In Regards To The MP3 Player and Flashlight Post (Serious Post Not Joking)

So a joking post was closed in the LED section that said something about a 22 mode flashlight and MP3 player.

That actually got me to thinking, would this make a marketable device and better yet would this get more folks to carry around some kind of portable lighting, which I think is one of the things everybody should have at their fingertips for emergencies.

So in my mind I am thinking of something around 4 GIGs in MP3 capability, rear USB connection to both charge and transfer data. Light would be at the front and be a reasonably underdriven CREE/SEOUL figure 10-15 lumens for basic use vs. runtime.

I figure this could be made in a small package. Not that I COULD build this but what do you think?

Chris

Eh? My iPod IS a lighting device. When the screen is lit up, it puts out quite a decent navigational glow. I don't think adding lights to things will work. If what I want to do is play music, am I willing to pay $5 more to have my MP3 player work like a flashlight? No. If I am buying a music player, what would the marketing have to look like to convince me that I need to buy the player with a built in flashlight? It refocuses the conversation between product and purcahser to a place that neither wants to go.

A better tactic would be for your iPod to have a "flashlight" mode where the screen went to max brightness (or maybe a turbo bright). There used to be a program for the Palm handhelds that did this. Then Apple can market the iPod as a music player, and enhance the conversation about the music player with an aside to it's convenient flashlight mode.

Remember, more is less. There is a reason why those "emergency" TV, Radio, Flashlight, Strobe, Air Compressor, Espresso, Masssage, Poker all-in-one machines are marketed as gift items. Nobody would buy one for themselves, as they don't fit a need other than as something "cool" to give as a cheap gift.

Want people to carry a flashlight? Do like some car manufacturer did and build one into the car key. Just my thoughts, though.

Actually not a bad idea. The USB port can already charge the battery as it would have a 3.7V LI battery built in already. I've seen a phone or two that had an LED light built in as well. It was a 5mm LED but some camera phones have Luxeons in them already for flash purposes. Rig up a push button to make it a user selectable feature. Cell phones are definitely already EDC.