I’ve been very stressed lately and have been doing some window shopping to calm down. I’m interested in gadgets, but a lot of things can just be replaced with apps. I realize a phone won’t replace very large appliances like refrigerators or washing machines so I’m trying to scope my question to portable devices. So what are some portable devices or gadgets that their specialization hasn’t been replaced by smart phone apps? Extra points if they’re super useful and reliable.
Another light-emitting device: laser pointer. I don’t know of a phone that comes with an LED laser; it’s probably only a matter of time, but even then it’ll probably be - like a lot of other things - a handy-to-have-in-an-emergency app, but not a practical substitute for a real laser.
What’s an LED laser?
A laser where the light is generated by an LED, as opposed to the more historical synthetic ruby or (argon or other) gas laser.
Original lasers were a tube with a fully reflective mirror on one end and a partially reflective mirror on the other. Some single-wavelength light emitter was inside - synthetic ruby, or a (noble? Not sure if they were always noble gases) gas. Electricity excited the light emitter, and it’d bounce around and back and forth between the mirrors, one of which was set up to allow light of only one polarity to pass. Then there’d usually be a focusing lens to account for spread you couldn’t completely control with the mirrors, and that’s how you’d get Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
We still do this for big lasers, but for small applications LEDs can be used to generate the coherent light, and you still need a lens because the LED is still basically just a kind of LED flashlight; the lens focuses it into a beam.
Thank you, I did a quick google but all I was seeing was articles explaining difference between an LED and a laser, none were saying you could use LEDs to make a laser.
AGM Glory G1S
Thermal camera?? Yeah, Ok, you may have something there.