#HTE

Samsung’s AirDresser, a Personal Dry Cleaning Machine

I feel for the product designers here. Imagine busting your ass on a project for months or years, and then it finally gets to market amidst a pandemic that obliterates the need for said object.

I’m talking about Samsung’s AirDresser, a dry cleaning machine designed for home use.

It’s not a casual purchase; the machine is over six feet tall, weighs more than 200 pounds and costs $1,150. But if you work corporate, wear business attire and are on a first-name basis with your local dry cleaner, you can calculate how quickly this thing would pay for itself. Halve that calculation if your spouse works corporate, too. (A Wall Street Journal article claimed that “an average business person spends between $500 and $1,500 annually” on dry cleaning–and that was 20 years ago, with year 2000 prices.)

Nowadays, of course, few people are going into an office, let alone wearing suits. It’s likely that the AirDresser will bomb, at least for the next year. Somewhere near one of Samsung’s design centers, a bunch of designers are sitting at home in their pajamas and having a glum Zoom call.