RokBlok

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About

RokBlok is a wireless record player that physically drives around a vinyl record and produces sound via an attached speaker. The product was successfully funded on Kickstarter and the television series Shark Tank, before being released to negative reviews by technology critics and consumers.

History

The RokBlok project launched on Kickstarter on December 6th, 2016. About a month and a half later, on January 24th, 2017, the makers successfully raised more than $350,000 from more than 3,600 backers.^[1]

On December 3rd, 2017, RokBlok founder Logan Riley appeared on the television series Shark Tank. On the show, investors judge new products and decide whether or not they would like to invest in them. One of the judges, after seeing the RokBlok in action, offered $500,000 for 100% of RokBlock, as well as a two-year job contract and a $5 per unit royalty on every RokBlok sold.^[2]

Reception

On January 4th, 2018, YouTuber ^[3] Techmoan published a negative review of the device on their YouTube page. The reviewer criticized the sound quality, originality and practicality of the design, pointing out that things like this product have existed for decades. The video (shown below, left) received more than 279,000 views in two weeks.

The following day, they published a followup and tear down of the product. Techmoan responded to some comments about the sound quality and actual use of the device, as well offering a play comparison between the RokBlok and a regular turntable.^[4]

That day, Redditor ^[5] ocarinaofdicks posted a video of the RokBlok playing a Supertramp record and the person filming the player laughing at the sound quality in the /r/youtubehaiku subreddit. The video (shown below) received more than 2,500 points (99% upvoted) and 100 comments in two weeks.

Two weeks later, on January 21st, Redditor^[6] strathlee shared the video again in the /r/videos subreddit, where it received more than 3,500 points (92% upvotec) and 300 comments.

The following day, on January 22nd, The Daily Dot^[7] covered the response to the RokBlok in the article "Everyone hates this scam of a Bluetooth record player."