Beds have been with us in some form or other since 77,000 BC. Raised beds were the work of the Ancient Egyptians, eager to prevent snakes and rodents from reaching bodies at rest. Soon, these became status symbols: the rich covered their beds with gold, jewels and ebony; and the Romans, later on, would adorn theirs with precious metals. Their mattresses would be stuffed with straw and feathers while lowly plebeians had to make do with beds of wood and string.
Today’s elite – the technocrats and billionaires whose luxury gyms I wrote about recently – are peddling forth this centuries-old disparity with a new bed, The Pod. Designed by “sleep fitness” company Eight Sleep, founded by husband-and-wife duo Matteo Franceschetti, 42 and Alex Zatarain, 34, it marks the latest innovation in the lucrative “well-tech” space where companies promise to correct the issues caused by our tech-addled age with… more tech.
