Gizmodo‘s Charlie White just flagged a remarkably cool gadget for anyone who feels the odd niggling of conscience over the amount of electricity that’s sucked through their electronic toys. It’s the Power Aware Cord.
The brainchild of Anton Gustafsson and Magnus Gyllenswärd, it’s kind of a design concept rather than a commercial product at this point, one gathers. Nevertheless, we’d like to see this on the market. Basically it’s a power cord that glows a bright blue when in use, and the intensity of the light will vary according to how much electricity is passing through it.
One comment on “Power Aware Cord: Glowing Guilt” on Gizmodo mentions another gadget to guage electrical use by appliances, computers, etc., more accurately and give it to you in actual numbers — the Power Angel by Seasonic. If you need to check the veracity of your utility bills or track down a power-wasting appliance, this unit can give you the precise measurement of power consumption, which is A Good Thing.
But for general consciousness-raising, let’s face it, it’s just not nearly as cute and funky as that Power Aware power cord… And hey, if I’m going to have a guilt trip, I want to have it in a glowing neon blue!