Better Keyrings

Keyrings are another example of something that has been pretty much the same since it was invented. And like many other cases it is not because there is no room for improvement.

Keyrings most certainly work well. For the most part they do their job. But removing or adding an item from a keyring is far more trouble than it should be.

Now there has been some 'recent' innovation with keyrings. The split-ring-key (http://www.amronexperimental.com/Split-Ring-Key.html) merges your house key with your key ring. But the 'ring' part of the keyring is relatively unchanged.

I've put some thought into HOW I would improve upon the keyring. Some ideas I threw out because, although good, they were too different. In order for people to adopt it, a new and improved key ring would need to have some resemblance to what people are comfortable with. That means maintaining the ring shape.

Other ideas where thrown out because they involved changing the keys themselves. In order for this to work we would need to get everyone who makes keys to agree on this.

Ultimately I decided that a key ring inspired by earrings would be best. They do, after all, manage to stay on ears. The keyring would be a metal hoop with a small gap (like an earring). On end of the hoop would end in a segment with grooves in it so it could act similar to a screw. The other end would have a rotatable washer that could lock onto the grooves. To lock it you would simply squeeze it together and twist. The same action could unlock it.

Simple as that.

However, the fact of the matter is there are simply dozens of ways this could be accomplished. We continue to use the type of keyrings we use, not for an inability to craft better ones, but because we settle for something that ''works.' But why settle for mediocrity when something better is so easily obtainable.