Who would ever imagine that the venerable rocking chair one day would be re-purposed to accommodate the energy needs of our mobile devices? Rocking chairs, the iconic front porch furniture associated with another era, have been re-designed by Apple to find newfound functionality in the modern world. Apple designed a rocking chair equipped to deliver high-quality stereo sound to the person sitting in the chair. The soothing back-and-forth rocking motion in turn creates energy that can be used to re-charge all of your mobile devices.
The traditional-looking furniture comes with an iPad docking station attached to one of the arms and speakers located on either side of the upper backrest. A small set of gears and an electrical generator work to convert movement into enough energy to partially recharge an iPad or other Apple device. One hour of rocking can generate enough energy to re-coupe 35% of the device’s total capacity. The chair is efficient enough to run the sound system off the grid.
I envision a whole generation of baby boomers who will flock to these hybrids, rocking to some Eagle classics while re-charging their tablets and iPhone 5’s. Who knows; perhaps a younger generation will embrace the chairs for their therapeutic value and fire sound system. There is also the possibility that a whole new generation of Apple users’ earliest memories will be of being gently rocked to sleep as infants. Currently, the Swedish pine chair is available only in white. However, plans are under way for Apple to release models with five colors from which to choose. The musical chair with the energy-generating charging port is retailing for $1,300.
