The Family JUULs

Gm to all 251 of you, but especially to my first two paid readers!

If you’re new, welcome.

JUUL is a name synonymous with scandal. So much so that Wondery took a break from their typical true crime content to make a podcast about it. But let’s put aside this history for now.

Companies like Netflix, Meta, and Apple have all invested in parental controls. Partly out of want, but also out of necessity. What if you transposed these patterns to a company like JUUL? Forget the hardware constraints and the fact that it’s getting harder to buy a JUUL given recent legislature. For some parents, it might feel inevitable that their kid will JUUL, so maybe the best thing to do is try to moderate it.

If so, things like charge information, number of uses, metrics over time, and the ability to lock the device or set limits make sense for an MVP. There’s probably an iteration where you could set up automated restocks, add more detailed analytics, and health data too.

You could even manage your whole family from one simple app.

I’m aware the idea of a JUUL app takes things a few steps too far, but it begs the question… at what point do we stop optimizing addictive products (digital or not) for children?

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