pogoLibrary
pogoLibrary: “Rather than lining your walls with books, the books are the wall. You can’t have too much book space. Period. Goes anywhere. And the five shelves hold all your reading material while touching the ceiling and floor on only four white rubber feet.”
Perpetual calendar
Perpetual calendar: “There are only 7 days a month can start on and only 4 different month lengths (28, 29, 30 and 31 days). So with only 14 double sided inserts all 28 variations are covered.” [via SM]
Home Defibrillator
HeartStart Home Defibrillator Complete Kit: “The first over-the-counter home defibrillator guides with calm interactive voice instructions and determines the need for a shock, then advises it only if necessary; also coaches you through CPR.”
Illuminated Living Tea Lights
Illuminated Living Tea Lights: “Fired Up conjures up memories of warm nights, eating s’mores around the campfire. You Wish is a festive alternative to a real birthday cake, but without the calories.”
Heely’s
Shoes that roll. A design innovation that’s had a pretty amazing impact.
Jeff Koke
on 18 Apr 07Yeah, I see those Heely’s everywhere now. It’s always a little disconcerting because you can’t tell someone’s wearing them, and then suddenly they roll away.
James Deer
on 18 Apr 07Lol thats true, although i always think people using them are going to fall flat on their ass
Daniel
on 18 Apr 07You know, those Heely’s really are intriguing. I’m 25 now, but I remember they tried to market these to college and high school kids when they first came out in 2000.
It’s interesting to me how they ended up totally sinking in with a much younger demographic, though. Just about everybody I see wearing them now (and there are many) looks to be 13 or under.
John Mellerick
on 18 Apr 07Heelys have been out in Ireland for about a year now, and interestingly, a lot of shops and shopping centres have banned them from use on premises because kids (bored with their parents shopping for stuff they had no interest in) were rolling around and colliding with other people and displays, damaging goods etc.
Has this happened in other places too?
John Topley
on 18 Apr 07Re. Heelys – how do you roll when there’s no wheel at the front of the shoe? Do you have to lift your toes off the ground?
Frankie Roberto
on 18 Apr 07See my thoughts on Heelys: http://www.frankieroberto.com/weblog/674.xhtml (along with some comments from kids who use them).
Seems like it’s a whole new way of moving and experiencing spaces…
Kyle Pike
on 18 Apr 07John,
You start off with a brisk walk and just lift your toes up. I purchased a pair for my cousin and he picked it up within two minutes.
Nicole
on 18 Apr 07I love the Urban Workshop pogo stuff—it’s perfect for the person living in a small space. But, can anyone find prices or a way to buy the stuff (besides contacting an email address)?
Dan
on 18 Apr 07Nicole, I have the same question. Apparently they’re available in a showroom in Kansas City, but that doesn’t help me much.
http://www.urbanworkshop.us/workshop/showrooms.html
Seems like the kind of thing that could easily be broken down and shipped anywhere in the world, so hopefully they’ll have them available online soon.
John Topley
on 18 Apr 07Thanks Kyle! So do you tend to fall on your backside the first few goes?
Mark
on 18 Apr 07Hey John, here are some kids going slightly crazy on Heely’s…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnMlNGR_NWU
Kate
on 18 Apr 07The shoes-that-roll phenomenon has been around a lot longer than that—Steve Martin wore an early version of Heelys in the movie L.A. Story in 1991.
They’re cool but weird, though. You’ll see whole flocks of school kids suddenly start to slowly glide eerily through crowds…
Jim
on 18 Apr 07People do fall on their asses. And their heads. I coach gymnastics at a local gym and I’ve seen a lot of foolish injuries from these things.
Dylan Bennett
on 18 Apr 07For whatever reason, I have always paid close attention to how people walk. Each person tends to have a very distinctive walk.
Heely’s change people’s walk.
I have watched how it changes a person’s walk over time, even after they have long discontinued use of them. As said before, these have been around since the 1990’s, so I’ve had plenty of time to observe the effects.
People’s walks change from a heel-toe walk to a toe-heel walk. Why? Because the wheels are on the heel, so if you walk heel-toe you’ll fall on your arse if you’re just trying to walk, instead of roll. You have to walk toe-heel when you have them on if you don’t want to start rolling. Eventually, the person just starts walking like that all the time, even when wearing normal shoes.
I know kids whose walks changed after they had Heely’s for a while and still walk toe-heel to this day, and it’s been ten years since they wore Heely’s. They walked heel-toe before getting the shoes.
Personally, I think toe-heel walks look funny.
Ryan Heneise
on 18 Apr 07Funniest thing about Heelys is when you see an older person (20 or bigger) rolling down the sidewalk. Somehow it just seems incongruent.
Ryan Heneise
on 18 Apr 07And one more thing. Seeing a bunch of kids levitating down the street gives me kind of a weird futuristic feeling. Next thing you’ll see people flying around on hoverboards.
Paul
on 18 Apr 07Hoverboards don’t work on water – keep that in mind.
beto
on 18 Apr 07Every damn kid around here has those Heely’s or at least a variation of those. And yes, having one of them almost crash on you while zipping mindlessly through a supermarket aisle is so much fun. Thought it was just a passing fad at first, but I fear those shoes are poised to change the walking patterns of future generations.
Excuse me if I sound like I’m on “grumpy old fart” mode today. I guess I would have wished to have a pair if they were around when I was younger.
baz
on 18 Apr 07Heely’s have had a bad press over in the UK:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6310000/newsid_6315900/6315951.stm
Heh – a link to CBBC on svn …
Darrel
on 18 Apr 07My 5 year old has been begging for those healy’s for some time now.
They are a neat idea.
Johnathan
on 18 Apr 07I own a pair of Heelys, and I’m twenty-seven (Don’t judge me!). I have a job where screwing around isn’t discouraged and I wanted to relive my childhood as an avid roller blader.
They were a lot of fun for a while. It is nice to move at a running pace with little effort, and to zip around leaving everyone else confused.
Heelys are a lot easier to use than skates. I have never fallen down with them, because of how braking works – you just put your toes down. If you fall or hit someone with them, it’s out of complete carelessness.
I wore them for a good month before retiring them. Unfortunately they're just not comfortable if you're not skating. Like Dylan said, they change how you walk, and walking toe to heel is unnatural. Actually, walking in Heelys is harder than skating in them.John
on 18 Apr 07Steve Martin wore an early version of Heelys in the movie L.A. Story in 1991.
Steve Martin is wearing rollerskates on the cover of LA Story.
As said before, these have been around since the 1990’s, so I’ve had plenty of time to observe the effects.
I know kids whose walks changed after they had Heely’s for a while and still walk toe-heel to this day, and it’s been ten years since they wore Heely’s.
Are you refering to something else? Cause according to this http://www.heelys.com/roger_adams.pdf , Roger Adams didn’t start the Heelys Company till December 2000.
It changed the way my daughter walks while in Heelys, but she walks normal when she is wearing normal shoes.
@John Mellerick
Yes, in Northern California a lot of stores have been banning them. One employee started yelling at my daughter over it. I dont think they’ll be doing that again.
indi
on 19 Apr 07Security at Disney Resort asked my daughter to pop her wheels out … not allowed in the park he said … of course later I saw lots of other kids gliding around …
Danny Cohen
on 19 Apr 07I hate Heely’s. If they ever let me have children, they will never wear Heely’s. They are silly, impractical, and dangerous. I hate them.
Todd Webb
on 20 Apr 07Heelys look fun at first; however, my encounters with children wearing them have been generally negative.
For example, I’ve had kids nearly run into me and my children walking out of a store at the mall. I’ve also had two children rolling circles around my table in an incredibly busy McDonald’s restaurant while their parents were up at the counter.
They may be fun toys for home, but they are simply inappropriate in busy public places. I’d rather buy my kids roller blades so they can actually build an athletic skill and they would have no excuse to use them at the mall.
Eliot
on 24 Apr 07I emailed about the pogoLibrary and they are not currently manufacturing them. Very sad, I would love them in my house.
This discussion is closed.