How often do you flip through the SkyMall catalog and think to yourself, “I could have created that”? If you’re like me, you do that every single time you read it. For all of the jokes we make at SkyMall’s expense, it is a lucrative business and many of those zany inventions have done quite well financially. It’s easy to think that you can create something just as good, if not better, than what’s currently in SkyMall, but what if you really had the chance to prove it? All I have to do is sit here in SkyMall Monday headquarters and pass judgment on all of these inane gadget. It’s much harder to be an entrepreneur and launch a successful product. Well, now’s your chance to get your idea off the ground and into the pages of SkyMall. Edison Nation, a company that helps retailers, As Seen on TV companies and manufacturers find new products and concepts has partnered with SkyMall to find the next great products for our favorite catalog. They’ll present the best ideas to SkyMall and invest up to $1 million in the concepts that are selected to launch their development. Do you have the perfect idea for the $1 Million Challenge?
SkyMall Monday: Create a SkyMall product, earn a $1 million investment
How often do you flip through the SkyMall catalog and think to yourself, “I could have created that”? If you’re like me, you do that every single time you read it. For all of the jokes we make at SkyMall’s expense, it is a lucrative business and many of those zany inventions have done quite well financially. It’s easy to think that you can create something just as good, if not better, than what’s currently in SkyMall, but what if you really had the chance to prove it? All I have to do is sit here in SkyMall Monday headquarters and pass judgment on all of these inane gadget. It’s much harder to be an entrepreneur and launch a successful product. Well, now’s your chance to get your idea off the ground and into the pages of SkyMall. Edison Nation, a company that helps retailers, As Seen on TV companies and manufacturers find new products and concepts has partnered with SkyMall to find the next great products for our favorite catalog. They’ll present the best ideas to SkyMall and invest up to $1 million in the concepts that are selected to launch their development. Do you have the perfect idea for the $1 Million Challenge?
SkyMall Monday: Large Universal Skate Sail (the worst SkyMall product ever?)
I want to love every SkyMall product. I mean, they’re all so gosh darn loveable. And, like the infomercials that you see when you can’t fall asleep, the descriptions of each gadget in SkyMall lead you to believe that they’re the greatest thing since the Edge Brownie Pan. Every SkyMall product that we’ve ever reviewed for SkyMall Monday has touted itself as life-changing and showcased all of its best attributes. All of that changes this week. We were embarrassed for the makers of this week’s featured product. After discovering it in the catalog, we were beyond excited to see it in action. We looked up every video that we could find only to be more disappointed than a Washington Generals fan. Each video is more amateurish and underwhelming than the last. Each video makes it look as if the product doesn’t even work. Each video makes us shake our heads at how awful the Large Universal Skate Sail must be.
Read the entire SkyMall Monday post on Gadling.
SkyMall Monday: StarScreen Social Backdrops
Working from home is dramatically different from working in an office. For one, those of us who work from home rarely put on pants. Beyond that, we often spend most of our time alone, sitting at our makeshift, on our couches or even laying in our beds in front of our computers. The vast majority of the time this unconventional work environment is irrelevant, because no one sees us. So long as we’re delivering our work on time, no one is the wiser. Recently, however, with services such as Skype, FaceTime and Gmail video making videoconferencing easier and more routine, us work-from-home folks are suddenly being seen by our colleagues, clients and bosses. Here at SkyMall Monday headquarters, I’ve always been able to work surrounded by my dogs, gadgets and fake moose head safe in the knowledge that no one could see me. Now, however, I regularly have videoconferences and feel the need to look reasonably professional. Thankfully, SkyMall has just the product to make me appear as if I’m hard at work in an appropriate environment. Now, when I fire up the camera on my computer, I always make sure that my StarScreen Social Backdrop is attached to my chair.
Read the entire SkyMall Monday post on Gadling.
SkyMall Monday: RoboStir
Us Gadling folks travel a ton. Some of you probably spend a great deal of your time on the road, as well. All of that time away from SkyMall Monday headquarters makes us savor each and every home-cooked meal that much more. We love dutifully working in the kitchen to prepare some of our childhood favorites as well as dishes inspired from the far-off places that we have visited. Like you, though, we run into the issue of multitasking in the kitchen. We simply do not have enough hands to make sure that each dish gets the attention that it deserves. We don’t have the money to hire a personal chef or teach our dog butlers how to cook. Thankfully, SkyMall has the solution to our problems. Sadly, it is not a sexy cooking android or a third arm to attach to the front of our torsos. No, it’s simply an ingenious device that allows us to focus more on being lazy doing other tasks and less on tedious kitchen work. When we cook, we use the Stirr Cordless Kitchen Tool (aka RoboStir).
Read the entire SkyMall Monday post on Gadling.
SkyMall Monday: Sit Fit
Now more than ever, we all spend way too much time at our desks staring at computers. That means that we have less time for long walks, brisk jogs and other aerobic exercise. All of this leads to weight gain, diminishing health and lazy lifestyles. With winter just around the corner, exercising outdoors becomes more challenging. That means that we have to get more creative about how we find time to take care of ourselves. Longtime fans of SkyMall Monday know that we’re huge proponents of fitness equipment that can be used to build muscle at the office and increase cardiovascular health at our desks. That’s why we’re not the least bit surprised and couldn’t possibly be more excited to see that SkyMall has once again made exercising at the office easy, fun and completely normal. The next time you’re whiling away the hours at your desk, leave the snacks in your drawer and instead use the time to get into shape with the Sit Fit Exercise Device.
Read the full SkyMall Monday post on Gadling.
SkyMall Monday: Anniversary Gifts
Last week, my fiancée and I celebrated our two-year anniversary. We met and went out on our first date on the same day (I work fast). We’re getting married next Spring, so we’ll soon have a new anniversary to celebrate. Do we stop celebrating our initial anniversary date? Do we celebrate both anniversaries? How does that work? Anyway, it was obviously a festive week at SkyMall Monday headquarters. Naturally, it had me thinking quite a bit about presents. Thankfully, SkyMall has gift guides organized by occasion, so they do all of the thinking for you. Whether you and your betrothed have been together for a year, a decade or what seems like an eternity, our favorite catalog has the right gift to say all the things that words cannot express. Choose your gift carefully, however, because what you select says a great deal about you and your relationship.
Read the entire SkyMall Monday post on Gadling.
SkyMall Monday: Travel Hangers
Wrinkles are for Shar Peis and old people. They have no place on your clothing. If you show up to a meeting, formal function or even just a casual date looking like you slept in your clothes, people will think that you’re homeless. Here at SkyMall Monday headquarters, we steam the clothes that we’re wearing every hour. It keeps us looking fresh and professional throughout the day (and does wonders for our skin). Travel, however, can wreak havoc on your wardrobe and leave everything in your luggage looking like elephant skin. Beyond that, if you like to unpack your bags once you arrive at your destination, you’ll need a way to hang up your clothes. All of this might make travel seem impossible, but that’s just because you’re easily overwhelmed. All you need to do is look to SkyMall for solutions. The next time you travel with clothing, be sure to also pack some Inflatable Hangers and Bumps Be-gone Travel Hangers.
Read the entire SkyMall Monday post on Gadling.
SkyMall Monday:
I’ve written about hundreds of SkyMall products and probably looked at thousands over the years. Lately, however, I’ve also been scouring YouTube for videos of the products. You see, I find video demonstrations of SkyMall products to be mesmerizingly awful. Never, though, have I been so enraptured by the videos for one product as I was this week while researching my next SkyMall Monday review. While I was unable to find any official video produced by either the manufacturer or the good people at SkyMall, I was very pleased to discover three unofficial videos that serve to educate, entertain and perplex viewers. So, this week, rather than enduring my ramblings about a SkyMall gadget, I encourage you to sit back, relax and allow those who are more intimately familiar with the product show you how to use InstaCloth.
Read the entire SkyMall Monday post (and watch the videos) on Gadling.
A Tuba Player in the Modern World
I was fortunate enough to profile my friend Spud Hilton, travel editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, for a feature in One+. He’s one of about 12 full-time newspaper travel editors remaining in the United States, has embraced new media and still plays in a Dixieland jazz band. In other words, he’s a fascinating example of adapting to a changing world while still staying true to yourself.
I hope that you’ll give it a read.
SkyMall Monday: Personal Infrared Sauna
Ah, Labor Day. It’s a day to honor the hard work of the people who make America strong and stuff the last few hot dogs of summer down our gullets. After months spent baking in the sun and indulging in fried items on sticks at state fairs, our skin is tight and our bodies are full of cheese. To properly cleanse ourselves, we could spend a fortune on a fancy spa treatment, but that’s just a waste of money. Spas are covered in fungus and require awkward nudity with strangers. Why should we have to leave SkyMall Monday headquarters (or, in your case, whatever you call your headquarters) just to sweat out three months worth of fried dough and turkey legs? Thankfully, now we can heal our bodies and maintain peace of mind in the comfort of our own homes thanks to SkyMall. All we need to do is drop $500 on the Personal Infrared Sauna.
Read the entire SkyMall Monday post on Gadling.
