The iPad + Velcro

As Kevin Kelleher, who posted this video on The Big Money pointed out, transparent velcro is available.

• [Anonymous]

  So… It’s basically like a computer, except you need velcro to make the screen stand up?

• [darren]

  Greatest video I’ve seen in a while.

• [GraemeM]

  Something is not right here. You buy velcro in strips or patches which always come in two halves, what do you do with all the one sided bits you don’t use after sticking 250 meter of the stuff all over your house, garden, car, desk, bus shelter, train tables ….. I see a velcro mountain pollution problem coming on.

  I have also used industrial velcro and its awesome. Struggled to split it and the glue used on the strips puts super-glue to shame.

• [Anonymous]

  COOL!

  Ironically, this video cannot be seen in the iPad.

• [woid]

  Every time the iPad was yoinked away from the Velcro, I kept expecting a autononmous quadrotor helicopter to zip in and land there.

  PS, I’ve had a 1TB drive Velcroed to the lid of my Macbook for a few months, solving my old problem of frequently disconnecting the USB cord when I would unthinkingly pick up the computer and not the drive.

• [gnoodles]

  igzabier @ 6: 11 suicides out of 300,000 workers and you’re up in arms?

  Not only is that (according to the article) in line with the Chinese national suicide rate, it’s about 1/3 the US average suicide rate of 10.8/100,000 (see http://www.suicide.org/suicide-statistics.html).

  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that things couldn’t be better, but “what sticks to ipad more than anything? blood” is just a bit melodramatic when you actually look at the numbers in context.

• [coop]

  Pip_R_Lagenta

  Thanks for updating.

  ;-)

• [Anonymous]

  Congratulations, you are the first person to make me believe that an ipad *might* be useful… and all you need is some velcro.

• [ChickenDelicious]

  Congratulations on finding a bunch of places that I would never, ever put an item as expensive as an iPad.

• [Tensegrity]

  Cute, but:

  1) the bedroom ceiling scene would have been better with pronz

  2) motorcycle+iPad is a huge fail:
  a) ATGATT = gloves != capacitive touchscreen
  b) taking eyes off road = death wish
  c) huge reflective surface to bounce glare up into face = NO
  d) I guess iPad owners can only ride cruisers or standards

  NOTE TO MARKETING DWEEBS: talk to people who ride before trying to sell to us

• [agraham999]

  Cute. I would suggest if you are going to do any of these for real…you don’t rely on the adhesive on the back of the velcro and instead use some type of silicon adhesive. For example in the car…one hot day and that’s gonna peel right off. Also…if you stick it to something semi porous like sheetrock/paint, with that weight it will also fall off and smash.

  • [mstoddard]

    I have to say I have use this brand of industrial strength Velcro before and the only problem I can imagine is the backing adhesive being too strong (for most surfaces). It can actually damage surfaces when removing, believe me.

• [abe lugo]

  Apple will sell you accessory Velcro for about 10X the price.

  • [Anonymous]

    And people will buy it.

    That being said, this is the first time I have seen anyone make the iPad look remotely useful. Apple should hire this guy to handle their marketing.

• [ben]

  I like the bedroom ceiling placement lol. Would be better if it had a camera *nudge nudge wink wink* knowwhatimean?

• [Anonymous]

  Sadly many of the shown examples won’t be much fun since you would have to charge the iPad again all the time.

• [igzabier]

  what sticks to ipad more than anything? blood;Protest at Chinese iPad maker Foxconn after 11th suicide attempt this year

  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7763699/Protest-at-Chinese-iPad-maker-Foxconn-after-11th-suicide-attempt-this-year.html

  slight fly in the mercury ointment? or the face of humans who dont produce but conspicuously consume to fill the void?

  • [scaught]

    What kind of computer did you type this post on?

• [Anonymous]

  The iPad seems like the spork of gadgets. It’s not a good spoon and it’s not a good fork. It’s too small (and smudgy) to be a TV, too big to be a GPS or MP3 player, too bright to be an e-reader… at least with velcro you don’t have to hold it the whole time, I guess.

• [coop]

  Apple’s EULA will not permit you to attach velcro or any other similar hook and loop fastener to the iPad unless it has been purchased from Apple at an Apple store.

  This requirement does not imply an endorsement or approval of the velcro or any similar hook and loop fastener, (even if purchsed from Apple) and Apple will not recognise any claim for damages if said velcro or any similar hook and loop fastener fails during operation….

  Steve is watching.

  • [Pip_R_Lagenta]

    I have found that “coop” is correct: Apple reports that it is a violation of Apple’s “User Agreement” (EULA), a violation of copyright, a violation of trademark, and illegal to attach or connect Velcro®, or any Velcro-like (hook-and-loop) material, directly or indirectly to the iPad or any Apple product. Apple promises to vigorously prosecute any and all violators. However, the Apple store will happily supply you with all the iVel that you may need for a mere $300 per square inch. Please note that iVel is not a hook-and-loop technology, and will not support, or work with, any hook-and-loop product.

• [Dilapidus]

  I was thinking that what you want is a static picture frame with your choice of picture, but it can also hold the iPad.

  I little more home decorating friendly.

• [pentomino]

  When crafting your ToS-based satire, remember that “Velcro” is trademarked and “hook-and-loop” is not, and use both phrases and the necessary TM and circle-R symbols, for that extra bureaucratic authenticity.

  The ceiling iPad seems a neat idea, though people have been mounting large flat-screens on the ceiling since that one commercial gave them the idea, and the iPad strikes me as too small, unless you have one of those loft beds. And if you do, you have the added bonus of the ceiling being within arm’s reach.

  • [coop]

    Yeah, I thought about that as I typed it in, and realised that I just didn’t care…

    coop

• [Gilgongo]

  My wife bought an iPad the other day. Three weeks later it’s not really seeing that much use, I have to say.

  For about the first week we kept it on the living room table, and basically sat around thinking up excuses to use it for various non-productive and pretty silly time-wasting reasons (Hey, let’s look at Flickr! Ooh, ooh, there’s a cool encyclopaedia app! Er, wanna watch a movie together?)

  The trouble is, there’s far better equipment around the house for most of these things: we have a large HD TV on which to watch movies, we have PCs and laptops on which to see Flickr, and for music, well, there’s the Slingbox connected to the hi-fi. And don’t get me started on data transfer – it’s a friggin’ nightmare! I suppose it’s a bit better if you’re the only one in the house though (you can check your email, for example, or watch pr0n).

  Perhaps the biggest problem is that unlike our iPhones, it’s really not for taking out of the house, so ends up falling between two stools the whole time. Somebody earlier said the iPad was the “spork of gadgets” – I’ll second that. It’s just not very good at any one thing, or interesting or useful enough unless you’ve never owned any other gadget, or are perhaps living alone.

• [agraham999]

  If you are going to make a comment regarding Foxconn, Apple, iPads, and suicide, then you need to direct your concern towards a public with an insatiable appetite for cheap goods and perhaps a little more introspection and concern over a government that feels paying people $200 a month is completely acceptable.

  The last time I checked Apple wasn’t the only company making products in China or at Foxconn. Yes I know I know…they make good SEO for your ire.

  I’m fine with protesting something that is morally and ethically wrong, but why not skip the fake Apple outrage and focus on the real reason workers might trying to kill themselves…

  BTW…also made by Foxconn…Sony, Dell, HP, Nokia. And who again is buying those product…is there a mirror handy?

• [glassbeat]

  The way to make this idea TRULY awesome, is that instead of velcro you add rare earth magnets to the iPad. Then, in addition to the mounting areas also having rare earth magnets, they have rfid chips that identify the location they’re at. Add an RFID reader to the iPad, and whenever it gets mounted to a location it switches to an app for that location. For instance the picture slide show for hanging it on the wall, weather app for the window, cooking app for the stove, map for the car.

• [Anonymous]

  Putting an iPad on a car dash might seem like a good idea. But the nice smooth surface is actually where the airbag explodes from. You really don’t want an iPad hurled at you as you crash.

  • [Scuba SM]

    Dude, he’s a Mac user. Everyone knows that you can’t crash a Mac, so that airbag will never get used. Duh. God help you if you velcro a PC to your dashboard though.

• [Anonymous]

  Errrm, meanwhile, most cars have airbags in their dashboard.

• [pAULbOWEN]

  Driving a PTW without gloves? Seriously? Braver man than me mate.

• [Wash]

  Or, you know, you could buy a GPS, a photo frame, and a tiny TV.

  And have change left over.

  • [glassbeat]

    Wow, that is so 2000′s of you to say. You know we’re in the 2010′s now, right? Get with the times!