I don’t know whether to embrace or run away from this stylish USB & FireWire combination hub by LaCie. What looks like robo-tentacles are actually 4 USB ports, 2 FireWire ports, a USB fan, a USB light and both a USB and FireWire extension cable affixed to flexible cable “arms.”
I think my favorite part is the fan. Are people really getting *that* hot while working at their computers? Couldn’t they just layer or turn down the heat? Maybe a cool glass of water could do the trick? Clearly, I don’t get the appeal of the USB personal fan, but it seems to be a pretty standard USB gadget.
Seriously though, this is an extremely sleek and very multi-functional hub that’s sure to impress Apple lovers (for whom everything must be white) and design aficionados. It kind of reminds me of the camera-ball device from 12 Monkeys, or something built by the Kaminoans (the really tall aliens responsible for building the clone army in Star Wars). It retails for$89.99 on the LaCie site.
The orb-hub was designed exclusively for LaCie by Paris-based Ora-Ïto, the same designer behind the company’s golden hard drives and lego-brick drives.
