The Cranko MP3 player twists our panties into a knot

You know what kids in developing nations need besides water, vaccines, and schools? MP3 players... and laptops, lots of laptops. Meet the Cranko, at least that's what we're calling it since Thanko's "Cranking MP3 Player" bores us to the point of Wal-marting razor blades. The 1GB capacity player from Thanko features a flashlight and 10 minute charge per minute of cranking. You know, just in case your spelunking adventures take you too far away from a USB port. Yours now for ¥6,000 or about $60.

[sk8rpro @ Mar 27th 2008 4:40AM]

I want one!

[OneLove @ Mar 27th 2008 10:38AM]

Thomas Ricker wears panties!

[tanooki2003 @ Mar 27th 2008 1:36PM]

Thomas Ricker has to be one of the biggest pantie waists' on Endgadget. My biggest question has to be when is the sex change happening?

[SimonRichards @ Mar 27th 2008 4:46AM]

I was just thinking..great for music festivals..but then, there would be plenty of music already.....

[nDee @ Mar 27th 2008 5:06AM]

I was wondering how the hell do they change a desktop replacement from that whinky little thing.
Than I found out it's more stupid than I thought.
(Who the hell need such thing when you can charge your iPod with Duracell batteries?)

[technophobe @ Mar 27th 2008 5:35AM]

Batteries cost money and can run out, I can see the advantages of this device - I wouldn't want one myself though.

[StreetStealth @ Mar 27th 2008 1:21PM]

Actually, what I'd *much* rather have is a crank-powered cell phone charger.

Instead of putting a crank dynamo on an ugly-as-sin MP3 player, why doesn't Thanko take out the flash and the DSP, put in a voltage selector, and give you a snap-on selection of Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Apple, etc. connectors?

Now *that's* something I'd spend $60 on!

[dervheid @ Mar 27th 2008 5:13AM]

"just in case your spelunking adventures take you too far away from a USB port"

Or just buy a really cheap one, and a nice stack of AAA batteries.

[A-Deca @ Mar 27th 2008 5:37AM]

The goal here is to make this accessible to people who cannot have a stack of AAA batteries, perhaps because they live in rural areas.

And the idea, di per se', is not bad at all. I would not mind having a similar way to charge my cell phones or iPod anywhere, anytime, without depending on electricity or USB port.

Andrea

[Tizo @ Mar 27th 2008 9:20AM]

A-Deca, do a search on ebay for "hand crank cellphone", there are chargers out there. I got one, it's corny, goofy, pretty useless....... but when Y2K hits I'll still have power to my cellphone :)

[ScooterDe @ Mar 27th 2008 5:55PM]

what happens to those batteries - for years and years - after you've had a few hours' use out of them? They lie, leeching their chemical residues, into the soil, that's what. One day it will end up on your plate, in some form or other. Bon apetit.

[supermeerkat @ Mar 27th 2008 5:15AM]

Insert double entendre about cranks and the yanking of, here.

[mike @ Mar 27th 2008 5:21AM]

it would be better if the hand crank is separate from the mp3 player and can also charge cellphones. I usually run out of charge when I go to my friend's house for the weekend

[Clark H. @ Mar 27th 2008 2:16PM]

...I...um...it's Y2K8...

[dervheid @ Mar 27th 2008 6:36AM]

Dear Andrea,
Are people who live in "Rural Areas" not allowed access to AAA batteries?
As the device has a USB port for transferring files, presumably it charges from there too.
And since they have access to a PC for that vital file transfer, presumably they have access to mains power at some stage? Even in "Rural Areas"

I think the 'point' of this object is as a GIMMICK.

BTW, there ARE nice, windy-uppy chargers for phones & ipods, if you look for them. I'm not posting a URL for you to look at, coz I'm not after one. If YOU want one, YOU go find it!

[DWells55 @ Mar 27th 2008 6:18AM]

Most thinly veiled website plug ever.

[davidM @ Mar 27th 2008 6:26AM]

crank that!

[y3k.nik @ Mar 27th 2008 6:49AM]

So, lets get this straight

1. It is targeted towards people living in rural areas.

2. It works on an assumption that the consumers in the target market have a laptop and internet at their disposal.

3. It works on another assumption that the target market do not have access to AAA batteries.

Name me one place in the world where you will find a laptop and no AAA batteries!

I hereby rest my case.

[fraz @ Mar 27th 2008 7:48AM]

places that have that 0lpc 1 laptop per child thing? thought that was crankable too? but why they'd need a 1gb music player and where they'd get/record music from is beyond me at this moment

[Freerefill @ Mar 27th 2008 7:36AM]

A step in the right direction.

It's little crappy things like this that put the concept into the public eye. Once people see things like this, big business can gauge what kind of market there is for it. Now, for this thing? No market. Those people who are sadly deprived of batteries will likely be unable to transfer music from their computer to their $60 MP3 player, given their likely lack of both. More to the point, having to crank the thing for a full minute just to listen to Freebird? I don't think so. However, 'green' is the new trend in consumer goods, and this is the first 'green' MP3 player (inb4 "it still has batteries and charges from a USB port dumbass!" or "But it isn't the first, here's a link to some obscure product that you've never heard about."). Green electronics will eventually be coming in waves, just like green cars and green business. This small device, while only a ripple, is a message of a tsunami on its way. And I, for one, welcome the day when everything will be powered on clean, excess energy.

And, this is a great idea for cell phones. Every cell phone or first aid kit should come packaged with a hand-operated generator for charging cell phones.

[Josh L @ Mar 27th 2008 1:33PM]

Unless every component is safely biodegradable, it isn't "green" by a long shot.

[kingofwale @ Mar 27th 2008 7:54AM]

So... in order to get 20 hours of battery life like normal MP3 players, you have to crank that for over 2 hours. I don't know about you, I much rather be doing something else.

[DWells55 @ Mar 27th 2008 8:36AM]

"you have to crank that for over 2 hours"
---

z0mg soulja boi!!11



...
Ahem, sorry.

[CrankyPants @ Mar 27th 2008 8:12AM]

Dude, Hurley could have SO used this on the island. That darn CD player runs through batteries real quick!
Well kingofwale hopefully you would have "something else" better to do that sitting there for 20 hours straight listening to music!
I kneed!!!eleventyone!!!

[Dan Davis @ Mar 27th 2008 8:51AM]

This would be good for my workplace, where the IT department freaks out if you try to charge your iPod via USB.

[comp2 @ Mar 27th 2008 9:00AM]

Everybody saying this device should just charge from AA-AAA batteries is missing the fucking point. What's crucial here is this device produces it's own power from a crank with no waste. In parts of the world where batteries are expensive or hard to get access to this is ideal, not to mention much more environmentally friendly. It may be gimmicky, but you are not smart for realizing batteries are more convenient.

[0150r @ Mar 27th 2008 9:13AM]

It would also be good for hiking/camping/etc trips where you wouldn't want the extra weight/sapce of extra batteries in your pack.

[fraz @ Mar 27th 2008 9:15AM]

and another thing, how much charg does it hold? Don't want to find yourself overcranking beyond the max juiciness or anything. Doesn't seem to say anywhere

[Mikeachim @ Mar 27th 2008 9:36AM]

There must be a way of rigging up the crank to a mini wind-turbine, or a dynamo on a wheel. Crank it up at the gym, or while you're walking.

Sitting yanking your crank (so to speak) for ten minutes is a hard sell for anyone if you're under 20, I reckon. Apart from if it's regarding the (so to speak) bit.

[nth256 @ Mar 27th 2008 10:48AM]

WTF is "Wal-marting"??? Is that where you get drunk and go to the bike section with your friends at 2AM and use whiffle bats and football helmets to recreate a medieval jousting tournament?

No? Damn.

[Critter @ Mar 27th 2008 11:02AM]

Um... it's good if you go camping for say a week or long weekend, when you may not want to devote any extra weight to batteries or want the backup option of not needing batteries.

[Neocoke @ Mar 27th 2008 11:18AM]

I would love one of this when I go to camp to virgin beach's where you don't have anything to do, and you don't have access to electricity nor batteries

[bostongraf @ Mar 27th 2008 4:50PM]

This is clearly designed for the one-way time traveler. When you go back to 4000bc to take over the world with your Zippo and SpyderCo, the last thing you need is to run out of juice on your MP3 player.

[MANGOPTIMUS @ Mar 28th 2008 3:01AM]

blegh reminds me of that nightmare of a flashlight from third grade, we had to keep squeezing this trigger thing to make it light up and by the time it was bright enough my hands were cramped to death =[ but the crank charging sounds neat.