Art Meets Technology – LED Bike Lights
My first thought was, WOW, why did I not have bicycle lights like that when I grew up?! I grew up in the Netherlands in the days where current technology was not invented yet. Back to the future with the DeLorean car and the “Flux Capacitor” was merely a movie.
Our bikes were equipped with a red light at the back and a white light at the front and were powered by Dynamo’s that charged while you were riding your bike. See image left.
The dynamo would be flipped to the side, to ensure the top, the rotating part, would sit against the front wheel effectively rotating the top while cycling and charging both front and back lights.
See image on the left. Click on Image to enlarge or to purchase.
A Quick Flash-Back
At the time, this design was called “modern”. Over time bike lights have evolved and and now you can by a bike light powered by a rechargeable battery, via usb. This image to the right is an example of a modern, usb rechargeable bike light.
Dan Goldwater has taken bike lights to a whole new level. His light are somewhere in between functional and art. To read more about the newest bike light and to see an image click on the link below of the original New York Times story.
The original article can be read by following the link below:
By CAROL POGASH
BERKELEY, Calif. — When Dan Goldwater first attached kaleidoscopic LED lights to the spokes of his bicycle wheels and rode through the Burning Man festival at night, the crowd was wowed.
And the “burners” — people who flock to the giant late-summer counterculture festival in the Nevada desert — were not the only ones. Back home in Berkeley, “Everywhere that I took it, people would run down the street after me and ask, where could they get this thing?” Mr. Goldwater said.
Bicycle equipment companies come and go; mostly they go. Mr. Goldwater’s company, Monkeylectric, has been in business for 10 years, convincing night cyclists that front and back lights are inadequate and that they need bright side lighting, too.
Monkeylectric’s wheel lights in action.
Image source: the-gadgeteer.com
“Every bike is a little billboard for us,” he said.
Source: NY Times – Small Business – Feed
To learn more click on the link below:
Entrepreneurship: LED Bike Lights Target Night Riders and ‘Burners’
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Digital Artist and Marketer | Business Consultant & Advisor.
Hans van Putten owner of 40parkLane,llc ran operations of his food manufacturing company for 17+ years building the Carolyn’s Handmade brand under the umbrella of 40ParkLane,llc.
After the successful sale of the food business, he took advantage of the years of business planning, operations management, web design, digital marketing and photography experience , to help startups, small businesses and home businesses and has been involved in a number of start-up ventures since.
Prior to founding 40parkLane,llc Hans worked for the Gillette Company for 10 years in various financial roles of increasingly bigger responsibility, leaving as Director of Business Planning for The International Group at Gillette HQ, Boston. Hans has an MBA (Marketing & International Business) from Aston University, and a BA in Business Administration from IHBO de Maere.