Awesome Stuff: Cool Product Designs

from the design-matters dept

Sat, May 18th 2013 9:00am — Mike Masnick

For this week's awesome stuff, we've got three different projects that just caught my eye for being different and interesting in a design sense.

I don't know about you, but I've had a few too many experiencing having to try to inflate an air mattress of some kind or another, and realizing what a freaking total pain it is using regular valves (not to mention the inevitable annoying emptying process as well). So I have to say that the Windcatcher project definitely piqued my curiosity. I don't understand the mechanism behind it, but it certainly looks like an air mattress that you can fill with 4 or 5 breaths -- and all without having to put your mouth on anything. It looks kind of like magic, so check out the video. These guys still have a bit of a way to go on the funding front, having raised only about a quarter of the $50,000 they're seeking, but the product definitely has that neat design factor going for it.
There's been something of a hipster revival in pinhole cameras lately, it seems, but the ONDU Pinhole cameras are definitely the nicest design I've ever seen. A nice wooden box with no exposed screws. A backplate that's held on by magnets. It just looks cool. Also, bonus points for the cool music in the video (apparently this is the musician. This project has already surged past its goals, so it's definitely going to get funded, and with another 25 days to go, it'll likely end up much, much higher.
Finally, there are times when someone designs something and you wonder why no one else has done it before -- or even why such things aren't common. That was the feeling I got after seeing the Nuplug, which is basically an extension cord/surge protector/outlet that attaches to furniture. So, rather than having your outlets on the wall and behind furniture, you can connect them in a more convenient way. Given how much stuff folks are charging all the time these days, I could definitely see how this could be handy for many people. The one thing holding me back on this one, frankly, is that it's a bit on the ugly side -- in that it really stands out. Seems like something a little more subtle would be cooler. Maybe future iterations. This one also has a pretty ambitious $75,000 goal, and they're only a little past halfway there with 18 days to go.

That's all for this week...

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 mattress, awesome stuff, design, outlets, pinhole cameras

16 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

horse with no name, 18 May 2013 @ 11:41am

FTFY
For this week's advertising...

FTFY.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2013 @ 4:01pm

WOW World changers
These are going to change the way people do..... freaking NOTHING !!!..

Is this honestly the calibre of the things people want investment money for from Kickstarter ??

Are they the best examples you can find ?

Must be time for another Aaron Swartz article, or have you realised that no one cares about him either ?

Oh well, I guess it's just Masnick doing his best.....

I don't understand the mechanism behind it,

Don't worry Masnick, we understand, you do not have much of an understanding of most things. Cant expect you to understand. We know "things" confuse you.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2013 @ 5:01pm

One of the guys in the Windcatcher video said they use a phenomena called "entrainment" a quick search brought this up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrainment_%28hydrodynamics%29

And this diagram is probably similar to how their product works. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eductor-jet_pump
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2013 @ 5:07pm

Re: WOW World changers
OK Mr. Troll. If these things make people happy then they improve their quality of life. If people have happier more fulfilling lives they in turn treat others better and are more inclined to help out. They also won't go around bitching at people as much.

So yeah, that's better for society in general. It also puts money in the hand of creators and thinkers that will in turn spend it in their local economies to help their production as apposed to hoarding it.

Even if you don't care about those scenarios it made Masnick happy to hear about them so that's good for him. Just like being a hyperbolic asshole makes you feel better about yourself as you attempt to push his buttons to feel that fleeting moment of control in your life.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2013 @ 8:09pm

Re:
A very cool phenomena that is used in a lot of things like for example painting guns, sand-blasting and other stuff.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2013 @ 8:51pm

Re: WOW World changers
Shatner moment little fellow?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 19 May 2013 @ 12:52am

Masnick, ur a fag. Get a real job
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 19 May 2013 @ 1:44am

Re:
Get a real job. Like the consulting business that he does with Techdirt on the side, right? You're on a site he does because he wants to, not for income.

Might, in the future, try to get a life. Ciao.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

horse with no name, 19 May 2013 @ 4:43am

Re: Re:
You're on a site he does because he wants to, not for income.

Oh come off it. Two things here, first off if it wasn't for money, there wouldn't be any advertising or paid posts. It's a business.

Second and more important is that the site is part of building brand Masnick, which means that even if he isn't selling it here, he is still selling because of it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 19 May 2013 @ 6:20pm

Re: Re:
Masnick consulting business, HAHAHAHAHAHA,, oh mercy!!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 19 May 2013 @ 6:21pm

Re: Re: Re:
he sells crystal balls and T-Shirts !!! that's something I guess.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 19 May 2013 @ 6:24pm

Re:
don't call him a fag, that is an insult to all the fags out there.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
A confused passer by, 20 May 2013 @ 2:24am

Eh?
What's with the hate here?
These are genuinely useful gizmos that I'd not have known about otherwise why the senseless abuse?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ninja (profile), 20 May 2013 @ 5:01am

MUST HAVE WINDCATCHER! *RAWR*

Most useful invention EVER.

Ahem. Nuplug seems awesome too but I projected my outlets to fit my needs and to be smart at home. So it's not really usefull for me. As for the design... It's an outlet.. I just think it should be available in other colors.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
dennis deems (profile), 20 May 2013 @ 6:19am

Re:
I agree, the windcatcher looks amazing. My days of going camping are behind me, but man it would have been nice to have one of these along.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Diego, 29 May 2013 @ 2:46pm

Pre-validation
I found that a lot of the successful kickstarter projects do a lot of pre-marketing to create a momentum at the time they launch. Pages like www.prefundia.com are awesome at helping with that process.
[ link to this | view in thread ]