I was buying parts from a hardware store at the U.P. Town Center when I noticed several blade-less fans on display. It was simply a circular frame, and out of that space, air was blowing through. It was amazing! There was a cut-out diagram, explaining how the fan was actually working using the same ideas used in a vacuum cleaner, but in reverse - instead of sucking in air, you are pushing out air - and you could actually think of the frame as a special type of air outlet instead of the typical vacuum tube (no electronic pun intended).
The price was also amazing. One of the cheapest models was priced at 29,900 pesos. That's outrageous, considering that you can buy electric fans at 500 pesos. I didn't check the kilowatt rating of the blade-less fan, but I don't think your electrical consumption would be that far off from an ordinary fan since both still use motors. So, for me, why buy a product that functions in the same way as another, but is 58 times more expensive. It just doesn't make economic sense. At that price, I could buy enough electric fans to last a lifetime.
And the product is simply an electric fan without blades. The level of coldness it can generate does not even compare with an air-conditioner. And you can get an air-con for less than 10,000 pesos or about one-third the price of the blade-less fan.
I will say this for the blade-less fan though. It is a conversation piece, and would probably be best for people who don't care about the price of a product.
Technologically disruptive products are usually imitated within a year or two. Think of the iPhone and how fast competitors came out. But in the case of the blade-less fan, I wonder if it can be considered as a disruptive product. It seems that this type of fan has been available since 2009. And now that it's 2016, you still don't see many competitors arising. I guess for now, the ordinary electric fan is still king of the fan market.
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