- Markets - Around The World
- Posts
- Kodak's Charm-Era Blind Boxes
Kodak's Charm-Era Blind Boxes
& Google’s Protocol Turns AI Agents Into Trusted Shoppers
Kodak’s Blind-Box Charm: A Little Retro
Kodak shrunk a fun camera down to a $30 keychain
Kodak’s new Charmera keychain camera sells for $30 each (or a full set if you want every design), comes in seven retro styles (including one “secret” edition), and ships in blind-box packaging so you don’t know which version you’ll get. It uses a tiny 1.6MP ¼-inch CMOS sensor, shoots 1440×1080 video at 30fps, weighs just 30g, and fits on your keychain — nostalgia overload.
This isn’t just a quirky gadget—it taps into two culture currents: Gen Z's love of Y2K / 80s design and the thrill of mystery (hello blind box culture). The Charmera sold out fast at most retailers, thanks to its retro appeal, limited designs, and social media buzz.
What’s smart here: even with modest specs, the Charmera wins by being collectible, fun, and emotionally resonant—not by being technically advanced. For Kodak, it’s less about rivaling your smartphone’s camera and more about giving people something playful, analog-feeling, and sharable.
Google’s New Open Protocol For Agentic Transactions
Google has unveiled Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open-source framework that allows AI agents to send and receive payments—including stablecoins—alongside cards and bank rails. Building on past protocols like Agent2Agent (A2A) and Model Context Protocol (MCP), AP2 is designed in collaboration with over 60 firms including Coinbase, American Express, Salesforce,etsy, PayPal, and the Ethereum Foundation.
The protocol adds safety layers via "mandates"—tamper-proof, cryptographically signed digital contracts ensuring users explicitly authorize transactions. Whether you're asking your agent to wait for a price drop or letting it act automatically under set conditions, AP2 promises an auditable chain from intent → cart → payment.
With AP2, AI-driven workflows (shopping bots, automated scheduling, finance agents) may begin handling money just like we do—except faster and without manual steps.
How AI is Shaping Work
According to a recent report, 77% of businesses using Anthropic’s Claude are using it to automate tasks — many of them full-task delegation — rather than just collaborating. Only about 12% use Claude as a tool for augmentation or learning.
The shift toward “directive tasks” is accelerating: business-side usage of Claude for fully automatable tasks jumped from 27% to 39% over recent months. Common targets include admin work, repetitive coding, and report generation.
The implications can be big — job roles that once supported humans may disappear or evolve, especially at entry levels. Workers, policymakers, and companies should keep a close eye on how this changes demand for skills and redeployment of labor.