Following the voice of the customer
Mighty was launched via a successful kickstarter campaign in 2017. In our Kickstarter video, we talked about “the frustrations that come from working out with a bulky smartphone.“ The👇 images on our Kickstarter 👇 were all of people running, cycling, or exercising in some way. At that point, Mighty was being built for and marketed to the fitness community. It was a great place to start, but the journey for Mighty and our users was just beginning.
The fitness community embraced Mighty, and why wouldn’t you? Mighty provided everything we said it would - streaming music for working out without the bulk of your phone.
After three years and two generations of products, we started to hear from a new group of Mighty users. These new users were not looking at Mighty simply as a small Spotify music player for working out. They were using Mighty because they wanted to enjoy their music without the constant pinging, flashing, and buzzing from their phones and screens. Smart phones had become too smart and people were starting to realize the best way to take a screen time break was to create intentional time away from their phone.
Customer feedback started rolling in from users talking about how they were using Mighty to quietly listen to podcasts while doing the dishes, or relax to music on the morning commute, or to keep their kids entertained while traveling. Mighty was providing the entertainment people wanted (your music and podcasts) without all the extra connections, distractions, and screen time.
Fueled by screen time research studies and alarming films like the 2020 Netflix docu-drama The Social Dilemma, Mighty evolved into a tool to help people disconnect. Mighty started showing up in meditation sessions, at summer camps, on job sites and offices where phones were not permitted, and even in clinical settings to help keep overly excitable patients calm. Without intending to do so, Mighty started down a path we began to call the Calm Tech Movement.
The thought behind Calm Tech was that technology at its core, was good, helpful, and something that could improve the quality of our daily lives. The Sony Walkman and the Apple iPod are great historic examples of technology that made music more portable and more personal without the underlying technology being too complicated to understand. Adding a built-in music playing app to cell-phones was the next logical step in the evolution of the personal music player. Where this went wrong for many of us, is when the technology became overly connected, omnipresent, and intentionally or not, highly addictive.
At Mighty, we love technology. Without creations like Bluetooth or flash memory, Mighty wouldn’t exist. We’re not here to throw hate around at big tech or to vilify specific brands. We understand and know it’s human nature to find new ways to connect technologies, to push further when developing new products because we think that technology will make things better. The path from the Sony Walkman to a super connected smartphone made sense and clearly wasn’t developed in malice. But we’ve reached a point where the constant connectivity, addictive social media scrolling, website and GPS tracking, and the general dissipation of human to human contact are creating problems in society. Doctors have started talking about screen time at annual appointments, smartphone manufacturers are putting screen time alerts and lockout features on their devices, and some governments are even considering (or adopting) legislation to limit screen time for kids. Clearly screen time and over connectivity has become a global issue.
What we have noticed personally and from within our community, is that when you create intentional time away from your phone and screens, you’re more creative and find more fulfillment and joy than you do when doom scrolling for 3+ hours per day. What is reassuring for us, our community, and global society in general, is that the message advocating for more calm and less connection is becoming mainstream. In April, The Wall Street Journal mentioned us in their piece about “Dumb Devices”. Jenna Bush gave Mighty some love on the Today Show as well. Oh, and VICE wrote a piece endorsing Mighty Audio as an iPod alternative.
At Mighty, we are committed to keeping it simple and focused on giving you access to your Spotify and Amazon Music playlists and podcasts wherever you’re at. How you use your Mighty is totally up to you. Powering up for a hill climb workout or settling into the couch for a podcast binge? No matter how you choose to use your Mighty, you can be assured that you will get your music and podcasts while respecting your wellness and privacy. We don't share your info, there's no third party geo-data opt-in, no looking at what kind of music you’re listening to. It's Calm Tech - just you and your playlists. Simple is Mighty.
