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Clever Concept: An Upside-Down Power Strip

By industrial designer Ye-Eun Son

By Rain Noe - April 28

Incheon, South Korea-based industrial designer Ye-Eun Son found what most of us recognize: That power strips, in addition to being unsightly, are magnets for dust.

She designed her Turney concept to address this:

"I solved the dust and [unsightly] lines of the power strip by turning the power strip upside down," she writes.

A wireless charging coil in the now-upwards-facing surface allows the power strip to do double duty.

I like the concept, and would love to see it further developed and tested; there are some things I'd plug into this that might fall out (adapters) and others with stiff cords that might stymie the configuration. If these could be solved for, I believe this product would find a market and sell well.

Comments

Zach W

4 months ago

Z

Z

Why not just put a cover over an existing power strip design? A universal design and it would cost a fraction to make. This seems like overdesign to hide plugs.

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- Russell Wong
  
  Zach W
  
  4 months ago
  
  Z
  
  Z
  
  I wouldn't say it's overdesigned, as the aesthetic is great on a desktop. However, there are definite usability flaws that need to be worked out.
  
  As noted, it lacks flexibility for different types of plugs/bricks, and I would rather that the cord didn't hang in the air. I'd also put some USB ports on the outside and move the power button to the inside, so that you won't accidentally press it when flipping the Turney.
  
  To your point, you can get boxes that are designed to hide power bars, with the extra benefit that you could also fit long cables into the boxes. I'm a cable neat freak, and random lengths of cable sticking out from behind desks annoy me more than dusty power bars.
  
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Rain Noe

I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.