DailyDirt: Build A Better Mousetrap Umbrella...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

There are all kinds of ways to improve on everyday items. We've talked about how wallets are a popular type of project on Kickstarter, but there are certainly plenty of other things that could be re-designed and made slightly (or significantly) better. The Ralph Waldo Emerson quote about building a better mousetrap actually didn't mention mousetraps, but we've ended up with a lot of mousetrap inventions, regardless. Here are just a few examples of umbrella inventions that the world might beat a path to. If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: air umbrella, crowdfunding, design, inventions, origami, sa, umbrellas
Companies: kickstarter


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2014 @ 5:53pm

    My favorite part about Air Umbrella is the phony accent employed by the narrator. More products should use that technique- after all if a foreigner made it it's clearly innovative!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Bt Garner (profile), 29 Oct 2014 @ 6:17pm

    I'd think that the air umbrella would throw more rain onto people passing by, and they might not be too happy about that.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    even the score!, 29 Oct 2014 @ 7:52pm

    tactical umbrellas

    Watching the Hong Kong protests, I was surprised at how well umbrellas could be used as weapons to battle the baton and pepper spray wielding Hong Kong riot police, including an improved, modernized version of the 16th century Gevierthaufen (Pike Square).

    There are many companies making a wide variety of weapons intended for police to use against demonstrators, but I've got to wonder, does any company manufacture a specialized heavy-duty tactical umbrella designed for protecting demonstrators from aggressive heavy-handed police?

    Ideally, such an umbrella would be able to protect users against the various "less lethal" rounds commonly stocked in police arsenals, as well as hold up to repeated baton impact. So it would need to be engineered to have enough flexibility in the ribs to absorb blows without breaking but not so much that a flying baton pushes back the ribs and smashes the user's head.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    kP (profile), 30 Oct 2014 @ 8:53am

    Major design issue for (Kickstarter) Air Umbrella

    Because the air intake vent is it at the top of the shaft, so must be the turbine which produces the air flow. Any long hair near the air intake *will* be quickly and painfully wound around this turbine.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.