Try to make one. Somewhere you won't set fire to. Fire risk would be my biggest fear with going for a toaster. Make sure you comply with safety regulations and get liability insurance...
Don't listen if people say it's too hard. They may well be right, or not, but they don't know whether you're the right person to figure out a new angle or not and it's easier to try something new before you learn all the ways it can go wrong. Learn those after you've made a couple of (cheap prototype) attempts
Don't read up too much on the how before you try. You want to learn how the competition works, but sometimes interesting realisations come from trying to figure it out yourself first without anything maki g you reject your apporoach out of hand.
But it will be harder than you think.
Just make sure you don't underestimate the marketing. Making a good product is less than half the job - especially if you're going to compete in a space where you're unlikely to be able to compete on price, quality isn't enough - you also need a convincing story about the quality.
I think in this case, a story about why you've made surprising realisations about a modern take of a return to something sturdy, reliable and simple might be powerful.
"I just wanted...(but modern products ...)" is powerful. Your product might or might not actually be simpler, but if you're going for people nostalgic for US manufacturing (which is larger than ever before, just employing fewer relative to output), then selling the idea that something has been lost with modern devices allows for both pushing price expectations and getting customers to forgive eccentricities that otherwise might be considered issues as long as the story justifies it.
Don't listen if people say it's too hard. They may well be right, or not, but they don't know whether you're the right person to figure out a new angle or not and it's easier to try something new before you learn all the ways it can go wrong. Learn those after you've made a couple of (cheap prototype) attempts
Don't read up too much on the how before you try. You want to learn how the competition works, but sometimes interesting realisations come from trying to figure it out yourself first without anything maki g you reject your apporoach out of hand.
But it will be harder than you think.
Just make sure you don't underestimate the marketing. Making a good product is less than half the job - especially if you're going to compete in a space where you're unlikely to be able to compete on price, quality isn't enough - you also need a convincing story about the quality.
I think in this case, a story about why you've made surprising realisations about a modern take of a return to something sturdy, reliable and simple might be powerful.
"I just wanted...(but modern products ...)" is powerful. Your product might or might not actually be simpler, but if you're going for people nostalgic for US manufacturing (which is larger than ever before, just employing fewer relative to output), then selling the idea that something has been lost with modern devices allows for both pushing price expectations and getting customers to forgive eccentricities that otherwise might be considered issues as long as the story justifies it.