Simpleware: Simple ShirtShuttle keeps shirts wrinkle-safe on the go
That nobody has (apparently) thought of this before is akin to a small miracle, but the simple, little nugget that is the ShirtShuttle appears to finally rid road warriors of their life-long nemesis: the Wrinkled Shirt from Hades.
Read MoreSimpleware: The holy trinity of USB cables
If you’re anything like me, cursing the inability of consumer electronics manufacturers to standardize connectivity options is one of your favourite pastimes. I like things to be simple, and now – courtesy of Innergie, it appears my USB meltdown days are coming to an end.
Read MoreSimpleware: Easy-peasy parallel timing with Timerdoro
Let’s say your days are primarily task-driven as opposed to calendar-driven, and you’d like to automate the process of taking breaks and be reminded of a few other things at regular intervals. If so, Timerdoro should be just the ticket.
Read MoreSimpleware: The baby-saving Infant Warmer
In underdeveloped or poor countries, incubators are few and far between due not only to the cost of acquisition but also the maintenance aspect. That’s why a cheap, yet ingenious heating pouch for newborns could prove a literal lifesaver.
As the makers of the Embrace Infant Warmer state, it does indeed look like a miniature sleeping bag at first glance – yet, at a cost under 1% of that of a traditional incubator, it holds the potential to save newborns in large areas of the wolrld which do not yet have access to modern medical technology.
Its principle is simple; heat a wax pouch by means of the included electric heater or hot water, and place this in the sleeping bag warmer along with the baby. The combination is able to hold a temperature of 35-37 degrees Celsius for at least four hours, and the phase-change nature of the wax pouch releases or absorbs heat dependent on the temperature of the infant inside.
It may not be a perfect solution as compared to the alternatives to our disposal in the Western world – but most certainly qualifies as simpleware in the sense that it not only is simple in use and improves upon lives; it literallty saves them.
Read MoreSimpleware: The iPhone’s really dumb cousin
If you’re fighting a serious bout of distractionitis, there is nothing worse than an always-connected, always-available phone. As long as yours is of the more recent variety, there’s a good chance you will succumb to its siren song of a quick Facebook check, or the occasional game, or catching up on your feeds, or… well, the list goes on.
I’ve written previously about reintroducing inertia as a means to separating work and life, and as luck would have it, I just stumbled across the perfect solution to the part of the equation that involves disconnecting ones phone. It’s called John’s Phone.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e2TCLiDECw&feature=player_embedded
As is evident, it shares many of the traits of its smarter cousin, the iPhone, with good industrial design and ease of use being among the first and foremost. In fact, it also reminds me a little bit of the very first phone I owned 17 years ago, which was an Ericsson GA318 – although the GA318 was more advanced as it supported text messaging.
Intriguing as John’s Phone may be, however, I posit very few among us will be lured by the concept of evolutionary regression in the phone department. I’ll be the first to admit that regardless of my fondness for simplicity, I want to be able to choose my level of disconnection consciously; and yet, I can’t help but dwell on the prospect of how it would affect my day.
Read MoreSimpleware: The pinless noticeboard
Anything that removes unnecessary steps from a process is likely to hold a special place in my heart – and I just stumbled across a perfect example. It’s Stix, the pinless noticeboard – a participant in the recent James Dyson Awards, which, although it reached the semifinals as judged by the Dyson Engineers, didn’t quite make it to the top.
Now, I do not in any way intend to subtract from the well-deserved honour bestowed upon the winning contribution, but I’m willing to bet that a pinless noticeboard would elicit quite a few oohs and aahs in offices around the world.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcWFBr1K_zU&feature=player_embedded
Briefly put, the Stix works to eliminate pins, staples and other creative methods of making something stick to a surface through the application of an electrostatic charge. To make an object stick, a user simply rubs it onto the surface of the notice board – much like the old rub-a-balloon-on-your-head-and-stick-it-to-the-roof trick.
On a side note, I’m gleefully amused at how such a simple object as the noticeboard has – courtesy of its infinitely simple user interface – managed to remain relevant despite the long since proclaimed arrival of the paperless office.
Simple, as always, is good.
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