Geek

Ever see some new device, and say "wow, why didn't anyone think of that before?" I mean, really say it and mean it - not sarcastically, and not as part of a hackneyed marketing phrase, but because you really, truly wonder how this invention escaped discovery for so long. That doesn't happen very often, because let's face it, most technological development is pretty easy to see coming. The other day, though, I bought one of these:

It's a recording microphone for telephone conversations. Looks like an ear bud, doesn't it? That's because, in contrast to every other ugly hack I've tried for this application, it doesn't plug into the phone wire or suction cup onto the phone receiver. No, it plugs into your ear, quietly interposing itself between the phone receiver (which echoes both sides of the conversation already) and your ear. Get it?

Besides the jaw-droppingly obvious (in retrospect) design concept, it also has nice construction and packaging, with three different sizes of earplugs, a set of adapters for different recording devices, and a classy-looking brushed silvery exterior - and the sound quality is excellent. If you need to record phone calls, you need this device.