Smart Design: Switch Plug Saves Power [PICS]

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Take one look at this Switch Plug and you'll immediately see its value. Plug it in while the switch is in its off position, and there's less of a chance of sparks or shocks.

Once you plug it in, flip the switch and its LEDs light up, reminding you that there's energy flowing through that plug, perhaps encouraging you to turn it off when not in use. Our only quibble: those LEDs better draw very little power, lest they defeat the Switch Plug's energy-saving purpose.

Designer Gonglue Jiang, currently studying at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, is onto something with this design concept. The idea could be especially useful if the technology were installed on those AC adapters that act like vampires, suck sucking power 24/7, even when you're not using the device to which they're attached.

This is not Jiang's first encounter with plugs -- he also created this colorful design he calls "Infinite USB," giving you the ability to daisychain USB plugs, solving that problem of the reduced number of USB ports on many laptops:

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