December 17, 2010

i-Drill

While this might seem like something from an Onion article, it's not. There really is something called the i-Drill. It has just hit the scene and it has some interesting mojo to it.

The i-Drill is a 12-volt drill/driver with a standard three-jaw chuck. It's got two gears and a variable speed trigger. As far as function goes, it appears to be a standard 12-volt drill driver (minus the part where it looks like it's made from Stormtrooper armor).

But there are two things that are unique about the drill. First, it comes with a number of international plug adapters for the charger, like you get if you travel overseas and get an international cell phone. With these adapters the tool can be used in "99.9% of the countries in the world." Our guess is that if you live in that unfortunate 0.1%, you've got larger problems than not being able to use the i-Drill. But this universality is certainly good for online retailers who can sell the drill to just about anyone in the world. It's also good if you spend your weekends in Iceland, helping your friend Bjerg tinker around with his geothermal heating system.

The other interesting thing about the tool is the look of it. There are a lot of companies out there who try to capture the 'non-tool' market, whether it's making pink tools to target women or giving tools easy-to-use features. But to us, this looks like the first tool to really succeed on that front. It has a really stylish and smart look about it with none of the 'you-don't-know-anything-about-tools' pandering that we see elsewhere. But we can't seem to shake the feeling that we've seen the general aesthetic before. We can't quite place it but there's something very familiar about it...

At Amazon.com and i-Drill (they also have a few other tools on the platform. An oscillating tool, an impact driver, a smaller drill, and a flashlight)