Top 50 TechDigest.tv weird gadgets of 2006 : No's 50 – 26
We all love gadgets, but if there’s one thing that we love MORE than gadgets it’s weird gadgets. So what better way to say goodbye to 2006 than to have a run-down of the top 50 weird gadgets TechDigest brought to your attention over the last 12 months. What follows is the first part of just such a list. Enjoy.
50. The ScrollSeal Washable Mouse (pictured) – I guess my mouse gets dirty, kinda. But buying a mouse that I can then throw in the sink with the dishes isn’t the first solution I’d come to for that particular problem. Besides, it’s fun to scrape off the dirt when your bored waiting for your podcasts to download.
49. PC Circuit Board Lamp – This is actually quite cool and probably something I’d have in my house, but you can’t argue that using discarded pieces of old computers as ornaments is a little strange.
48. Inflatable Office in a Bucket – Never leave home without your office again! Could also double as inflatable changing room, time-out area or child prison. Great.
47. Grohe Wireless Digital Shower – Our obsession with all things wireless has reached new heights when we strive to have wireless showers in our bathrooms. It’s basically a remote control shower system that allows you to turn the thing on from anywhere in the house. That could really spook out any visitors actually… I want one.
46. Book Clock – Expand the look of your library and tell the time too. Why you’d want to is anyones guess but…
45. Windmill Phone Charger – I’d love to see the crazy looks you’d get from passers-by as you drunkenly hold this aloft in a desperate attempt to phone a taxi as the pubs and clubs empty. Genius.
44. World Cup Bottle Babe – There is actually one thing I love more than weird gadgets and that’s useless tat like this. Comes in whatever country design you like… but it’s still weird, and useless.
43. ReGEN YoYo-Powered MP3 – Work for your audio entertainment with this yoyo and learn tricks while your at it. Try as I might I could never pull off anything cool with these babies, but the reward of fine tunes just might spur me on to yoyo greatness.
42. Bluevoice Watch Headset (pictured) – I’d love to meet the kind of people who buy this sort of thing. I mean, c’mon, you can’t even see the watch face. And if you’re using the headset to make calls on your phone (which I’ll assume you will be) tell me a mobile that doesn’t have the time always on the display anyway. Useless. It had to go in my list of weird gadgets.
41. Cebop Pop Inflatable Speakers – Anything that you have to blow up is always good so these speakers are onto a winner already. Although I’ve seen them around though I’ve never actually heard the sound quality you can get from such things. It can’t be that good can it?
40. Sound Pillow – Fall asleep with your face jammed against a set of speakers cleverly disguised as a pillow. Let’s just hope any drool from your mouth doesn’t cause them to send sparks a-flying.
39. Automower (Robot Lawnmower) – You’ll have heard of these but I just wanted to draw your attention to the weirdness of sending a robot (that you probably do not know or trust) armed with razor-sharp blades on it’s belly out into your garden to do it’s evil bidding. A weird gadget that -scarily – might just catch on.
38. Electrosmog Detector (pictured) – Never heard of electrosmog? No, me neither. However it seems that the stuff is bad for your health and you should avoid it. Grab yourself one of these and eliminate the threat. Soon everyone will be doing it… No, honestly.
37. Bev Wizard – Never buy expensive wine again but fool your friends into thinking you do all the time with these magic magnets! (Note: magnets are not actually magic)
36. Ghost Detector – You can really get anything on eBay and this gadget proves it. It does exactly what it says on the tin and detects ghosts. I’d love to know how much it sold for.
35. Pix Visual Communicator – Look ridiculous as you try to send cryptic and unreadable picture messages across crowded rooms to strangers. Go over and talk to them instead like any normal person, fool.
34. Wooden Clock – Now I’d love to own one of these. It’s just a block of wood that tells the time but it’s how it does it that’s really cool. LEDs just below the surface shine through and a digital clock display appears on the grain. Turn it off and it’s just another block of wood again.
33. Smokes Amp – Smoking is bad for your health and loud music is bad for your ears but owning one of these amps is good for playing electric guitar on the move. I’ve actually had a shot on one and the sound is far better than it should be. Nifty little gadget this one.
32. Kerala Trance LED Watch – It always makes us feel big and clever to know how to do something when no one else does, so after some work you should all love this. It’s a simple wrist watch that displays the time in a binary format. Practise reading it for a few hours then go out and show off.
31. Jellephish Mood Lamp – I like things that change colour – chameleons, the sky, old people’s wiry hair – so I think that this is pretty awesome. It’s got various settings and functions but as long as it turns to pink at some point I’ll be happy. I do not like the trendy misspelt name however.
30. Designer Washing Machines (pictured) – Does nothing that your normal washing machine doesn’t do already but you’ve got to admire the garish colours. These wouldn’t “fit in” in any home; I love that.
29. Anti-Snore Magnets – Experience mild to mega discomfort and an undeniable “metallic” stench all night long with these crazy gadgets. Warning: do not use when suffering from cold or flu… yuck.
28. BeerBelly – Or fat-sim as it’s otherwise known. Why anyone (men specifically) would rather look pregnant than drunk is beyond me.
27. Roll-Up Fabric Bluetooth Keyboard – There’s not too much more you can say here, I guess it could be worn as a stylish scarf when not in use. Other than that, nothing. Went on general release in ’06.
26. Shumidor Biodegradable Shoe Freshener – Anything that uses “ionic blade purification” technology is automatically something special in my book… Yep, that’s genuinely the only reason I included it here. You need one.
Stay tuned to TechDigest for No’s 25 – 1 tomorrow.
