Top ten gadgets every designer SHOULD live without
Posted Friday, 12 October 2007 in
Entertainment,
Design,
Technology
As a designer, you’re probably familiar with all these gadgets that are available in various online stores – some are useful, some quite brilliant and a few downright indispensable.
And then there’s the opposite side of the spectrum. Let’s just say that the world's stupidest gadgets came in for review today.
Humping USB Dog
They could easily have shoved a gigabyte or two of storage into this and marketed it as a novelty flash drive, but no, don't let the shiny plastic casing deceive you into thinking that this fella can do anything marginally useful.
This is purely and simply a dog that plugs into your USB drive and humps away. Bizarre and unashamedly pointless, it should come as no surprise that this is another Japanese contribution to the world of gadgetry.
From boysstuff.co.uk Pee Powered Battery
This new environmentally friendly liquid powered battery has just hit the shelves in Japan. We hasten to add that you could use pretty much any liquid to recharge this battery, but unsurprisingly 'pee-power' is the phrase that has captured people's imagination. And 'NoPoPo', in case you wonder, stands for 'Non Polluting Power'.
"Doing your bit for the environment" suddenly took on a whole new connotation – I find the mental image of this principle expanded to power-plant proportions pretty hard to erease...
From weirdasianews.com BackpackShield Bulletproof Backpack
Designed for
"college students, high school students, concerned parents, and commuters", I'd seriously consider moving to a better neighbourhood if buying this kevlar re-inforced backpack, capable of stopping a .44 Magnum bullet, seems like a sound investment.
The manufacturer reminds us that
"It's a major survival advantage versus not having any protection at all and being shot with a couple of 9 mm/44 Magnum rounds." – Somehow that's never been particularly high on my list of criteria when I go backpack shopping – until now.
From backpackshield.com Mini Desk
Well okay, it's kind of funny, but could you see yourself working at this desk for years on end? Once the novelty wears off, the $4400 you spent on it is probably going to be the first thing you think about when you set to work.
From chipchick.com Tempo Wireless Trashcan
This 'trashcan' is put forward as a
"unique hard drive storage device" which claims to rescue files from accidental deletion by, well, storing them. That sounds quite similar to what my non-trashcan shaped external harddrive has been doing for years.
Does the marginal usefulness of this product warrant the desk space it uses? Not in my mind. Clutter, pure and simple.
From cagninadesign.com Velcro Socket Faceplate
Keeping things tidy in the office is never a bad idea, but do you really need your unused plugs velcroed to the side of the sockets to find them again?
The concept claims to have energy conservation credentials, given that "
The 'Attach' design serves as a strong reminder to the user to unplug the plug." How this is supposed to work if your wall sockets happen to be
under your desk, is not elaborated upon.
From yankodesign.com iPod Toilet Roll Holder
I remember thinking that all is fine in the world after all, when I found out that the
iToilet was just a joke. I'm unsure which is the most silly, the iToilet or this iPod toilet roll holder docking station, but the fact that the latter is for real and can be purchased for $199 just made me a little more worried about the state of the world.
From bimbambanana.comThe Beerbelly Beverage Bag
For all those who despite lots of hard work (down the pub) just aren't able to build that coveted beer belly, here's quite literally a beer belly to sling across your neck! The key selling-point is that it'll enable you to smuggle beer and booze past the most vigilant bouncers at gigs, games etc. As long as you don't mind the weird looks you'll be getting once people nearby hears the splashing noises coming from your 'belly', that is.
For women who find the beer belly look hard to swallow (no pun intended) there is also a female
Wine Rack model in production, which puts the bulge(s) in a more flattering position.
From TheBeerBelly.com The Funtrak Paintball Tank
Quite possibly the ultimate boy's toy, bringing this $16000 custom built beast to bear on your office nemesis at the next paintball game will not only secure your victory, it also gives you a very strong change of getting fired, maybe even jailed!
On the other hand; judging from this guy's big grin, the warm feeling you get inside when driving one of these around is simply priceless.
From iwantoneofthose.com Toshiba 360 Gaming Helmet
I always figured that sleek, 360 degree motion controlled goggles would be the next big thing in computer/television output, but then Toshiba pulls a stunt like this. Instead of a cool set of wrap-around goggles, they hit on the idea of strapping the freak brother of an old-fashioned CRT television onto some poor girl's head. If using a mouse or gamepad doesn't already give you repetitive strain injury, this 2.7kg monster is a safe bet.
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