Today’s post represents the official half way point in HC2′s annual review of the greatest ideas to come out of 2009. While 2009 will likely be remembered for gadgets such as the iPhone, our favourite gadgets are equally as good, with quirky niche appeal. For the treehuggers and eco-conscientious consumer there’s Macaluso’s Recompute, a desktop computer case that’s constructed entirely out of cardboard and held together with non-toxic glue. With vertical and horizontal configurations, this eco-case is our most desired gadget of 2009, as it strives to establish new standards in electronics recycling.
Our first runner up will appeal to gamers and the open source community. Martin Lihs’ Wii Spray is essentially a sexy, modified Nintendo Wii-mote that can create virtual graffiti. Combined with Lihs’ communal, virtual graffiti wall, Wii Spray is the best independent Wii hack we noticed last year. Last but not least is an amazing personal computing device created by Asus is dubbed the Eee Keyboard. While it may look like a keyboard, it’s actually a highly compact computer that has a myriad of inputs on the front side that allow for connections to everything from monitors to USB devices and LANs. This is an outstanding alternative for people on the go, who don’t want to be constrained the size of the original Asus Eee.