I did it. I drank the Kool Aid. Not only did I drink it, I paid money I don’t really have for it. That’s right, I bought a Lytro. I’ve never been a big gadget person, until I started taking lots of photographs. I always say, never buy a new technology in its first release because the next one will come along a relatively short time later, and then you’ll want that one instead.

I’m not sure what made it so irresistible to me. It might honestly be how cute it is, and that you can never take a picture out of focus, and that it’s really small (carrying my SLR around is a different experience). I have yet to set up the software so I can’t share any pictures, but I inevitably will at some point (no idea if you can embed them in WordPress).

An article on Co.Design does a better job of explaining the genius behind the Lytro marketing, and why people like me will be the ones to unwittingly sell the product to more people. They compare it to owning a cute puppy. There are a couple elements about the camera’s design that make it stand out as something different, that will stop people to ask you what it is.

If Lytro turns out to be a success, everyone will assume that it was driven by triumphant, breakthrough tech. But in these early days, Lytro’s success is predicated on two simpler factors. One is that unique form factor. Unlike any other camera in the world, you hold it like a spyglass. Your entire posture changes. So anyone looking at you realizes that you’re not using any regular camera. And in so doing, you become a walking advertisement for Lytro.

The only way to see Lytro’s pictures is in the software that comes with the camera–without it, you couldn’t fiddle around with different focus points. Within the software is a seamless path to exporting your photos to Facebook… [T]hey are … turning every single Lytro user into a viral spreader of the technology, with each and every Lytro photo they post to Facebook. Very clever indeed.

For the record, I didn’t buy this camera to sell you all on it and I’ll probably post an update at some point to tell you what I don’t like (when I get around to downloading that software). And hey, if you’re a friend who lives near me, I’ll even let you play with mine.

- via Co.Design