It has taken off in a big way,because it makes a light anytime anywhere without having to be concerned whether the batt's are flat or have corroded the torch.Also only two moving parts to wear out.Nearly every CE factory is making there own version. Best version I have come across so far is available in Tesco's for a £5,well made.Good value for money.JFEGI never really understood why they thought the shaker would ever take off (i bought one lol) all that happens is the magnet passes through the copper coil which induces a magnetic field which produces a small current/voltage which gets passed through a diode and a cap which charges (in mine anyway) an even bigger cap which drives the LED.
Hand cranking with a small motor is far better for generating power, try turning a shaker into something which charges your phone lol.... I did turn the hand crank torch into a regulated source which i used to not only charge the ipod mp3 clone i have but also to drive a 0.5watt amplifier, when the power off i got my 5 year old to spin it round as fast as she could and when she did the music would play (you must regulate it though, it can produce quite high voltages and blow the CMOS / amplifier IC)
by Jake Hertz
by Aaron Carman
by Jake Hertz