The Sun doth shine, and the Apples do grow

A variety of sources (basically people who get their kicks from reading patent filings) have reported that Apple has filed for Solar Cells on Portable Devices.  Which is kinda cool. Except my iPod lives in the deep dark hole that is my pocket, and is rarely out in the sunlight. Not sure how this would affect any current product Apple has. 

There are other, quite interesting ideas that can be spun out from here, and Apple might be looking for something more than just a way to keep the power up on an iPhone. What it could be, I have no idea. 

This is not to say that this feature couldn't be incorporated into these devices, but it seems that getting the fraction of a charge that you'd get in the time it took you to pull out your iPhone and change songs is thinking small. Apple (probably) has something bigger in mind. More life changing. Steve Jobs is still looking for ways to change the world. Having a sort of solar powered iPod? Not revolutionary enough for him.

Don't get me wrong. I love the idea of small scale and micro scale power generation; I've long argued (in my head, I don't actually associate with people) that they need to take and coat the Tesla Roadster in solar panels. Again, it might provide only a fraction of a charge, but that's a fraction that you won't have to draw from the system. And 1% a day adds up fairly quickly if the car is left parked in the sun.  I'd love to see system that eked a few milliwatts of power out of all sorts of things. Shoes that collected energy from walking. Floors that collected energy from walking. Solar Powered Paint. 

Anyway. We'll see what comes of it. And if it is merely a solar powered iPhone, I shall be disappointed....