THEY have electronics IN JUNK MAIL now
On the method to the mailbox, you may be expecting bills, birthday cards, perhaps a grocery store catalogue or two. [Steve] was like you, when – up until an embedded computer showed up in the junk mail.
The mailer [turned out to be] from the Arconic company – some kind of publication trying to sway a board of directors vote one method or the other. however far more fascinating is the hardware inside. The gadget included a 3″ LCD screen within folded cardboard, some buttons as well as a micro USB port. After the gadget let the smoke out when [Steve] attempted to fee it, the next step was naturally to perform a full teardown.
It was a simple task to determine the chips inside which still had their factory markings, as well as [Steve] discovered that it appeared to share its style with an Audi advertising material from 2014. It’s rather remarkable that such innovation is affordable sufficient for this kind of mass mailout, though [Steve] notes that it’s rather an imprudent move to publish out a “fire hazard that needs to be specially recycled”.
This reminds us of the e-paper Esquire magazine display from a few years back.