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Hand Recharged iPod Shuffle

Posted by Zonk on from the ye-olde-ipod-shuffle dept.

randomErr writes "In one for the first article on the new O'Reilly MAKE magizine we see how to recharge your iPod with a crank. The "Torronesque" project was based on the idea of coming up with a project and buiding it even if it has no immediate purpose. Imagine getting a little power charge every time you press a key or open your phone or laptop."

3 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. Old idea by Spy+Hunter · · Score: 5, Informative

    It was patented in 1999 (the keyboard idea). here.

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    main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
    1. Re:Old idea by Spy+Hunter · · Score: 5, Informative

      Just because it was patented doesn't mean it's a good idea of course; I believe the amount of power that can be generated by this method is too small to be of much use, even at theoretical 100% efficient conversion. Instead of allocating extra space, weight, and manufacturing cost for this complex charger system, simply including a bigger battery will improve battery life more. There is some interesting discussion along these lines in the original Slashdot story about the patent (also from '99).

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      main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
  2. Heard of it already by deutschemonte · · Score: 5, Informative

    I heard of this like 2 years ago (or more) for cell phones. They had a charger that you could crank by hand, a mini solar charger you could put on your dashboard or roof of your car, and a fan that sat on the outside of your car. Admittedly I don't remember the company, but this is really old news.

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    The preceding message was based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed.