Good evening, and welcome to the fourth annual Pogie Awards, celebrating the very best in consumer technology! Imagine: Some 7,000 products submitted, from 93 countries.
At least eight million viewers voting by text message. A $1 million grand prize. Yeah, right. That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?
Actually, it’s just me sitting in my office. And there aren’t any prizes. Still, this is my chance to give a nod to the best tech ideas of 2008. Not the best products—in fact, sometimes they’re terrific ideas wasted on dumb products. No, these are the strokes of inspiration, the clever twists, the flashes of genius that somehow made it through committees, past the lawyers and into the marketplace.
FRUSTATION-FREE PACKAGING
You know how so many products come in clear hard plastic packages, impossible to open without a flame-thrower and the Jaws of Life? Everybody complains about them, but nobody does anything about it. Until now. Amazon.com figured: “Hold on a sec—those are anti-shoplifting packages. But we don’t have a shoplifting problem—we’re mail order!” So certain Amazon products now come in special Amazon-only recyclable packaging, free of hard plastic clamshells or twist ties.
So far, there are only 19 of them—memory cards, computer mice and toys—but more are on the way. Amazon and the environment win because these packages can go straight into the mail without a second (outer) shipping box.
You save time, hassle and the cost of a flame-thrower rental.
FREEHANDS GLOVES
Millions of people happily tap away on iPhones, BlackBerrys and Treos in warm weather. But what about the winter? Have you ever tried typing on those things with gloves on? Irt’ss npott pfrettthy. On these ingenious gloves —($20-40, about Rs980-1,960) in various styles)—the thumb and index finger tips swing open, exposing your fingertips. Tap away, get your text message out, then flip the tips back on before you get BlackBerry frostbite. (Similar: the Tavo gloves, $30. For touch screens only, like the iPhone and iPod. Special pads on the fingertips let you operate the screen without opening anything. Your fingers stay toasty.)
NETFLIX AS A SOFTWARE FEATURE
“There’s a reason we didn’t call the company ‘DVDs by Mail’,” Netflix’s chief executive, Reed Hastings, often says. And sure enough: No DVDs are involved in Netflix’s latest assault on the American home theatre. With Netflix Instant Viewing, there is no time limit, no copy protection, no waiting for movie files to download; the movie simply streams from the Internet as you watch. You’re not billed by the movie; in fact, you’re not billed at all. Unlimited streaming movies are free with any DVD-by-mail plan over $9.