Have you ever torn off a strip of Scotch tape only to find that it's not quite long enough for what you needed? And then, as you dejectedly tried to throw the useless strip into the trash, become sadly aware that you had managed to waste the maximum possible length of tape while still failing to complete your job?
Have you?
Well, say hello to the Tape Autosizer. It looks like a 3-hole puncher, but there is a tape roll and a light-sensor built into it. Insert the edge of a sheet of paper into it, and the Autosizer will output a strip of tape exactly the length of the paper. Simply tear it off and apply.
It also has buttons which let you request a specific length of tape, in inches or centimeters.-- phundug, Jan 21 2004 Programmable Tape Dispenser http://www.nsa.gov/...shts/20021021-7.htmThis device lets you type in a desired length and get the corresponding length of tape out. But what's note-worthy/frightening is that it's apparently been developed by the National Security Agency. [kropotkin, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Seems like an awful lot of technology for such an easy thing to do manually, therefore bun! Perfect halfbakery style. But could involve bluetooth or something...-- silverstormer, Jan 21 2004 When I started reading, I was expecting this to be some sort of scanner in to which you place a sheet of paper with a tear and it would find the tear and dispense an appropriate length of tape to repair the tear. Maybe it would even automatically apply the tape.-- half, Jan 21 2004 The NSA have been looking into the problem of tape dispensing (terrorists? what terrorists?) but even they don't seem to have included a paper-measuring component in their motorised variable-length tape dispenser (see link).-- kropotkin, Jan 21 2004 random, halfbakery