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Hand Recharged iPod Shuffle
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."
press a key or open your or phone laptop
What the heck are you even talking about?
But think about how much more power an iPod or laptop, or even a phone uses compared to a watch. A watch uses hardly any power at all. It has to move a little dial around very slowly over the course of the day, whereas the iPod has electrostatic controls, a backlight, a hard drive, volatile memory, a powered line out jack...all of these things, especially combined, use up a lot of power. It's a nice idea, but there's simply no way that an iPod could power itself by movement alone, nor with a hand crank (unless you wanted to crank a good part of the time). Consumers just wouldn't respond well to it.
Take off every sig. For great justice.
We all know that LiON batteries have limited recharge cycles (~1000). Imagine that you will open doors four times per day, then your iPod Shuffle will die in one year. Keep in mind the operating cost....
So, you expect people to carry around bags of liquid? Im sure that in theory this would be a great idea that would work well, but I just don't think that people will carry bags of liquid with them wherever they go. A nice idea, but one that i dont think would ever work.
Is the battery life that bad that you actually need to recharge it by hand. My MiniDisc goes 50 hours on a single AA, and it has moving parts. It's amazing how long the battery lasts.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
What would be the point of a mini solar charger in a car? Just plug it into the car's system.
http://www.softwareconsult.dk
And imagine all the energy wasted by deceleration/acceleration of the vehicles you are targeting...not to mention wear and tear on said vehicles. Probably not even close to making it worthwhile.