In the spirit of the post, here's my selection of the best inventions I recall from only the last 5 years.
Have you seen:
- The awesome self-inflatible biking helmet, Hovding? A collection of links, info, here.
- An all-year-round beer/drinks cooler, that also looks cool. Oh, it doesn't need any electricity, once installed. See link here.
- A keyring that calls out for your keys, Chipolo (Slovenia) crowdfunded here.
- A toy that talks and teaches your kid, and responds to him or her, Ubooly, here.
- Copenhagen wheel - attachable wheel that powers up while you cycle, and helps you (up hill) faster, here. And same same but different (yet, Slovenian) version, FlyKly here.
- Because I've tried it and it works (to reasonable physical limits of bending), Sugru with magnets!
- Solar powered flash light: BoGo light: Buy one, Give one, a nice concept* with a useful product.
(*Can't find it, but the idea of a pink flashlight in Africa (so that men wouldn't steal it from women) is touched upon here.) - One laptop (that can be winded-up) per child [empower the world's poorest children through education], here OLPC project, here: XO laptop (and tablet?). TED talk here.
- ? (tell me of more you know of)