Why have an ordinary zip when you can have a Zipometer?
Zipometer simply counts up and displays on its tiny meter the number of times your zip has been used.
What use is that, you ask? Well just try to imagine some perfect circumstance where you would just love to prove that you actually have a Zipometer and that it really works.-- xenzag, Jul 17 2010 What do you mean by “used”? how far up or down constitutes a “use”?-- pocmloc, Jul 17 2010 Can you add an alarm feature that goes off if you walk out of the house with, uh, the "barn door" open?-- Grogster, Jul 17 2010 well... that's pointless... [+]-- FlyingToaster, Jul 18 2010 I want one.-- kaz, Jul 19 2010 I think the basic idea is good, but doesn't go far enough in applicationsville.
The "tiny meter" described should at least count and integrate up/down teeth engagements, and data-log events with an RTC (real time clock.) And perhaps GPS. And a web interface.
[Grogster]'s alarm feature should be private.-- csea, Jul 19 2010 [csea], I'm not putting a vibrating alarm in my pants.
/in public-- Cedar Park, Jul 19 2010 You can't just do this sort of thing on the fly like that.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 19 2010 [CP]! Brilliant! I was actually thinking more along the lines of a klaxon or an air raid siren or an oogah horn; the vibrating alarm is much more discreet... so...
...(whispering) psssst, hey buddy... bun... [+]-- Grogster, Jul 19 2010 I was thinking a hodometer would also be useful. I also wonder how many metres of zip i have altogether in my possession. And, in a serious waste of time, i wonder if a new branch of mathematics could be founded based on the concept of infinitely long zip fasteners.-- nineteenthly, Jul 19 2010 It should not record the number of times the zip has ben used, but rather it should be a sort of zip-odometer and record the number of miles or kilometres travelled by the zip.-- hippo, Jul 19 2010 It should also have an accelerometer, tooth counter for each side, measure the size of each tooth, of the gaps between them, analyse the matter, measure the strain of the material, display a percentage of how zipped-up it is and give an estimate of the probable lifetime remaining and assess the relative probabilities of the pull sticking at each tooth and of failure at that point. Oh, and an altimeter above ground or floor level.-- nineteenthly, Jul 19 2010 Don't forget a tensiometer on the pull, which plots the force vector as a 4-dimensional curve.-- pocmloc, Jul 19 2010 …and a trip computer-- hippo, Jul 19 2010 That could spawn a whole new host of data, [pocmloc], because it would also allow probable time to failure of zip pull, probability of failure per pull and so on. With a bidirectional zip, each pull could have its own data set and means, medians and modes could be calculated, allowing one to place both zip pulls in the exact centre of the zip by number of teeth and distance, or the lower one one third up and the other two thirds, again by either criterion. With more than one zip, say pockets plus the front or on a bag with several compartments, modal measures would also become possible and perhaps the likes of standard deviations, kurtosis and more.-- nineteenthly, Jul 19 2010 Would allow you to replace that pesky alpha echo three five unit prior to failure.-- mouseposture, Jul 19 2010 If it recorded the entire history of the upwards vs downwards movement of the zip, it could potentially track the amount of wear on a per-tooth basis, and give you some kind of estimate of whereabouts your zip was most likely to start to fail.-- Wrongfellow, Jul 20 2010 GPS as well for spatial location of each pull-- pocmloc, Jul 20 2010 random, halfbakery