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Now and then, I come across a gadget that quite literally astounds me. This can be due to technical innovation, blatant stupidity or a whole bunch of other reasons in-between. However, this is the first gadget I have ever found that would definitely take my breath away if I used it. Actually, it would take far more than my breath away; it would also take a part of me I am very attached too!

I am speaking about the SmartKlamp, this device is… Wait for it… a disposable, single shot, self-circumcision device! Seriously, I cannot believe anybody would trust a piece of mass produced plastic to undertake this delicate and potentially eye watering operation on their behalf. I know darn well I would not.

The SmartKlamp is sold in several sizes and comes in a sterile package. It works by cutting off the blood supply to the foreskin and is left in place for a few days until the aforementioned piece of anatomy drops off! One can only imagine how this works; surely, if the blood flow has been stopped then it will start to rot before dropping off? The mind boggles trying to imagine how this entire process would progress.

The manufacturers recommend that a local anesthetic is applied before using the device, I do hope this is printed clearly in the instructions, you know how dumb some people can be. One particular fact that had me laughing was the statement from the manufacturer that tells us that although the SmartKlamp is currently only available in sizes to fit babies up to pre-pubescent boys, there are current tests being carried out upon an adult size model in Turkey. What sort of person signs up as a guinea pig to test a device like this? Would you?

Although the device is designed to be used by a doctor, it is stated that an individual under proper supervision can carry out the procedure upon themselves, and in fact, in the Far East where the product was initially developed, this is the major form of use. The local population has discovered that they can save on the cost of a doctor by combining the SmartKlamp with a sharp pair of scissors!

This is a prime example of a gadget that was developed for the benefit of the medical profession and has been adopted and adapted by the general population. The real problem here lays in the fact that although the SmartKlamp is designed to greatly simplify the circumcision process, it was never intended as an alternative to allowing a trained professional to undertake the operation. It is highly unlikely that the people who are using this as a cheap form of circumcision are trained to deal with any complications that crop up; certainly, they are unlikely to understand how to prepare a sterile environment to make sure the risk of infection is minimized.

Personally, I think anyone who decides to use this gadget outside of a medical facility is taking their life, or at least an integral part of it, in their own hands.

I remember as a teenager, going to visit an Uncle of mine who had recently retired. He spent an afternoon demonstrating his new gadget too me, a portable video recorder. This thing was huge; it consisted of a camera (fairly large by modern standards) and a portable video recorder and TV tuner, about the size of a briefcase. Sure it was portable, but it was not useful in my eyes, as it was just not convenient.

Several years passed, and things started to get smaller, in 1982 two new technologies were released that paved the way for current hand held camcorders to evolve. Sony introduced the Betacam, the first really portable camcorder (well OK it was still big but it was a single unit), and JVC released the VHS-C format, these were smaller sized VHC style tapes, which were used in camcorders to record video and then slotted into an adapter cartridge to be played on a standard VHS video recorder. The public was awake, and it took the concept of a portable video recording device to heart, the ball as they say, was in motion.

If a single gadget had to be given as an example of design and innovation driven by the consumer, then surely the camcorder is a good choice. The market loved the idea of portable video recording, but they wanted it smaller, easier, more reliable, and it was quite obvious they were willing to pay for it. A second major breakthrough came with the advent of digital technology, the old and antiquated storage methods were consigned to the scrap heap, recording tapes disappeared and digital storage took its place. More reliable, faster, cheaper and able to store far more than a video tape, it was quickly accepted as the best solution available. Digital storage took many forms from small hard disk drives to writable DVD, and was a major milestone in the camcorder lifecycle.

Since the acceptance of digital storage as the preferred recording medium for camcorders, most development has concentrated on making things smaller, the idea of the handcam was forming in many minds, Sony stated that after the movie Back to the Future was released, which featured a scene of the main character using a handcam to record an experiment, the amount of written and email queries they had, questioning plans of releasing smaller camcorders was huge.

Modern camcorders are often a hybrid unit, consisting of a full motion video camera, a still shot camera and a suite of video or picture editing software built into the device, allowing users to take movies and video, and then edit it into a single production, dunning video and adding subtitles, without eve moving the recording from the camcorder. Almost all current camcorder models have the facility of being linked directly to a TV so that recordings can be viewed directly from the device.