The most irritating problems the users of laptops face is the constant threat of batteries running out. But now, Japan's Seiko Epson has come up with a new windup computer. No more charging, the users now can simply "wind-up" their laptops like an alarm clock without having to worry about batteries, ever. This The hand-cranked PC is still in the prototype stage and it remains to be seen when it can be commercially available (Communications of the ACM , Vol 40, No 8).