#818: Gausshy

Instructions for maintaining the health of one’s laptop often include an exhortation not to “Place the laptop closer than 5 inches to electrical appliances that generate a strong magnetic field, i.e., motor, magnet, TV, refrigerator, or large audio speakers.”

Given that these machines are inherently mobile and that we are increasingly surrounded by some pretty strong magnets, today’s invention is a magnetic field detector embedded within portable computers. At its simplest, this might consist of a couple of small compasses and maybe an optical device for measuring the speed with which they change direction.

If you are about to move your machine next to a motor which is running say behind a partition wall, a warning would sound and an arrow appear on screen saying …”Move your machine in this directly quickly“.