There’s some buzz on the internet about the Qux (“Cucks”, see), a mysterious gadget being marketed at the MAGA crowd. Its Indiegogo campaign went into orbit, with more than a thousand people apparently ponying up $150 or more to pre-order one.
The brainchild of former Infowars reporter Millie Weaver, the Qux has succeeded in spite of or because of that lack of specificity, raising more than $170,000 on crowdfunding site Indiegogo with a promise to create electronic “portals” free from censorship. The Qux is coming, whether anyone involved knows what it is or not.
The Qux looks different in each marketing photo and render on the Indiegogo page—rarely a happy sign—but closely resembles a generic linux TV streaming box that you can buy wholesale from the factory. This listing has it at $4.90 a box, but the wording implies that this is just for a sample. If you want to buy lots for resale or customization, try $15.50 a box.
You can also buy them for $30 on Amazon, primed to your door in 2-3 days.
Note that the Alibaba descriptions generally say “Amlogic”, but it’s unlikely to have anything to do with that company (excepting that it might be a knockoff of an Amlogic product, and they’re putting its name in the title for SEO). The Alibaba-listed boxes come direct from Shenzhen, not via Santa Clara.
Given that censorship and privacy are watchwords here—”determine the future of digital freedom and a new, secure, intergalactic virtual network”—I’m sure we’d all love to hear team Qux’s plans to audit the hardware and firmware of a product manfactured under the watchful eye (and tinkering hands) of the Communist Party of China.
