The Inventor's Invention

Youd think extension cords would be hard to improve. Their function is so simple its entirely captured in their name: They are cords that extend.Yet this humble device seems to speak to inventors, because they keep improving it. These Quirky wrap-around extension cords solve the irritation of keeping your cords in place with simple elegance, and make the old method of duct taping or tying a cord seem foolish barbaric, even.I could have invented this! You might say, and yes, you probably could have if you spent much of your waking life thinking about cords. But you dont. So you didnt.Quirky, which takes submissions for gadgets from the public and then builds the best ones, is positively rife with extension cords. Their Pivot flexible surge protector is staggeringly popular. The publics hunger for novel power-supply solutions can, it seems, hardly be sated even by the frenetic pace of technological improvement.Theres a modular power strip on Kickstarter that nearly quadrupled its 50,000 goal. There are those popular squid power strips that solve a problem were still not clear on. And theres a power donut that raised half a million dollars, probably thanks to its weird pitch video that feels like ASMR.Our theory for why power cords are such a hotbed of innovation? Its because inventors spend all their time wrangling them! Think about it: Prototyping requires constantly setting up new work stations, plugging in a bajillion tools and gadgets, and generally trying to maintain order among cord chaos. Inventors are constantly trying to solve this problem because it is one they face daily.But hey, so long as they keep inventing cords that make our lives slightly easier, more power to 'em. Ugh, sorry, we better wrap this up.