I Want Cables with Reels
Last week at Fry’s I picked up a teeny tiny $20 Targus optical mouse for use with laptops, on planes, etc. I carry it around with me in my bag. The really cool thing about the mouse that I didn’t realize until I got it out of the box, though, is the fact that the cable that connects the mouse to the computer has this neat little reel in the middle. If you only want the cable to be three inches long, you pull out three inches, and the rest of the cable resides in the reel, nice and tidy. To get the whole thing to retract into the reel, you just push a little button and it reels itself in automatically, sort of like the way a tape measure works.
Now I want an ethernet cable with the same kind of reel attached to it, because sometimes I want an ethernet cable that’s five feet long, but sometimes I want it to be fifteen feet long. I’d totally pay a premium for this kind of thing (especially after I went to Fry’s this week and bought, you guessed it, a thirty foot ethernet cable and a separate fifteen foot cable). I’d much rather pay 50% more for a single retractable cable than pay 200% more for two cables.
If only Radio Shack’s new Director of Innovation were listening…Dave?
Update Douglas Coler writes in to say that Keyspan already sells this kind of thing. Excellent…
Hey Jeffrey-
From MacNN reports;
Keyspan debuts retractable cables
Monday, May 19, 2003 @ 6:30pm
Keyspan is now shipping ZIP-LINQ, a new line of retractable computer cables. The lineup consists of over a dozen USB, FireWire, PDA, phone and Ethernet connectivity solutions. Pricing for the cables ranges from $14 for retractable USB cables to $16 for retractable Palm or iPaq Sync+Charge cables. “The cable extends to 30″ or more by pulling on both ends. Simply pull again and the cable retracts back into its durable housing.”
http://www.macnn.com/news/19496
Macally makes one too:
http://www.macally.com/new/new_lp_rj45.html
However, the one from Keyspan seems much more compact.
Did you find a retractable cable that is 30ft or longer?
I am still looking for one.
Here is a link to some nice reels, But they are costly. How about a cheaper solution???
http://www.almarkenterprises.com/prod02.htm