Pop goes the wall socket. Ignore the red 10-minute warning light, and your toasting days are over (at least temporarily).
(Credit:
Red Dot Web site)
That's right--if your toaster sits idle for too long, the "PumPing Tap" lets you know it's time to toast or get out of the slot. It detects the drop in current and fires a spring-loaded mechanism that in turn fires the toaster's plug across the kitchen (or at least onto the counter--and hopefully not into the butter dish).
You do get a heads-up. When a plugged-in device is switched off and is no longer being used, a ring of bluish light around the socket turns to red, giving you a 10-minute warning. When time's up, pop goes the plug.
The device is, of course, meant to conserve energy (and money) that's wasted when gadgets like computers and TVs are in standby mode.
The PumPing Tap won a 2011 Red Dot Award for design concept (the Red Dots are international product- and communication-design prizes handed out each year by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany).
And it is an interesting idea, though we're not convinced it strikes exactly the right cord (er, chord).
One can imagine various undesired scenarios popping up in regard to flying and falling plugs (see "butter dish" above). And there's also the question of plugs that are located in hard-to-reach places.
Perhaps the better idea would be to create a socket that simply switches itself off, as some power strips apparently do (though certain issues would no doubt need to be addressed).
But who knows? If a product like the "PumPing Tap" were to be developed and marketed, it might capture the public's imagination in unforeseen ways and become a nice little poster-gadget for energy awareness.
Extreme plug-popping competitions, anyone?
(Via Gizmag)
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