How I learned to stop worrying and love a piece of plastic

I have to make a confession: I have totally become enamored of a $30 piece of black plastic with the texture of a newspaper recycling bin and the complexity of a Pre-K Lego set.  No electricity required. One moving part.  30 bucks.  And I am totally enamored.  If I had that much literary capability, I’d write a sonnet.  No bullshit.  Thank the Powers That Be that I don’t have it.  Literary power, not bullshit.  Have that in droves (just kidding, I hope).

The Podium CoolPad.

The object of my affection is the Road Tools™ PodiumPad which I acquired for (Agador) Spartacus Jones via Apple’s Store.  As longtime laptop-on-lap enthusiasts know, laps don’t provide the greatest air flow.  Also, ultra-thin, ultra-flat form factor doesn’t always provide the most ergonomic experience.  So I figured that since the PodiumPad was highly rated and looked bright and shiny, why not go for it?

I was a little nervous opening the package for two reasons: first, the label on the package is a couple of years old, back from that venerable era of PowerBooks and iBooks.  Yikes.  What can that say about the product if the company has not updated the packaging in a long time?

Second, the stand, which looked shiny and fancy on the site, was composed of not-particularly-aesthetically-pleasing, rough, black plastic.  It didn’t look…cool.  Double Yikes.

BUT…  Ho ho!  Underneath its gruff exterior hides a great deal of simple, well-thought engineering.  You can adjust the height of the PodiumPad through a series of interlocking pieces, four of which have rubberized pads on which your computer actually rests.  There’s also an extender-type bar if your laptop comes in 17″ or too-big-to-really-be-a-laptop sizes.  If you prefer a “negative tilt,” just put your laptop on in the other direction.

Prop it.

Extend it.

Stack 'em.

The base is trapezoidal and made of two, relatively thin plates attached through the center with a plastic pivot.  They move like butter (the smooth, hand-churned-by-attractive-farm-maid kind).  Most importantly, it worked.  Oh, yes.  Though it’s not composed of aluminum or some other fancy, conductive metal and doesn’t have a fan, it keeps my laptop nice and cool, silently and efficiently.

Okay, so not NASA-level brilliance or CES-worthy cool, but awesome enough that it deserves its many muy positive reviews.

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All this despite less-than-slick styling and obsolete packaging.  Just goes to show you that good, simple engineering and competent manufacturing goes a bloody long way.