Back in my day we had to CRANK our MP3 players. And go to school uphill, both ways, in the snow. Without a Segway...

Where to look for the greatest tech toys the world has to offer? Why those lovable geeks at Engadget, of course. One of their features is something that really is kind of silly. Or perhaps cool. I'll let you be the judge.

Seems that a company named Thanko (yes, Thanko... 0.o) has released an MP3 player that, get this, uses a crank to charge the internal battery. Making it so that you can recharge the MP3 player, literally, anywhere!

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.
- Source

Well, that is kind of cool if you're backpacking or trekking out across the wilderness for a long stretch of time. Goofy as the idea may seem to those in modernized civilization, this actually is a fairly neat idea. Since I'm so close to the Appalachian trail, I see numerous backpackers all the time. You know, what with so many people hiking the entire stretch of the Appalachian (it's actually a very popular thing to do in the backpacking community), I could see a few of them definitely being interested in something like this.