KIckstarter of the week - USB micro led cable!

Briljant!
So useful also for other connectors WDITOT :wink:

It really is brilliant. The problem is that now that the idea has been published on kickstarter, there will be a few hundred of them on the market produced by entrepreneurs in low labor cost areas for a dime or so (probably with subsidized free shipping)

draythomp:
It really is brilliant. The problem is that now that the idea has been published on kickstarter, there will be a few hundred of them on the market produced by entrepreneurs in low labor cost areas for a dime or so (probably with subsidized free shipping)

There's still the initial cost to design this thing if you want to have it mass produced. The original designer will be one step ahead of the copy cats by having done the design and sourcing parts and manufacturers. Yeah, it sounds difficult to keep your brilliant ideas to yourself. I thought the idea was cool. My phone has light but I need to point it at the wall to have it light the phone's USB jack. Having an led on the cable is not bad.

But I want the light on the other end of the USB cable where it plugs into the back of my PC where it is really dark and light is needed, not on the end that is out where I can clearly see what I'm plugging into. Dumb cable light designers. :wink:

Lefty

From that link:

At the end of the day we are all tired. You turn off the lights and go to bed. You realize you have to charge your phone, and you have two choices: you either fight for a minute or two trying to plug in the phone in the dark, or you get up and turn the lights on to do it. Annoying, isn't it?

This cable is the solution: it has a built-in light that powers up with the click of a button.

Anyone else see the flaw in this logic?

JimboZA:
From that link:

At the end of the day we are all tired. You turn off the lights and go to bed. You realize you have to charge your phone, and you have two choices: you either fight for a minute or two trying to plug in the phone in the dark, or you get up and turn the lights on to do it. Annoying, isn't it?

This cable is the solution: it has a built-in light that powers up with the click of a button.

Anyone else see the flaw in this logic?

They say Cool Papa Bell, from the old Negro baseball league, was so fast that when he turned off his bedroom light switch at night he was under the covers before it got dark.

Lefty

But I want the light on the other end of the USB cable where it plugs into the back of my PC

very true, but for a few $ you have a USB reading light that can be permanently in a USB slot on the back.

Oh come on....

You guys don't know how to feel your way and find the hole in the dark?

vasquo:
Oh come on....

You guys don't know how to feel your way and find the hole in the dark?

I can do it, but I'm a 'visual' kind of guy and better enjoy such tasks in lighted situations. :wink:

Lefty

The micro USB is the most difficult of all the USB connectors to connect properly. I hate it. This will not only throw a little light on the problem but will provide a method of knowing the orientation of the connector without having to study the end.

Presumably the design of the lightning connector was driven by the above observations, ie as connectors get smaller it becomes more and more convenient for users to eliminate orientation issues. Obvious visual cues (such as the oblong shape of a IEC power connector) are not as obvious when things get tiny.

Constantin:
Presumably the design of the lightning connector was driven by the above observations, ie as connectors get smaller it becomes more and more convenient for users to eliminate orientation issues. Obvious visual cues (such as the oblong shape of a IEC power connector) are not as obvious when things get tiny.

The lightning connector can be correctly mated in the light or dark, eyes wide open or shut, drunk or sober :), and it seats with such a satisfying "chunk". It gets my vote for the perfect miniature charger connector. No LED necessary.

This is merely a usb cable with 30cents led and probably a 300ohm resistor, not exactly a new concept, besides i have issues finding the usb cable in the dark to begin with...

cjdelphi:
This is merely a usb cable with 30cents led and probably a 300ohm resistor, not exactly a new concept, besides i have issues finding the usb cable in the dark to begin with...

They could make the housing out of glow-in-the-dark plastic. :slight_smile:

Or get a keychain LED light and put it on your charging cable.

"Computer, turn on room light." :wink:

liudr:
"Computer, turn on room light." :wink:

I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that.

"clap clap"
plug in cable
"clap clap"

Yea, a trivial kind of dumb product. That of course means the inventor will become a millionaire next month once the iPhone rat pack discovers it as the next 'big thing' in the way of garnish for their baby.

retrolefty:
Yea, a trivial kind of dumb product. That of course means the inventor will become a millionaire next month once the iPhone rat pack discovers it as the next 'big thing' in the way of garnish for their baby.

Except it won't fit any of the iPhones. The Lightning connector on the latest iDevices makes the problem moot for them anyway.