YoYo powered iPhone charger

Why the heck not right? I mean, YoYos are a very efficient way of generating power, and iPhones don't really need all that much power to charge. So what's the problem with this idea?

I'd even say that it's several times cooler, more convenient, and better for the environment than a solar-powered charger.

What remains to be seen is whether or not you can actually get enough power out of one of these things to charge your phone easily. And no one wants another thing to carry around. Which makes me think ... why not just put the phone inside the YoYo!

Inhabitat is treating this thing like it will actually exist soon, but I'm not so sure about that. It seems like a pretty design project to me ... a joke even. Big cues that it's not coming to market any time soon include the Apple logo on the device (which would never be allowed for a real design project.)

But that doesn't mean it's not a good idea. And we certainly hope that this and other human-powered charging devices will make our mobile future more convenient and more sustainable.

Via Peter Huvander and Inhabitat