Srinagar: A local electronics company on Thursday unveiled what it called "the most realistic inverter on the market", a premium unit that, instead of supplying backup power, plays a sincere apology the moment the electricity goes out.
"Our research showed that customers were not really expecting power," said a company spokesperson at the launch, held in a hall that lost electricity twice during the presentation. "What they wanted was acknowledgement."
The device, priced at a premium, comes with three modes: a short apology for brief outages, a longer apology for scheduled cuts, and a winter mode that simply sighs.
Early buyers have welcomed the product. "My old inverter promised me six hours of backup and gave me forty minutes," said one customer. "This one promises nothing and delivers exactly that. I respect the transparency."
The company confirmed that a deluxe model is in development, which will also apologise to the neighbours on the customer's behalf.
