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Solar Powered Jacket Charges Your Gadgets
blorg writes "Wired News has a story about a new jacket from SCOTTeVEST that uses flexible solar panels on the shoulders to recharge gadgets in the pockets. The idea is that you can now keep all of your gadgets charged, even if you are spending an extended period of time away from a power source. The solar charging is an addition to an existing jacket with features including 42 hidden pockets that can be wired together through the jacket lining."
In the interests of political correctness I wish to formally protest this device.
It doesn't take into account the needs of miners, subway operators and sewer workers. I dream of a world in which these forgotten peoples and we surface dwellers can join hands in peace and rejoice in equal-opportunity recharging.
Thank you.
Trolling is a art,
Anyone get flashbacks to old Sci-Fi shows? with the gigantic shoulder pads? Can we get high stainless steel collars on our jackets too now?
Can't wait to walk past TSA with this hooked up to my pda, mp3 player and gameboy advance.
Last one in jail is a fascist.
Get prepared to answer about one million questions when you put it through the xray machine. To be on the safe side, arrive about 2 days prior to your departure time.
So they make a geek toy that requires sunlight to operate? How will we maintain our pasty complexions?
I could kill you, sure, but I could only make you cry with these words
Waoh, the rumours of the daystar are TRUE!
'The staff in the hand of a wizard may be more than a prop for age,' -Hamá, the doorward
Does anyone else see a fundamental flaw in the assumptions about the potential market?
... and I have to say that its crap.
The build quality is ludicrous - the magnet clasps fell out 3 days after I put it on.
Plus, even though I ordered a medium, it still seems like you have to be a fat, overweight geek with 17 gadgets in his pockets in order for it to fit right.
My opinion is this: don't get one unless you're going to walk around with $2,000 of gear stuffed into the pockets, because it won't fit right otherwise...
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Darl: "Your honor, the vest is called a SCOttevest. It is a clear indicator that our IP has been incorporated in this vest!"
Judge Scott: "I'm not amused."
How should my SCOTTeVEST(R) be cared for? Why can't I dry clean my SCOTTeVEST(R)? First, and most importantly, REMOVE ALL DEVICES, WIRES, KEYS, etc. from your SeV. Then, it's easy! DO NOT DRY CLEAN! You will ruin the fabric if you do so. Machine wash in cold water with like colors, delicate cycle recommended. Do not use bleach. Tumble dry LOW, cool iron if necessary. Do not dry flat. Do not steam press.
Perfect For
- Skiing/Snowboarding
- Photography
- Traveling
- Hiking
- Law enforcement
Law enforcement... cool. Now the cops can keep their 50kV stun guns charged all the time!-- Power corrupts, but PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.
You put the hood up and walk through a car wash.
Trolling is a art,
...when it starts raining? ...when you try to get through airport security? ...when someone h4X0rs your jacket via Bluetooth? ...when you can't find your pager/cellphone because you have 42 different pockets?
Personally, I think they haven't thought this one through. Solar power is for wimps. My jacket has a 17-foot lightning rod attached for energy collection. (It was either that or the rubber-soled-shoe/shag-pile-carpet combination, but that only works indoors.)
These sigs are more interesting tha
The jacket is a cool idea, but unless all of the devices worn on it are bulletproof (which would be pretty slick) I'll pass.
As it is, I had an Ipaq as well as several other PDAs before. They where just to fragile for me to consider carrying them that close to me all the time.
About the only thing I feel comfortable carrying on my person would be my cellphone and pager - everything else would have me trying to constantly remember things like "Ok, PDA in pocket X, make sure I don't sit/do jumping jacks/box/etc etc".
Looking for hardware (Currently need: Large Etch-a-Sketch) Have one? See my journal!
You have two options for charge that jacket:
1) Use it with you inside, but you can damage your skin appearence or get cancer that way
2) Leave the jacket staring on the sun, but the sun will damage your jacket (specially colors) and soon you will not be able to use it on yourself (you still can just carry it with you though)
I would prefer carry just that flexible solar panels on my pocket/car/wallet
Now where did I put those keys?
JET Program: see Japan, meet intere
"production uses up more energy than they provide in their entire lifetime"
This is false. The energy used in production
is balanced by the energy produced after a couple
of years of solar energy production. Solar cells
can have a life time of over 20 years.
Why didn't they stick a hood on that thing and integrate headphones into it? That would be cool.
It's not designed for Morlocks.
I'm not buying crap from this guy. I'd never heard of him until I got a spam listing one of his products (in all fairness, I have no reason to believe that this original spam was in any way affiliated with him). Apparently an image was linked from his web site, so when I reported it, his ISP got on the LART list. (this part is my conjecture) He ignored the request for info from his ISP, and as per their policy that he agreed to, they disabled his site. He didn't find out for a couple more days and then got really pissed at me (end my conjecture). So he emailed me and threatened to sue me for things like trying to destroy his business, taking his name (his last name is my first name), and some kind of trade infringement since we have the same name and we have businesses that work with portable computers. I told him where to stick it and to learn to be responsible for his web site and customers, he said I'd hear from his lawyer. A few months later I got a not-quite-spam from his company. (more conjecture follows) Either his ISP didn't think it was spam, they ignored the LART, or he learned to actually check up on his web site.
Either way I make sure to tell people not to do business with this loser.
funny munging
There are a number of wired jackets which would cause security problems. A lady with a self-warming leather jacket was stopped recently, and there are self-defense electrified jackets which would definitely be seen as a weapon.
[
Can I get one with a built in tin-foil lined hood?
Beep beep.
Thanks for the post! The traffic from slashdot caused our website to crash. Please bear with us.
Scott Jordan, CEO www.scottevest.com
What about a baseball cap with a solar brim? Plug it into your jacket for added solar surface area (more watts). Whats better, in places like Texas where I live you don't wear a jacket but a few months out of the year, but a cap can be worn year round. Use it as a stand alone device. In the Western part of the state a cap brim would pull in more juice than a jacket cap combo in lot of places. Just sounds like the natural next step to me.
No. Even though I'm a Texan I don't thing a solar Stetson would sell. Well, maybe a few....
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
This is a good idea, but I beleve it is implimented in the wrong way. People are not going to buy jackets that have this. Why not put this technology/idea into a backpack? You could place the solar panels on the sholders on the backpack, or even a sort of side bag that has become so popular. Woul this not be a more appealing idea? Personally I would buy a backpack that had this feature. My laptop always needs those good ol' rays of cancer.*gigle*
They are assuming we go out into the sunshine, hell i spend my entire work day in a windowless closet of a server room with the light out to keep the heat down.
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise. -Fight Club
...who wears a jacket on a sunny day?
That's because they don't want you sucking up their precious power.
I'd wager that there are enough people with cell phones, PDAs, laptops, and portable music devices that to provide any significant number of outlets would generate a hefty boost in the electric bill... Not to mention that they couldn't put in 'a few'.
Thinking outside my Head
I came across some cells from the late 70's and they still produce electricity. Compare that with the production cost of a rechargeable battery or an alkaline and I am sure you will see that over the lifetime of the solar cell (which has yet to be determined) they end up costing next to nothing in comparison.
Would be for the jacket to also accept firewire, USB 2.0 and bluetooth connections from the gadgets then act as a WiFi router back to your computer and/or the Internet. Now that would be sweet.
Walk by an open Access Point and suddenly you get updated for your email, the latest RSS feed from SlashDot, the MP3 tracks from that CD your friend just baought and ripped, etc.
Work for Change & GET PAID!
For you /. types who need a reason to go outdoors, hook your solar-jacket up to one of these, and you'll never go back inside again!
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. - Geek's corollary to Clarke's law
For the full Press Release see: http://www.scottevest.com/htmlemail/icp_release/in dex.html
However, due to all the traffic, I think our server is down temporarily. We are working on it!
Scott Jordan
Scott Jordan, CEO www.scottevest.com
Exactly. The source of this common misunderstanding was some calculations that people did a while back looking at the feasability study seeing if that large "solar plant" (the one with a bunch of reflectors all going to a single collector in the center), could be completely self containing. The result was that it couldn't because if solar was your only form of energy you would end up loosing alot of energy when converting it to various forms. Transportation was a particular problem - you waste alot of energy converting solar energy to a form that can be used by a train or semi.
So kwh-for-kwh solar does recoup at least 5x the energy that you put into it. And at the same time it does have a negative emergy ratio (note the m). What that means is that solar is great as a supplemental power source, but we need to find another energy source to power things like transportation.
Think bigger, ScottEVest.
>>Electrodes on your nipples?
:)
Powered by your very own solar panels. No sense wasting taxpayer money on electricity.
Huh?
but I might recommend a variant on the Army/Navy store tac vest... a photographer's vest.
You wouldn't believe how many pockets, clasps, D-rings, etc come on one of those.
I have one... love it.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
A battery (even a rechargable one) has negative energy costs too. It takes energy to manufacture them, plus all the energy that you get out has to be put in.
Mensa indeed.
You are completely wrong on almost all your "facts" and assertions. Just to name a few: We have no VC funding. The product is priced right. Try to find any similar products with less features for anything less. Fisherman vests cost about $100 and look ugly. Of course I would like to hit a home run. Who wouldn't? I suppose when you step up to bat you are satisfied striking out??? Good luck to you in all your endeavors. Perhaps the media knows something that you don't. Scott Jordan, CES SCOTTeVEST LLC
Scott Jordan, CEO www.scottevest.com
I agree. How many folk have things in their sigs linking to products or OSS project they have worked on? Quite a lot. Or, how many "sorry for OUR server melting" posts are there...?
Provided is isn't a "First post, buy the jacket" type of person with nothing to contribute other than noise, then it's not a bad thing. Everyone wants to plug their shit...
Just when Spheral Solar is finally working out the manufacturing angle. Their tech has the advantages of crystal cells but is flexible.
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
1. You're exactly right. This national laboratory study is generally considered definitive.
2. Idiot Check:
Bulk unsubsidized price of a 100 watt solar panel:
$350
Lifetime energy production:
100W * 8 hours a day * 300 days per year * 25 years
6,000,000 Wh (6000 kWh)
Retail price of that electricity: $.10 / kWh
$600
Not a lot of profit margin for the manufacturer there is there?
I'll confess that I am beginning to lose my patience with debunking this over and over again; it was true back in the 1950s-60s when solar power was an elaborately hand-assembled product, and before you techie people caused the silicon market to blow up so hugely. (Though these are probably CIGS instead of crystalline silicon.)