The future of multitools?

[Landrew]

Do you think nanotechnology might revolutionize multitools? Will micro machinery and microelectronics revolutionize our everyday carries?

[nuphoria]

I don't think it will effect basic hand tools that much. The ease and convenience of pulling a blade out of your pocket and getting something done isn't going to change that quickly.

Even if we had pocket programmable lasers instead, I will still prefer using a nice bit of steel. It's an aesthetic thing, almost a primeval right of mankind

[Santos]

i dunno a 4 inch lightsaber (lightdagger?) would be prettry nice.



Monofilament blades are also popular in the sci-fi world and mass production might be a reality in the future. Ultra sharp blades that are a few molucules thick at the edge and with a pefect molecular alignment/structucture so they never need sharpening .

[Landrew]

Now we're talking.  I think an obsidian blade can cut tissue with less damage than any metal one, therefore it would be better for things like heart surgery. Not that I am advocating surgery with a multitool, but an interesting image comes to mind of dropping a hair in such a blade and having it cleave in two from its own weight.

[Grant Lamontagne]

The future of multitools?  That's easy...









You'd think these guys would have been better prepared...



Def

[nuphoria]

I LOVE that picture

[Landrew]

The future of multitools?  That's easy...

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You'd think these guys would have been better prepared...

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Def

I liked the one Spock had, with the leatherette case.

[Grant Lamontagne]

That one is outdated with no touch screen.

The thing is, you look at that post like the joke it partially is, but look at the average smartphone and the amount of things it can do.  A smartphone is indeed a digital multitool and not too far fetched from the various sci fi doodads pictured above.

Def

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[jerseydevil]

(Image removed from quote.)

No bottle opener though..... 

[Mr. Whippy]

(Image removed from quote.)

No bottle opener though..... 

Just file a tooth into the base.  Duh.

[jerseydevil]

Just file a tooth into the base.  Duh. (Image removed from quote.)

   After I send it up to Metro for OHO scissors.....

[Lynn LeFey]

Who looks at a multitool and thinks 'It's just not sonic enough'. LOL

Grant's right. The Smartphone is a digital multitool. And better in some respects than the gadgets on Star Trek.

And in the event you haven't heard about it, there is a $10million tricorder X-Prize competition going on.
http://www.qualcommtricorderxprize.org/

The future of Multitools is two-fold. The high end and the low end. At the high end, we will see some innovation, use of new materials, but generally, I think people will always have a need for functional, reliable, regular old tools. On the low end, we will see lots of cheap rip offs of new improvements. Nothing new or different there.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Sensordrone for smartphones

I'd like to point out that in Star Trek the tricorder and communicator were two separate devices, while we have them built into one.  That makes us WAY better than Captain Kirk.

Def

[Lynn LeFey]

Sensordrone for smartphones

 
 

THAT is seriously cool.

[Landrew]

Sensordrone for smartphones

I'd like to point out that in Star Trek the tricorder and communicator were two separate devices, while we have them built into one.  That makes us WAY better than Captain Kirk.

Def

Yes, that and the great big memory cards they had, compared to our micro SD cards.  But to be fair, we don't know how many petabytes (or maybe yottabytes) they contained, so maybe they had to be large.

[Steinar]

Steel will dominate over more exotic materials for a long time. I don't know any material that can match its combination of toughness (try doing what you do to your SAK every day to an obsidian or ceramic blade...), ability to create an edge (steel edges are potentially sharper than ceramic edges), hardness... The Aztecs liked obsidian blades, which are basically disposable. To sharpen it, you must reshape an entirely new edge. As for monofilament solutions... don't get me started... The tip of a glass shard is just a molecule wide as well, at least if you rough it up with some sandpaper. What kind of binding energy do you expect in the supermolecule making up the filament? Diamonds? Flammable and shatters easily. Water jets, lasers, diamonds, obsidian, etc all have their special uses, but for the handheld knife, steel is very tough to compete with.

I'm all for improvements, but steel, especially modern steel, is an incredible material. It is beat on all fronts by other minerals and materials, but it got such excellent compromises when creating cutting tools from it.

[Landrew]

I can see it now... a smartphone multitool!




OOps, apparently it's already on the market!
http://www.gizmag.com/taskone-iphone-pocket-knife/25580/

[Landrew]

Tough luck if it slips and breaks the glass I suppose...

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yup, we had the guy that designed that here not too long ago trying to drum up support for it.  I don't think he liked what we had to say too much.

Def

[bmot]

Yup, we had the guy that designed that here not too long ago trying to drum up support for it.  I don't think he liked what we had to say too much.

Def

To be honest, I don't think we were very nice to him...  Ah well.. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I don't think we were rude so much.  We gave him what I thought was great input- it wasn't our fault that it's a silly idea.  If you don't want people to point out the trouble with your idea, don't ask for their opinions.

Def

[bmot]

True that

Besides, it was a silly idea, indeed 

[Lynn LeFey]

I think it'd be a GREAT idea if it were like a swiss card where the individual tools were removable, OR if it were a slim MT that used a bracket to attach to the phone, but could be detached.

Using a several hundred dollar electronic gadget as a tool handle is ... just not bright. Seriously.

[Landrew]

Yup. Definitely not a great idea, just a novelty for those who think they need everything.  I can imagine the weight of the phone with all that hardware attached.

[Ombudsman]

Wish he had asked for input before posting the project. 

The pliers had an interesting (kinda Buck Extract) design.

[AimlessWanderer]

I'm all for improvements, but steel, especially modern steel, is an incredible material. It is beat on all fronts by other minerals and materials, but it got such excellent compromises when creating cutting tools from it.

In some ways I feel we've gone beyond the optimum, bringing out higher grade stainlesses for "supreme edge retention", but which chip out too much and therefore require too much sharpening. The 400 series alone is a superb material, often discounted as being out of date is search of more modern powder metallurgy etc, but as a "package" as you said above, it's superb and I prefer it to many of the "super steels"

[JAfromMn]

I want a r2 unit . Il modify it,s flare launcher to launch a swisstool at me.

[Landrew]

I think if history has taught us anything, its that predictions about the future are rarely accurate.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I want a r2 unit . Il modify it,s flare launcher to launch a swisstool at me.

Better wear a helmet! Those things are solid!

Def

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[JAfromMn]

I want a r2 unit . Il modify it,s flare launcher to launch a swisstool at me.

Better wear a helmet! Those things are solid!

Def

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No Worries  def I'll be using the force to guide it into my hand.