Lazy bums rejoice over tablecloth sweatpants
(Credit: Mitemite)I know these are still in beta, and I'm all for silly fashion statements, but I have to take a second to expound on the ridiculousness of these "Lazy Sunday Pants."
To the layman, these pants by Spanish design studio Mitemite appear to be your normal pair of loungey sweatpants, perfect for wearing outside to wash the car or get a quick bite at a local McDonalds, right?
Nope. Take a look again, but this time use your lazy eye. The pants come with their own built-in remote control pocket, and that's not even the best part. They also feature little red and white gingham tablecloths that Velcro onto your lap for worry-free dining.
Now aside from the fact that you could save yourself some dough and just use, uh, any piece of cloth ever to cover your lap, I'm wondering what kind of person would get real use out of this. How big of a slob do you have to be to need this kind of double-layer protection? Is our species so lazy that we'd rather have detachable clothing instead of just throwing a whole pair of pants in the wash?
I'm disgusted and ashamed, although I'm sure feral children everywhere are furiously crawling their way to Spain right now to get a pair. Everyone else should get off their butt and just grab a napkin.
(Credit:
Thanko)
We thought we'd found the ideal laptop angle years ago with the "Easy Desk Aluminum," but that position can get a little old especially when used at play as well as at work. That's where the aptly named "Lazy Geek's Cushion" comes in.
Unlike many of its other products, Japan's Thanko may actually have come up with something useful with this, er, workstation, at least for those of us afflicted with terminal laziness. It supposedly claims to alleviate back and neck pain, though we have no idea if there's any actual ergonomic value to it. Then again, it can't be any worse than spending every waking hour on one's back.
(Credit:
CrunchGear)
The line between laziness and forgetfulness is a fine one, but the consequences are the same: Nothing gets done. That's how we justify our fondness for products like the "SmartShopper," which spits out a paper shopping list after you tell it what you need. Even the likes of HP are getting into this act.
But what if you don't know what should be on the list (and are too lazy to open the refrigerator door)? That's where the "Ikan" comes in. The idea, according to CrunchGear, goes something like this: Before you toss an empty carton of milk or whatever, scan it first on this countertop device. Don't be fooled by the photo--it's small, not the size of a parking meter. Then, in theory, the Ikan will know just what you need to buy and print out a list when you're ready to shop.
There's just one problem--who wants to scan every item before throwing it away? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the laziness lifestyle to which we're so dearly accustomed? Oh Kozmo, we hardly knew ye.
(Credit:
Hammacher Schlemmer)
We're still waiting on the time machine, human teleportation, and commercially available flying cars. But scientists have been working hard, and now the Remote-Controlled Floating Serving Tray is ready for the world.
Hammacher Schlemmer's remote-controlled tray holds up to five cans (no room for a six-pack?) and a 16-ounce bowl of delicious, delicious snacks.
The piece de resistance--a remote control with 25 feet of range--lets the operator transport various refreshments to you aquatically. (Or, depending on how good a friend the operator is, float the snacks just out of reach and make you swim around and chase them.)
At $50, the Remote-Controlled Floating Serving Tray is a medium-risk buy with potential for high returns. At the very least, fellow Craver Caroline McCarthy can live her dream of consuming a spaghetti dinner and five mai tais in the middle of a pool without ever leaving the water. Kudos, Caroline.
(Credit:
Pink Tentacle)
If automation breeds laziness, this is a prime example. It's one thing for Japanese scientists to develop robots that can help their country's aging society for such reasons as health and safety, but is a tissue-dispensing bot really necessary?
InterRobot, maker of the ever-smiling "Mospeng-kun," also rents out its creation to the tune of 100,000 yen for five days (about $835). That seems pretty steep for an automated tissue box, but Mospeng might have a more sinister--and therefore more valuable--use as well: for "gathering information about the people it encounters on the job," according to Pink Tentacle. So the next time a robot offers a helping claw when you sneeze, be on guard.
(Credit:
BornRich)
If you're not wandering the floors of Macworld, CES, the Detroit Auto Show or, for that matter, the neighborhood grocery store, you'll likely need some equipment of your own to virtually experience the spectacles in comfort. That's where Empower Technologies comes to the rescue with its iMedia Chair showcased this week on various displays this week.
Not only does this Barcalounger on steroids have a built-in 15-inch LCD, but it also boasts a THX-certified surround-sound system piped directly from your iPod controlled by a separate 3.5-inch touch screen, as BornRich points out. We also appreciate the effort to strike a balance in home decor, falling somewhere between the lobby-looking "Ronda Media Chair" and the rather pretentious "Amadeus Sound System." As they say, it's the next best thing to being there--maybe even better.
The trend o' the week (or the day, whatever) seems to be multi-room music. First, we saw the "Eos wireless iPod speaker system," which Gadgetell describes as the world's first "whole home audio" speaker system for the ubiquitous music player. Then we came across the "ZON Multi-Room Audio Range," which Automated Home says can also pipe your iPod into every room.
(Credit:
ZON Audio)
Both systems can be expanded with additonal speakers, depending on the size of your grounds, and both claim to be affordable products meant for the home. But there's one major difference: The Eos is wireless, which makes expansion as simple as buying another speaker and plugging it into the wall, similar to many of today's cordless phone systems.
This is huge, of course, as we found when we got our first expandable phone setup--no additional jacks, cables, wires or unsightly duct tape throughout the house that would never come close to passing a fire inspection. Which makes us wonder: Unless the quality is vastly superior even to the untrained ear, will hard-wired systems soon become obsolete for the entry-level home market? For semi-Luddites like us, the answer is definitely yes.
You know how punching in a cook time on a microwave is just too much work? Not only do you have to unwrap your pre-packaged meal, but you have to put it on a plate, and on top of that, you have shut the door. By then, anyone would be exhausted.
(Credit:
Samsung)
Samsung's response: "Dude. We know." Or something like that. But the company is selling the Smart Oven, a combination conventional oven and microwave that reads the bar code on a package of food and knows how long to nuke it.
While this may be a boon to, say, the guy on his 18th straight hour of playing Final Fantasy XII, or the girl glued to her couch for an Arrested Development DVD marathon, it will likely bring a tear to the eyes of foodies everywhere.
But it's not just for people who can't spare 30 minutes to whip up a meal, according to the Web site. It's for people who like to "cook from scratch" too. "From scratch" is interpreted loosely here, as the recipe suggestions range from the potentially delicious to the unfortunate.
Thanks to Absolute Gadget for pointing us to it.
(Credit:
Motorola)
Given the types of headgear on the market these days, you'd think everyone was either trying out for the Olympics or trying to kill themselves in some type of "extreme" activity. For the record, we at Crave are not in either camp.
We are, however, very much into creature comforts. Like hats. Especially in the winter. And what better way to fend off the cold than to do it while entertaining oneself with a built-in MP3 player? The Audex Padded Hat made by Burton and Motorola, which we found on Gearlog, is our kind of roughing it: A knit cap that can keep you warm while allowing easy access to your music with large control buttons on its Bluetooth stereo headphones.
On the other hand, at $180, you might be better off with your iPod and a cheap cap from Wal-Mart.
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