Jade Stands Alone
Jade is the only consumer electronic product that is simultaneously durable, repairable, teaches skills for sustainable STEM practices, and is humane technology. Below is a summary of each of these:
| ## Durable Jade is built with electronic parts that are meant for environments where a failed part means a loss of life. These are industrial mission-critical components, never seen in consumer gadgets: we expect Jade to last for 20 years in your hands. With a long lifespan, this is less manufacturing and less e-waste for our planet. |
| ## Repairable Even with durable components, everything breaks eventually. With this in mind, Jade is designed for repair, even including a service manual. On-screen diagnostics help you troubleshoot. A simple Philips screwdriver opens the case; no glue, no prying necessary. Electronic parts have exposed leads for desoldering. |
| ## Sustainable STEM Jade teaches efficient coding practices as a game. For durable electronics to thrive in the market, they need to be powered by code. This is what you will create with Jade: electronics built with durable parts on a CB, powered by "durable code." This is the only sustainable path for electronics, and Jade is the tool to build a sustainable future. |
How Durable?
Jade uses parts that are meant for automotive and industrial electronics, officially known as AEC-Q100, -Q101, and -Q200 by industry. These parts cost more and typically have lower performance, making them incompatible with consumer electronics that are increasingly and unfortunately being passed off as disposable. But they are built to last: if one of these parts broke unexpectedly in your car, you might find your life at risk.
| >>> Image above shows a close-up of AEC-Q microcontroller <<<< | NASA even ran a study to compare AEC-Q parts against space-grade and medical-grade electronic components and found these components to be extremely favorable. Life-long learning starts with quality tools. Jade is an engineering masterpiece, built to last so that you or your child can spend countless hours exploring and diving deeper into the STEM world. |
Just a Screwdriver
Jade is designed for repair. To open Jade, simply peel off the rubber screw covers and use a Philips screwdriver. Take a look for yourself:
Disassembly animation <<<<
| We prioritized selecting our electronic components by their packages: exposed leads are easier to desolder and remove than hidden leads. While we do not expect soldering beginners to be able to remove Jade's parts, this choice makes damage to the circuit board much less likely. | >>> Show AEC-Q part closeups <<<< |
Through patent-pending technology, Carriers electrically protect the attached parts you use to build experiments. However, this active protection requires the board to be powered by Jade. If parts are damaged, we opted to use through-hole components (where possible) to allow easy replacement of CB parts.
Sustainability
>>> LEFT OFF HERE <<<<
Electronics are an essential aspect of our modern, technological world. Unfortunately, the way things are right now people have no choice but to keep buying and throwing away electronics. Most electronics are not designed to be sustainable or easily recyclable.
You care about the environment. So do we. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to choose electronics that don't end up in a landfill and poisoning ecosystems around the world?
| ## Durable ## Repairable Jade is designed to be repairable, not thrown out when one part breaks. Electronics are increasingly made to be disposable. What used to last many years now last only a fraction of that. While you may not be able to repair your other electronics when one of its parts stops working, you can with Jade. Jade even teaches you its inner workings and empower you to fix it, so you don't have to throw it out or buy another one. ## Humane No conflict minerals in this device. At Shift Sight, we insist on sourcing metals for electronics through humane channels. |
## non-toxic Make electronics safe for our children. Many circuit boards contain invisible toxins such as mercury and lead. When it comes to your children, we want to make sure their health and safety is protected so you can have peace of mind. We strive to use only non-toxic materials for all parts of Jade and the Carrier Boards. |
The Jade Difference
Sharp contrast here against existing edtech -- watch statements so they are not inflammatory <<<<
* Scaffolding, not lowering the bar * Only product that teaches skillsets for creating durable systems * Intrinsic motivation to explore and learn -- leads to developing creativity * BASIC chosen for its ease of use, impossible to predict how long existing languages will remain mainstream * Fluid work between code, simulations, circuits, electronics, STEM topics, test and measurement, repeatable testing, experiment notes, code-interfaced spreadsheets, ... the list goes on ...
Durable and Repairable
Jade is being designed to last for 20 years. The current pace of technology is not sustainable.
Renderings and infographics <<<<
- Show LED being illuminated by CB diagnostic matrix
"There needs to be time to do it right, because there is no longer time to do it over."
- Ty Sopko, Shift Sight Co-Founder
Sustainable and Humane
* Emphasize humane aspects -- pioneer of the "slow technology" movement (opposed to disposability) since this is the only sustainable path * Blue light and circadian rhythms -- no blue LEDs on Jade or Whisper