We know the dreadful feeling of being far from home without a cell phone charge—and several state lines away from our phone charger. Instead of panic, we feel a sense of adventure. "This is what it must have been like to take a vacation back in the '80s," we'll say to ourselves. But we know not everyone is like us. Some would rather pay for a little extra juice. That's why somebody invented the SafePlug.
The SafePlug is a proposed pay-per-use system that attaches to a regular outlet and makes a buck for the establishment it's attached to.
After you buy a prepaid plastic card from the register at said establishment—offering 10 or 20 blocks of 20-minute access time, each "block" at $1 a piece—you can happily re-charge for as long as you need.
It's sounds like a great idea at first. But the funny thing is that the SafePlug wouldn't help in the vacation situation we described above. Without your phone charger, there's no way to take advantage of that pay-per-charge. And if you had your phone charger, you could just mooch off the first outlet you see.
Unless every library and coffee shop start using the SafePlug at once, you could just re-charge at your next stop. And until the SafePlug is everywhere, why would you want to buy several blocks of juicing minutes?
What about you guys? Have you ever been stranded without a charge? Do you dig the SafePlug idea? Would you pay for a bunch of charging blocks? Tell us in the comments!
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Comments (6)
This is the greediest invention I have ever seen. Seriously, the person that invented this should be banished from the island....it's done with them.
My favorite trick? Charging my iphone at the nearest apple store. Easy. And i've been pleasantly surprised at how close i am to them when i need it. 20 minutes of web surfing and you're set for a while. It does look like you are stealing when you leave with your phone though. The safePlug sounds ridiculously stupid.
Why would I pay for something already given away for free? Now, if it came with various cables to charge your phone-----that's a value add.
Why not just get in the business of renting charging cables to hotels whom then rent them to customers?
Agreed that this product isn't adding enough value.
At SXSW a couple of years ago, AT&T (I think) had a charging station that was a bunch of mini-lockers with outlets in them. That way, you were paying to use the locker and walk away from your phone safely while it was charging.
That idea sounds absolutely retarded!
For the last 3.5 years being an iPhone user, the few times where I have to have juice, I've thankfully been nearby an Apple store. Pony up next to a charger and a computer, then surf/check email for a few minutes while your phone charges.
When I'm not nearby a charger, I turn off all unnecessary features (3G, wifi, bluetooth, etc), turn the volume and brightness down, and if the need be, turn it off completely.
With this idea, you'd still need to have your charger with you. If that's the case, find a starbucks or library where you can use an outlet for 'free'.
Whats wrong with either buying one of those emergency chargers from 7/11 that uses regular batteries? Or just handover your battery and getting them to charge it on their machine for you? Or asking the tech concierge at the hotel for a spare charger? Or using the free chargers available in train stations?
I'm not getting why you need to pay to plug in your charger on this machine. What's wrong with just plugging in? Even if you can't find a plug and you have your charger, just hand it over the counter of where ever you are and ask them to plug it in for a while for you.