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Ethernet Powered Razor Blades

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the yes,-but-how-close-do-they-shave? dept

Thu, Feb 19th 2004 7:44pm — Mike Masnick
Yesterday we wrote about the digital electric guitar that used ethernet rather than standard cables. I had assumed that it was just the sound that was piped through the Ethernet, but it sounds like they are using Ethernet for power as well. These days lots of gadget sites talk about cool devices that are powered by USB (my favorite is the USB powered vacuum cleaner), but Cisco is pushing to get more people to start creating Ethernet powered devices, and they're using the electric razor as the perfect example. Of course, I don't know about most people, but I tend to shave in the bathroom, where there usually aren't too many Ethernet cables running. One cool idea, though, is using Ethernet to help keep laptops charged. There isn't enough power to keep a laptop fully running, but it can take some load off the battery, meaning it can keep running for an extra long time. I'm pretty happy ditching all cables and using WiFi, but this might bring back some of the attraction of Ethernet.
6 Comments

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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 19 Feb 2004 @ 10:19pm

    No Subject Given

    If I could charge my laptop overnight using Ethernet, I'd run out and buy one yesterday. I'm tired of lugging around my big power brick when I travel.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Beck, 20 Feb 2004 @ 7:01am

    Plug n Play, No Driver Required

    I have seen USB coffee warmers

    for example: http://www.svc.com/usbcowa.html

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    LRT, 20 Feb 2004 @ 7:09am

    Re: Plug n Play, No Driver Required

    Line 6 was the first with a digital guitar. They've been on the market for at least a year.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    DV Henkel-Wallace, 20 Feb 2004 @ 5:14pm

    Ethernet in bathroom

    When I built my house I put ethernet in all the bathrooms and made sure it was wired up and assigned an externaly-visible IP address in each one. Because although I have wireless too, I know my nerdly friends woud be sure to try out the bathroom connection, just to make sure it worked!

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Jordan Share, 21 Feb 2004 @ 12:01am

    Uh, I think you are confused

    As I understand it, the "power over ethernet" is not at all like the USB-powered systems.

    USB inherently delivers power as part of the wiring spec. Ethernet does not.

    "Power over Ethernet" takes advantage of the fact that 100mbit ethernet only uses 2 of the 4 pairs of wires in a cat5 cable. It uses the unused pairs to carry a voltage, and provide power.

    Jordan

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Ryan King, 22 Feb 2004 @ 4:36pm

    Re: Uh, I think you are confused

    I was curious as to how they avoid blowing up older devices that don't expect a dozen watts on those pins, but which grounded those pins instead. Pow.
    Turns out 802.3af is basically about the signaling. The a power supplying device negotiates an OK for 802.3af before turning on the juice. Pretty neat.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]


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