Maybe it's the first mug after 2 months of caffeine abstinence but I have a few ideas for new products. I guess because I am really enthusiastic about electronics these days, the ideas revolve around helping to design and implement circuits.

My first idea is a machine that gives you the component you are asking for (could be keyboard input or voice command).
The components could either be:
1. Pre-sorted by the user ( )
2. Packaged in propriatary "clips" that the machine accepts (sold separately)
3. The machine can have its own sorting mechanism (you buy a bag of stuff, dump it in the hopper, things get put in place)
4. If we go wild, can even imagine the machine making the component on demand!

The actual implementation is not so important.
The real question is: do you find this a problem?
(Do you often think you are spending too much time sorting your stuff and going through it when you need something?
Perhaps some time lost over using the wrong resistor?)

Would appreciate your thoughts about this idea

 

Rarely, usually when I store parts in the wrong place.

 

I have a glass pie dish for #3 to go through.

Other than that maybe a robot to pick parts out of a rack of various parts in the tape strip packaging that gets cut off a reel. Wouldn't have to be a whole reel, but like the 10 - 200 piece strips would be cool.

 

I like your reel idea - I am thinking something like how link-chain-guns work, only there would be an action to reconnect links.
* Basically, all components are in a reel-to-reel that moves back/forth until the chosen component is in the middle.
* The middle disconnects this component (to serve to you) and reconnects both reels.
* Everything gets accounted in an internal database inside the reels and the machine can suggest parts that you are running out of.
* At which point, you buy these parts, put them in the spent links and feed them for the machine to integrate into the existing reel