The Real-Life Instagram Camera Is So Crazy That It Just Might Work

WARNING: The following idea is extremely silly. But it’s one of those ideas that, while a bit obnoxious at first glance, has the potential to make you smile once, maybe even giggle. Before you know it, that idea is taking you out to drinks, calling for a second date, late night sexting you, and meeting your mother. While you’re not ready for marriage--heavens no--maybe you’d move in, and a tattoo of the idea is just as forever as diamonds, right?

The Socialmatic, by Antonio De Rosa--”Antonio De Rosa, born in Cava de’ Tirreni (SA), Italy, on December 22, 1975,” he tells me--is an Instagram camera concept that, if you aren’t careful, will do everything in the above disclaimer (plus make babies with you). Its core idea is absurd--we’re talking about a dedicated camera for a service that made dedicated cameras obsolete, and a product with ergonomics based upon the human factors of an iOS icon--but what the Socialmatic lacks in sensibility is more than made up for in Urban Outfitters semi-ironic stocking stuffer chic.

Featuring an interchangeable lens and onboard printer, touch screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a steel-banded, 2-D build, the Socialmatic feels like the gaudy, all-too-obvious cross between a Polaroid and an iPhone 4--and when you think about it, isn’t that pretty much exactly what Instagram set out to be?

As of now, the Socialmatic is only a concept. De Rosa writes us that “It needs a huge investment … it’s not a simply a product. Maybe Mr. Zuckenberg is reading something about it just now … :)” Then you realize, the “n” and the “r” are nowhere near one another on the keyboard, and the Socialmatic’s naive charm bores a little deeper into your consciousness.