Ever since some one crammed a (dangerously simple) battery into an Altoids tin as a backup power supply for his iPod, the Me-Too crowds have been saturating the blog world with their contributions. We have the battery in a deck of playing cards, the battery in a yet-smaller Altoids case (for your mini, of course), and then the ultimate: make your own MP3 player in, yes, an Altoids case. (Sounds like Altoids has a great marketing campaign going.)
And then, today comes around and the “hacks” have started PSPs. Yes, now you can make a battery pack inside an Atari 2600 joystick. This kids is the tipping point. We are now ruining devices that are likely worth actual money (quick check on ebay says $15.00) and making battery packs that are larger, clunkier, and less functional than the device that actually needs the power. Wouldn’t be easier to, oh, I don’t know, pack along and additional set of batteries sans joystick?