Sometimes an accessory pops up that has us all scratching our heads. We’ve no arguments that accessories have their place, taking existing hardware and either enhancing existing features or creating new ones. Accessories are just fine, but sometimes they fall wide off the mark. Sometimes we just can’t quite get our heads around who thought they were a good idea, let alone who actually signed off on making them into a real, shipping product.
So when we saw the SPA-TA1 accessory for tablets (which includes Sony’s own and the iPad, of course), it went straight into the category that belongs to those accessories that we rather wish had never made their way from concept to store.
That model number may not tell you anything whatsoever about what the accessory in question does, so allow us to break it to you in as calm a fashion as we can muster. Ready?
IT’S A PIECE OF PLASTIC THAT HOLDS A BIG CAMERA LENS INTO THE BACK OF A TABLET!
We trust the bold text got our point across.
The attachment itself will take Sony’s QX10 or QX100 camera lens accessories and slap it onto the Sony tablet or iPad of your choice, and will work with pretty much any Android tablet out there provided you buy the right mount, which on the face of things isn’t too bad at all. After all, taking a built-in camera and improving it is something to be commended. And then you remember this is for tablets, not smartphones. Tablets!
Sony has been around for a long, long time and has undoubtedly come up with some exceptional products in its time. The Walkman and PlayStation brands will go down in history for all the right reasons, but the best Sony can hope for the STA-TA1 is that everyone forgets about it as quickly as possible. In fact, we’ve forgotten about it twice already now.
We’re quite keen on forgetting it for a third time, too.
On the plus side, the camera accessory will only set punters back $40, so you won’t be breaking the bank when you’re walking around holding your big tablet up in the air so you can take your photos.
Can we all just agree to move on and pretend this was never released now?
Please?
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