@Leonard Nimrod: & @gunnk:

While you guys are both undoubtedly correct, I do know one thing for certain. Ruth Amos is cute as hell, and has surprisingly good teeth for a brit.

Daniel Voegelin

HER legs would be shaking after I'm done with her... :)

gizmodohomepage

is her face the gizmo adam's referring to? Because that's the most appropriate thing that represents gizmodo's mission statement

discounteggroll

@Daniel Voegelin: A lot of food (especially corn) is US-made. I'm definitely seeing products containing corn products going up in price -- including those with American 5th Food Group: High-Fructose Corn Syrup!

gunnk

@Darrone: You know? All she needs to do to get the male geezers up the stairs is go up in front of them.

Munch

::best republican voice:: We're not in a recession!

Ideapimp

She'll be raising more than the elderly around here.

Darrone

@Daniel Voegelin: And "worthless" means without worth. Adam is just making a hyperbolic statement to emphasis the weakening dollar. He knows that it's not worthless.

Leonard Nimrod

"absolutely worthless US dollar" should be changed to "relatively worthless US dollar".

I can still buy the same amount of US made goods as I could 2 years ago. As long as I don't spend my money in Europe, I don't notice a difference.

Daniel Voegelin

Nice solution, good work smart girl

oopl

I sure hope that gizmo has a hand brake. Otherwise grandma maybe holding on to the bar as she slides down the stairs after she loses her footing.

GiltProto

@Ideapimp: A recession is defined as "two consecutive quarters of negative growth." We haven't even had one quarter of negative growth. So, by definition we are not in a recession.

However, with a week dollar, a bad housing market, and high energy cost, it sure does fell like one.

baltwade

You gotta love products for the elderly marketed with images of youthful, sexy (even though her face is kinda shiny) women. Although the image makes you wonder why an apparently healthy person might need help on stairs, like just below frame she's missing a leg below the knee. Or it's for drunk people.

Gann

@discounteggroll:
Good one!
A lot of young people like her are going to get rich creating stuff like this.
The aging population with enough money socked away to pay for a improved quality of life
is a growing target group.
Maybe that's why she's a shiny, happy people.

ANoel

She definitely likes the sturdy shaft it seems...

PeteUALaw

Need to equip this with an OLED for no good reason, and come out with a steampunk version, to satisfy the loyal GizReaderShip. Perhaps it needs to emit light-saber noises and vibrate.

You'd think none of them had ever even SEEN a blond woman holding a long steel rod before.

Seriously, this is total filkin' genius. Need to make sure it's strong enough to actually support the person's weight, but as an alternative to an electric lift, its simplicity and functionality is profound. I've got elderly parents, and this sort of thing would have been highly useful to them before they sold their house.

Granola Snacks to the young lady.

ps61318

@Daniel Voegelin:

I'd say it depends on what goods you buy. Two years ago, groceries were relatively cheaper. Now, with higher transport prices and overall rising cost of producing food, groceries are more expensive.

If you were talking about something like electronics, a plasma TV is cheaper now than two years ago. Not because of the dollar's strength, but because technology has made manufacturing cheaper over time.

Also, you completely ignore the booming economy in China. Those cheap consumer goods made in China are now getting more expensive because the value of yuan is gaining value on the dollar.

rdldr1

@Enigmaaron1:
At least here in Canada, the government is continually downloading resposibility for the care of the long-term infirm and elderly onto the "sandwich generation" who are also caring for their own kids. This dynamic financially squeezes families out of the market for desireable single-floor dwellings, and of course prohibits home elevator installations. This device could be useful anywhere older or even toddlers go - hell, I've seen many wasted clubbers who could have benefitted from this.

ANoel

She came up with it while holding on to a towel rack for support as the guy behind her was by no means being gentle and in her drunken state it was all she could do to stay bent over yet upright. - kind of like the elderly

vertigo

@OG512: That goes both ways. You can't pick a handful of markets that are down and say, "See, see, we're in a recession." when the overall economy is still growing, even if it's just barely growing.

Yes, some numbers look absolutely horrible, but others are showing unexpected growth despite all the recession talk.

baltwade

As ingenious as this idea is it will never go anywhere for two reasons.

1. Old people move into single floor dwellings when stairs become a problem for them.
2. Any kind of building/business/intitution that has enough elderly patrons to warrant this would have an elevator.

Then again I could be wrong, maybe I should create some of the crazy ideas I've had but previously discounted them for their lack of marketability.

Enigmaaron1

She sure knows how to grip a shaft...*fap fap fap*

Sorry I had to.

Jimbuck

@baltwade: THE NUMBERS ARE BALLOONED! just because you dont have an actual quarter doesnt mean you cant add up dimes and nickels!

OG512

@GiltProto: The whole thing is a hand brake - it works by applying a friction brake when you lean your bodyweight onto it. Climb the stairs, pushing it in front of you, and it slides along the support rail. Stop and lean on it, and it will take your bodyweight.

Well, that's the theory, anyway.

Also, I think the price mentioned was how much it cost to make the prototype - it's very simple to mass produce (hollow steel box bar for the most part), the most expensive part would probably be professional fitting for the slide rail to the wall.

Digitalwanderer

I'd climb stairs for her.

@baltwade: Basically, but easier to install and can work on any stairs except for spiral cases. And of course, doesn't require electricity.

LoganSix

@GiltProto: Thinking the same thing, but apparently it does have a brake. However, while a brake is good if you start falling backward while going up, i'd think some sort of resistance (and not a brake) would be good while going down, with a brake engaging only if a sudden movement like falling occurred. I wonder if this thing is implemented like that.

@baltwade: This should certainly be cheaper than a motorized chair lift.

Zlevee

Isn't this invention basically the same as a stairlift system except it's a bar instead of a chair.

[www.conval-aid.com]

baltwade

@Zlevee: @LoganSix: Ah, I see. I guess I should read more carefully. I thought it was motorized. But I have to say that $642 plus installations seems high for what it is. The motorized chair lift I found was a little over $1500. Sure it's a little more than twice as much, but it's motorized and a chair. Plus it can be rewired to go really fast, remember Grimlins. Wait, maybe that's a minus.

baltwade

@Enigmaaron1:A lot of old folks do not wish to sell the houses their families have raised in for generations.

Red Right Hand

@ANoel: At least here in Canada, the government is continually downloading resposibility for the care of the long-term infirm and elderly onto the "sandwich generation" who are also caring for their own kids.

not so true, when my parents are old enough they are going in a home, I've told them continuously, "better save for that or you're going to find out what government subsidized housing is all about."

I have neither the time or the patience to deal with them. its bad enough the pension coffers will be bare when the boomers retire, i for one am not going to support my parents while trying to max out my RRSP every year.

the boomer generation has to learn sometime...

(sorry about the off topic rant but ANoel started it)

B1663R

@gizmodohomepage:not a Mac fan then?

flyboy

Now if she could only come up with a solution for oily faces...

cygnusx8

haha, my brother's wife's parents in SoCal are spending a shitload tearing up their house to install an elevator to prepare for what, i guess, they believe is inevitable immobility. they're not even that old. Just stupid & have too much $$$. at least now, when I wish that they'd both break a hip, I can say it's so they can get return on their investment.

Patricia

@Digitalwanderer: Given that this will be considered a medical assistive device, the cost that it takes to manufacture will be completely irrelevant to it's eventual selling price. All medical equipment is wildly overpriced, but especially that which is geared towards the elderly. Working in the therapy dept of a nursing home, I've literally paid (or my employer has I should say) $70 for a board and some plastic tubing with shower rings because it is "therapeutic."

If it comes to a point where someone needs an assistive device like this, they would probably be better off just creating a living space downstairs. A broken hip, and the comlications it can cause, actually ends up being fatal in 50% of people over age 80.

robinandtami

@ANoel, oops, you weren't talking to me, sorry

Patricia

they aren't MY parents, thank god. My brother married into their evil clan.

Patricia

@B1663R:
Seems like your parents must've pissed in your Cheerios kid. Sorry about that.
My Dad got a nice private retirement single room with a private bath for $4,000. per month in Toronto. He moved into a suitable government facility which was a shared room with shared bath for $1,800. a month. Even though I would visit that facility in advance of his arrival there and whisper into the ears of a lot of old hangers on, "D I E" ... it still took 4 years with his name on a waiting list to get in... this is standard as far as I can see...

ANoel

I'd give her $642 for something... not sure it's the product she's selling here though!

blindaxs

@Patricia:
Even so... I'll hope with you that your sister-in-law's parents break a couple of legs.

ANoel

@baltwade: My great grandparents had one of those. The legs don't quite work right when you're 100.

BaseVilliN

I hope it comes with more than one bar or someone might be stuck sleeping on the couch if Grandpa hasn't kicked the bucket yet.

Scott

I like the idea of any products that can assist the elderly with their daily struggles; and a product like will could also be beneficial to those suffering from injuries that restrict their stability as well. Price seems quite a bit out of range for the average consumer.

SmarthomeKyle