collision detection: Go ahead. Make my day.

January 19, 2005

Go ahead. Make my day.

Heh. Some Japanese company has released the above-pictured Big Red Button device, and as Ryan at Engadget notes, it might be merely a cold-war desk ornament. But, as he goes on to joke ...

... if they set it up as a single configurable key via USB, well, we�d be in bliss. Though you shouldn�t need to ask, you may want to know what application it would open? Internet Exploder, what else?

If this thing actually is a USB controller, I AM SO GETTING ONE.

(Thanks to Gizmodo for this one!)

Posted by Clive Thompson at January 19, 2005 02:07 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.collisiondetection.net/mt3/mt-tb.cgi/1097

Comments

I don't read kanji, but I assume the "3990" is the price in Yen on that page. If so, at only $38, world domination is cheap.

Posted by: mike d at January 19, 2005 3:06 PM

The Japanese disclaimer states that the device does not act as a switch. Might be fun to mod it, though.

Posted by: Justin Yoshida at January 19, 2005 10:15 PM

It's around $40.
I wonder why it's so attractive. It expresses Japanese nature, though.

Posted by: japanese at January 20, 2005 2:24 AM

I had a friend read the page, and indeed, it's a prop, not a device. Web-shopping searches didn't actually turn up much in terms of "big red buttons", even at mouser and digikey, though "emergency stop switches" got closer - c3controls.com and graybar had some useful bits. I'm still looking for better search terms, though.

(After all, it's easy to build one of these one-off by using switches to close contacts on leftover keyboards...)

Posted by: Mark Eichin at January 20, 2005 3:12 AM

(After all, it's easy to build one of these one-off by using switches to close contacts on leftover keyboards...)

Posted by: Mark Eichin at January 20, 2005 4:29 AM

Thanks for the research! Hmmmmm ... I suppose I could buy one and simply wire up my own USB switch ....

Posted by: Clive at January 20, 2005 10:54 AM

I would wire it to the lock remote on my car keys and then sit nightly on my porch fiddling with it in front of my neighbours. Every few minutes, I would look satisfied, grin evilly at the road, and press the button. When the lights on my car flash and the little horn goes "bloop", I'd curse and start fiddling again.

Posted by: George at January 21, 2005 4:52 PM

I wonder if the company that makes replacement transparent covers, just in case you got a bit overdramatic and did the macho tokusatsu/anime thing of smashing down the button without lifting the cover.

Posted by: Young Freud at January 21, 2005 6:16 PM

Heh.

Posted by: Clive at January 23, 2005 2:01 PM

how can get these for
i live on the balcans
here it can be a useful self defence toy

Posted by: Kamper at January 26, 2005 8:50 PM

1090 http://www.online-poker-web.net
online poker

Posted by: online poker at January 27, 2005 2:22 AM

500 want to play online poker mate?

Posted by: online poker at January 30, 2005 1:24 PM

8623 want to play online poker mate?

Posted by: online poker at February 1, 2005 9:05 AM

7375 want to play online poker mate?