You know, we technophiles can be extremely demanding. We want our gadgets to be useful, look good, and pack a bunch of impressive specifications that knock our socks off. Oh, and if they could be small enough to pop on a key chain or so large they obstruct all natural daylight (depending on whether we're talking MP3 or HDTV), that would be great too. "Impress us," we tell inventors.

But maybe that's too much pressure. I mean, what about all those inventions that aren't life-changing or even particularly necessary, but are charming and add beauty to the world in their own weird way?