It’s pronounced mee-mo-bot.
Refresh. Enjoy. MIMOBOT!
Flash drives, while extremely useful, aren’t generally the most exciting looking pieces of technology. They’re usually just little lozenges of plastic in a limited selection of solid colours. In 2005, Mimoco changed the face of flash drives forever by introducing MIMOBOT, a line of designer USB flash drives. Inspired by pop culture, and borrowing from the idea of collectible toys, Mimoco turned flash drives from merely practical devices into a means of artistic expression.
MIMOBOT come in three categories: original characters created in-house by Mimoco, a series of collaborations with popular artists, and licensed brands. Currently, these categories include Mimoco’s Core Series, Artist Crossovers (such as FriendsWithYou and tokidoki), Community-Designed ‘bots contributed by talented MIMOBOT fans, and the hugely popular Licensed Crossovers, or “Artist Series”, that includes Hello Kitty and Mimoco’s most well-known output, the Star Wars MIMOBOT Series. There’s even a line of keychain “outfits”, called protoHoodies, that clip MIMOBOTs to bags or clothing while preventing wear to their painted cases.
As if having a beautiful computer accessory wasn’t enough, every MIMOBOT is preloaded with exclusive avatars, icons, wallpapers, screensavers, sound bytes, and other multimedia goodies, including the latest issue of Mimoco’s video publication, mimoZine. Since MIMOBOTs are compatible with Mac and Windows, their bonus contents come in formats for both systems. All drives are available in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB sizes, and feature a tail light that flashes when the MIMOBOT is plugged in.
Aside from their unique appearance, the most interesting thing about MIMOBOTs is that they have a back-story, which claims that the flash drives are sentient creatures who hail from Planet Blõôh. The MIMOBOT designs are merely identities that they adopt on Earth to better enable them to infiltrate human society. One set of these disguises is provided by tokidoki.
Renowned Italian artist Simone Legno’s tokidoki brand is crossing over to the consumer tech world with the introduction of the tokidoki for MIMOBOT collection of designer USB flash drives, another entry in the MIMOBOT Artist Series. tokidoki, which means “sometimes” in Japanese, was named such because of Simone’s love for Japanese culture and his belief that “everyone waits for moments that change one’s destiny.” After his destiny-changing moment arrived in 2003, he went from being an artist who used his website to promote his freelance work to an artist who successfully built tokidoki into a world-famous international brand!
The tokidoki MIMOBOT collection was launched by a pair of tokidoki x MIMOBOT characters, Adios and Ciao Ciao, with the slogan Love is… in the Air:
As legend has it, Adios spent 500 years in fire and brimstone before the devil discovered his good-natured ways and kicked him out of hell. Too mischievous for heaven, Adios was condemned to live forever on earth, in his modern grave-loft with his girlfriend Ciao Ciao. Together, Adios and Ciao Ciao wander the world, sharing with others how to make the most out of this life… A perfect love story for fashion-tech lovers everywhere.
This gothic-anime duo, in a matching “his-and-hers” style for the tech crowd, ensures that couples won’t accidentally grab each other’s data. They make great little gifts for any romantically geeky occasion, and, like true love, will also withstand the test of time — MIMOBOT flash drive cases are made of a thick, sturdy, molded plastic, and the caps, while easy to remove, snap on firmly. The boldly coloured designs are cleanly applied, with no paint overlap or bleed, and Adios and Ciao Ciao’s silver and gold caps offer a hint of metallic flair. Bellissimo!
Transfer Rate: Hi-Speed USB 2.0 (backwards compatible with USB 1.1).
Mimoco encourages the recycling of their packaging and products, so check out the GreenBot USB Recycling Program (GURP). It offers discounts on future MIMOBOT purchases when you send in your old flash drives… assuming that you can bear to part with them. Even non-functional MIMOBOTs still have value as tiny works of art. This collectibility is really the only downside to MIMOBOTs, as soon you’ll have so many, you won’t know where to display them all. Then again, can a techno geek ever really have too many flash drives?
Order now at Amazon.com:
MIMOBOT
Or order directly through the Mimoco website.
MIMOBOTs and protoHoodies are distributed by Mimoco. For more information on tokidoki, please visit the official tokidoki website.
