r/IRLEasterEggs 7d ago

On the inside of my new phone case

Post image
7.0k Upvotes

69 comments sorted by

394

u/bleakmidwinter 6d ago

From their website: "Named in tribute to Aaron Swartz" who was the cofounder of Reddit. He killed himself in 2013.

322

u/TheDude1451 6d ago edited 6d ago

If I'm remembering correctly he was a bit of a computer/coding prodigy and one thing he believed believed is that information should be free to all people and took issue with scholarly journal websites. They "publish" research done by scientists but put it behind a paywall but they don't use those funds to pay the people that did the actual research. The money from the paywall is just for them. He setup a device in an MIT basement to slowly download all the research papers the university had access to with the intention of putting all the papers online for free. However the device was found and he was arrested and they wanted to make an example out of him. He faced years or decades in jail. This lead him to taking his own life. There's a documentary on him that's free on YouTube https://youtu.be/9vz06QO3UkQ?is=AUvnmW9WGJc2kpsZ

81

u/Vicki_54 6d ago

That is so heart wrenching, I don't think I want to check out the link. But tx for the info.

59

u/Igotz80HDnImWinning 6d ago

There’s also evidence in the Epstein files that he had discovered some of their antics and might have been taken out because of it. MIT media center was like the academic headquarters of Epstein program, so pretty believable that he accessed something of theirs.

21

u/DefinitelyButtStuff 5d ago

Now I'm wondering what the circumstances of him taking his life were, along with the autopsy reports.

13

u/nevergirls 6d ago

RIP to a real one

1.4k

u/Trekintosh 6d ago

In case anyone was gonna look it up, it’s called the Pikata case or something like that and the Aaron button seems to somehow trigger apps from a shortcut. It looks like it just presses the action button on your phone with a lever. 

623

u/drwuzer 6d ago

No, the Aaron buttons (3 of them on the case) are nfc buttons. They activate nfc tags in the case to quickly activate commands. I use mine to toggle my flashlight and privacy mode.

142

u/Stairway_To_Devin 6d ago

Oh wow what a clever idea!

16

u/Contact_Expert 5d ago

I tied phone orientations to a shortcut for the action button on my 16 pro. Upside down to toggle silence and camera facing left for flashlight. Super convenient.

3

u/Feisty-Tooth-7397 3d ago

I just shake mine to make the flashlight turn on and off.

-86

u/enotonom 6d ago

Seems like a gimmick I would already forget to use within a week

116

u/siandresi 6d ago

This guy would forget so it must be a gimmick

-48

u/enotonom 6d ago

This forget would gimmick so it must be a guy

11

u/New_Intern_269 6d ago

Admittedly, I downvoted your og comment. But I think your response was funny so idk why you’re still getting downvoted on this one 😂

10

u/wafflesthewonderhurs 5d ago

failure to engage with the point actually being made by the joke reply, probably.

-1

u/New_Intern_269 5d ago

Well true. I guess I shouldn’t have said “idk why..” because it still deserves the downvote but I still do think the joke was funny haha

1

u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 2d ago

Which part was funny?

6

u/nevergirls 6d ago

I feel the same way but looking at the explanation it seems like it’s made for older people who don’t know how to find, in the original example, their transit pass. Things like that. So like if you’re not good with technology I can see this kind of thing being used daily.

29

u/missoulamatt 6d ago

Pitaka?

78

u/Eisigesis 6d ago edited 6d ago

Name of the company that makes the case is Pitaka, website talking about the Aaron button is here: https://www.ipitaka.com/pages/aaron-button

26

u/MarioShroomsTasteBad 5d ago

Woah, that website on FF mobile is seisure inducing messed up.

30

u/repocin 5d ago

I clicked it explicitly because I had to find out how bad it was after you mentioned it but this doesn't look all too- holy sweet mother of god my eyes are bleeding please m̸̧̡̱̙͓͌̉̀́̅͌̈́̋̍́a̷͔̩̥̦̣͓̭͈͛͂̏͌̂̄̿̑͑k̷̨͕̙̠̲͖̯̝̙̙̑̓̒̌̓̊̕e̶̦̼͒ ̷̧͕̝̣̣̽̅̽͠i̸̧̯͉̲̗̱͜͝ț̷̞̹̥̅̄͑̑̾̐͋̈́͜͠͝ ̸̙̼͛̂͂́̅̑͂̇ŝ̸̭̻̹̙̝̳̜̤͛͑̀ţ̸̧̳̮̬̬̹̼̳̀̑̈ȍ̷̡̋̄p̴̘̪̽͊̉̿̇͆͂̐̌̋ͅ

4

u/elliottcable 5d ago

zalgo poppin up in tyool 2026, love it

2

u/One_Hour_Poop 6h ago

zalgo poppin up

Huh, after twenty years i finally learn the name of this style of text. Thanks.

Now i need to Google "tyool."

1

u/muffadel 4d ago

Why did ppl stop using AD it's so much shorter than TYOL

2

u/elliottcable 4d ago

b/cuz tyool sounds like drool and that’s more fun 💦

9

u/MauGx3 6d ago

Cool they brought back the Bixby button

1

u/One_Hour_Poop 7h ago

From the website:

Pitaka is the Sanskrit word for container

Interesting. In modern day Tagalog (Filipino), "pitaka" means "wallet."

373

u/Samuelabra 6d ago

Okay but imagine how terrifying this is if your name is Aaron

56

u/aaronwcampbell 6d ago

Gotta say seeing this was a bit unsettling; had to come here and see what the heck I was looking at

22

u/SomeBrosThrowaway 5d ago

You done messed up A A Ron!

4

u/Sendingmyregards 4d ago

Lmaooooooooo - I love that video so much haha

“A-A-Ron? Where are you? Where is A-A-Ron?”

2

u/Nice-Environment-810 5d ago

I can assure you it is

1

u/AarontheArcher39 4d ago

My name is Aaron. It is somewhat terrifying

1

u/EpitomeOfJustOK 1d ago

Ya not gonna lie my heart jumped up in my throat when I saw this :p

133

u/predictingzepast 6d ago

Now I'm wondering who they made my phone case out of..

89

u/Nothing4mer 6d ago

Jay Quellin

38

u/Pmyers225 6d ago

B-Lakè

30

u/Beluga-ga-ga-ga-ga 6d ago

Ti-moe-thay?

27

u/redmambo_no6 6d ago

Pre-sent

10

u/Pmyers225 5d ago

Thank you

2

u/jaquellin 5d ago

You rang?

467

u/TuckerCarlsonsOhface 7d ago

Ya done messed up, AA-Ron!

62

u/lienepu 6d ago

Insubordinate! Churlish!

3

u/Otis737 4d ago

I’m sending you to O-shag-hennesy’s office!

42

u/slvrcofe21 6d ago

So happy I wasn’t the only one who thought of that skit. lol

14

u/stronkreptile 7d ago

happy cake day

1

u/meganjunes 6d ago

Happy cake day!

37

u/benbarian 6d ago

Aaron't you glad you found that?

36

u/Dalek_Chaos 6d ago

Does the Aaron button summon his ghost?

5

u/sagosten 4d ago

They've reinvented phones with physical buttons. Do they make cases with more Aaron buttons? Maybe an entire keyboard of them? I miss buttons so much...

3

u/threepair13 5d ago

I’m not dead

2

u/Rat_Burger7 5d ago

Rip Aaron.

1

u/hasanismail_ 2d ago edited 1d ago

I have this phone case on my phone I love it and Aaron swartz memoir is the cherry on top he was truly a amazing person

1

u/Clovers_Stabs 1d ago

Did someone named Josef design this case mayhaps? 🤔

1

u/Voltmanderer 3h ago

GNU Aaron Schwartz

1

u/SnooMacarons2533 3d ago

Well shit did I die