Don’t forget to thank President Obama for his contribution as well. His brief playtime today with a Soccket ball — a soccer ball that converts kinetic energy into electricity — didn’t generate much power, but it did serve to underscore the president’s plan to invest $7 billion in energy access programs across Africa. It also produced a couple of photos of the president with a ball on his head, as well as several tweets lauding the idea.
In Tanzania today, POTUS did a header with the @SOCCKET, a mobile energy harvesting soccer ball. Genius! pic.twitter.com/Bfa7dow7in
— Ben Rhodes -Archived (@rhodes44) July 2, 2013
That Soccket ball Obama was head-butting around in Africa is actually quite cool! http://t.co/Cw3q5R0uB0
— Joe Hansen (@infodude) July 2, 2013
What a great idea! A soccer ball that produces renewable energy! President Obama tries out a Soccket ball in… http://t.co/cjfdNiIxfa
— Winning Progressive (@WinProgressive) July 2, 2013
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/statuses/352047073736142849
https://twitter.com/MagicalEarth/status/352146421526437888
Last Stop in Dar es Salaam: Presidents Obama & Kikwete demonstrate mobile energy harvesting SOCCKET ball pic.twitter.com/lO5K7kEi0z
— Valerie Jarrett (@vj44) July 2, 2013
Pres Obama also saw a demo of the Soccket Ball, a soccer ball which transforms kinetic energy into electicity, enough to power a lamp.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) July 2, 2013
President Obama declared the Soccket ball “pretty cool,” adding, “You can imagine this in villages all across the country.” Here’s a shot from Uncharted Play showing the LED lamp in action.
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Happy Friday #SOCCKET Fans! our #FF goes out to @Huecco for his support to our project! The SOCCKET!
http://t.co/gIYceVoM2N— Uncharted Power (@upowerco) June 7, 2013
As cool as the idea is, someone had to be a spoil sport. Before spending the whole $7 billion on soccer balls, hopefully President Obama will look into the dissenting view. As a piece in Foreign Policy notes, while the Soccket costs $99, “you can get a solar-powered lamp for $10. It isn’t clear why anyone would pay 10 times that for a light whose power source you have to kick around for half an hour to get less illumination.”
Re #pt, the Soccket is a really stupid idea. See here to understand why: http://t.co/VUakad0wim
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) July 1, 2013
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