Core77

The Hub: Retroactively Make Your Cables Self-Retracting

By Rain Noe - January 19, 2012

in Kickstarter

I wish the device was a tad smaller, but I love the idea of being able to automatically retract and store whatever cables I want. The Hub is a round aluminum housing containing a spring mechanism; wrap your cable inside, close it up, hit the button, and your cable woes go away. The push-button action looks pretty awesome:

The Hub will also come in a Mini version for headphones, which features a detachable clip on the housing so you can attach the thing to your clothing.

The project, designed by Beijing-based Chadwick Parker and Joe Huang, is up on Kickstarter. As of press time they were about 33% of the way towards their $30,000 goal, with just under two months to go.

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Greg Eaton

11 years ago

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@Rachel "Plus, they've already manufactured them, might as well use them."

Or, don't buy them and allow market forces to dictate what we need to correct in the world. Just because it CAN be made does not mean it SHOULD be made.
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Rachel

11 years ago

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Dan, when you accidentally ordered a 6 meter replacement headphone cable, and don't want to waste it, a cable tidy is worth the "small inconvenience" instead of wandering about with a 6m cable that gets tangled in everything from your keys to your purse. Plus, they've already manufactured them, might as well use them.
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Dan

12 years ago

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I like the idea of quickly storing cables but is it really necessary. From a sustainable standpoint this is a solution to a problem that is really not that big of an inconvenience, rather it creates more waste with the use of metal and plastic which will end up in a landfill or barely recycled when the internals break after a few years. We should be designing solutions for real problems not small inconveniences.
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Berkana

12 years ago

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Quirky is making pretty much the same thing, but theirs looks better:

http://www.quirky.com/products/1-Sling-Back-Automatic-Cable-Winder
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Matt

12 years ago

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Well executed but I'm afraid its a design that I was involved in many months/years ago, and we made it for headphones so it was a tad smaller and a little more elegant.

link is: http://www.bluw.com/lecci-cable-tidy-prod-_-1547.do
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