By Evan Ackerman
[Yeah, guys this is a few weeks old. But, what the heck, I bet some of y’all haven’t seen it yet. -Ed.]
I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I think about technology, I think about toast. Toast has come a long way from it’s primordial beginnings as little more than slices of almost-burnt bread, and finally, we have a toaster that is worthy of everything that toast represents. It’s called the Glide, and it works by passing slices of bread upright through heating elements and depositing them into a toast catcher on the other end. This highly visual method solves one of the most nerve-wracking elements of a conventional toaster experience: when exactly will the toast pop up, and how can I not always be startled when it does? Also, note that the Glide is made out of bone china, which is important, since we all know how metal toasters have the potential to become dangerous.
From the designer: “This toaster is designed to engage the user, re-invigorating the social context of toasting by questioning everything about what we toast with today.” Um, what? The “social context” in which I toast is when I’m up late alone and I decide to make dinner out of Pop-Tarts and Eggo waffles. Lucky for me, the Glide’s toasting elements can adapt to toastables of differing thicknesses, so I can continue my unhealthy and socially isolating but oh so yummy toast lifestyle.
The Glide’s creator has already been approached by manufacturers, so if we’re lucky, it’ll show up on our kitchen counters re-invigorating our social contexts sometime soon.
[ Glide ] VIA [ Shiny Shiny ]