaluation is 「Okay Fortune Pouch」, which was popular last year. The product has bright colors, combining cyber style and dopamine well. It's definitely eye - catching as a bag pendant. After turning it on, it shows your daily horoscope, including four aspects: emotion, money, travel, and health. By clicking the right button, you can play 「Yes or No」, a game similar to flipping a coin. You can silently ask your question in your mind and receive a "yes" or "no" answer from the fortune - telling machine.
Of course, the core function of the product is fortune - telling - Shake the fortune - telling machine with your hands clasped together, and you'll get a fortune slip. This fortune - telling action is quite ritualistic. However, according to internal statistics of Hydrogen Business, 80% of people receive a "lucky" result. It only reports good news, maximizing the emotional value. But one editor, after thinking "How will my work be today", received the answer "extremely unlucky". "So what? I can't stop working."
The fortune - telling machine also gives you a two - character message, such as "Caution", "Analysis", "Motivation", etc. When you want to understand the meaning of these ambiguous words, you have to open the attached instruction manual to interpret the fortune and get an equally ambiguous explanation.
For example, the message I drew was "Inheritance", and the explanation I received was "Pass on the torch, keep the cultural context alive, and the business will thrive"... What to pass on? We don't know. Just pass it on.
The paper - based fortune - telling interpretation is printed together with the instruction manual. It's hard not to say it's an obvious act of 「perfunctory」. Are we really still in the era of cyber fortune - telling and have to carry a small booklet around?
The above are its only three functions, which are incredibly simple. It can be played as a small toy, but the price is quite high. Currently, it's sold for 188 yuan on the official website, and the sales are good. It also caused quite a stir on social platforms. Consumer Fufu said that she bought this product on the premise that "it's a nice pendant". "If it were just a bag pendant sold for nearly 200 yuan, I might think it's expensive. But if this pendant is useful, I'll buy it. Its design is very beautiful. This is the first time I've seen the combination of cyber style and cherry - blossom pink."
However, our thought after the experience is quite simple: Isn't this just spending 200 yuan to buy an electronic pet that costs 20 - 30 yuan at the stationery store near the primary school? To be precise, it has fewer functions than an electronic pet.
The manufacturer of 「Okay Fortune Pouch」 is called "POPSUNDAY", a trendy art startup brand established in 2021. It mainly collaborates with artists to develop art - related peripherals and produces various interesting and good - looking cultural and creative products and toys. This company has its own model factory in Shenzhen and "once manufactured products for Marvel". Most of its products on sale are plush toys or ornaments. It's understandable that it can't add more technological elements to the products.
When you open its Taobao store, you'll see many small items with a dopamine style and good omens: Cartoon Money Trees, Plush Lucky Cats, Good - luck Charms, and God of Wealth Statues... The prices all start from one or two hundred yuan. It can be said that it fully understands how obsessed young people are with good luck.
User Zhixia told Hydrogen Business that she has been using the fortune - telling machine quite frequently recently. "When I encounter something that I can't decide on and involves other people, I'll draw a fortune. For example, whether this deal can be concluded or how the group's performance will be. It's like giving myself a psychological hint. If it comes true, I think it's a bit useful. If not, I comfort myself that I can't force it. Anyway, I can always find an excuse."
The fortune messages the machine gives her are quite abstract, such as "Persist" and "Contribute". "These are things I've always been doing, so it can't be said that I'm following its guidance." Zhixia said that she mostly uses the fortune - telling machine to seek good luck when she's under a lot of pressure or nervous. She'll forget about it as soon as the thing is over.
Xiaoyu, who loves chasing stars, mentioned that her idol participated in a competition last year, and the entire fan circle was very anxious. Many fans would post Tarot readings and fortune - telling content on social media. Since she doesn't have these skills, she recorded a video using the fortune - telling machine to soothe the emotions of her fellow fans. "I tried several times before shooting and only posted the video when I got a good result."
Xiaohongshu @Shibingbingbushigaogao
Most young people who are used to using fortune - telling machines also use other ways to tell fortunes.
For example, The Book of Answers, which was quite popular a few years ago. It's bound like a magic book, and each page has a mysterious sentence. Users can silently ask their worried questions and then open the book to receive a philosophical and ambiguous answer: "You'll have the final say", "Let it go", "Don't ask too much, just do your best"... This answer is not authoritative and has no guarantee, but it has comforted a generation of young people struggling with self - doubt. Now, this book is still placed in a prominent position in every Sisyphe Bookstore.
Similarly, there are Decision Coins and Fortune Cookies that were once popular. The former is just a large coin with colorful and nice patterns. One side says YES and the other says NO. The latter is a cookie with a small note inside, which has an English lucky saying and your lucky number for the day. Although the forms are different, the core is similar - to provide immediate certainty to relieve users' doubts and anxiety about the unknown.
Xiaohongshu @Jiyixiaotianshi, @Senyi
Now, fortune - telling methods such as Decision Coins and The Book of Answers are incorporated into electronic toys like fortune - telling machines. There are various types of fortune - telling machines on the market, covering most of the modern popular fortune - telling cultures. You can see Tarot card draws, lottery draws, dice rolls, coin flips, and cup - divination. It's a perfect combination of Chinese and Western cultures, with masters from all over the world and different eras in your pocket.
Xiaohongshu @HertzStudio, @Liaoyushiyueliang
Compared with the old - school manual Tarot reading and palm - reading by masters, fortune - telling machines do have certain advantages. On the one hand, you can do countless fortune - tellings for one or two hundred yuan. The cost - effectiveness of the "cyber master" is obviously higher than that of a Tarot reader who charges hundreds of yuan per session. On the other hand, compared with human masters who make definite judgments, the broad answers of electronic fortune - telling are more likely to bring psychological comfort.
In the report on AI fortune - telling by "Dingjiao One", it's mentioned that cyber fortune - telling can always present the results in a more "pleasing" way to users on the basis of objective analysis. For example, a respondent once specifically went to a fortune - teller recommended by a friend. The fortune - teller spoke in a dialect that she couldn't understand, and she wasn't allowed to take pictures or record. As a result, she didn't remember much. Later, there was no opportunity to ask further questions, so she had to give up.
Xiaolan, who has tried offline Tarot reading several times, told Hydrogen Business that as a modern person with a high degree of socialization, she sometimes has to take the face of the Tarot reader into account when having an offline fortune - telling session. "I'll agree with the reader when they're explaining. I don't want the atmosphere to be too awkward, but what I really think in my heart may be different. Sometimes what they say is really inaccurate, but I won't refute and just nod along." A people - pleaser who has spent a lot of money on fortune - telling has to provide emotional value to the Tarot reader.
