The smart phone is certainly a handy tool that can enhance a tailgating experience. The GPS gives directions to the parking lot of your choice, the browser allows you to set your fantasy football lineup, and the ability to e-mail and text makes sure all the partygoers are on the same page. You can also use a smart phone as an actual phone if you enjoy talking without using your thumbs. But shouldn’t this handy tool actually perform some task as a physical tool? Tom Ramies, the President of West|280 thinks so, and that’s why he invented the West|280 iOpener.
This Apple iPhone has a bottle cap remover built in to its hardware. With help from his designer buddy (and now CEO) Clay Baker, Ramies’ idea became a shipping product in just 15 months. Building this contraption was a lot harder than one would think as the duo put painstaking months of studying grades of stainless steel and plastics, as well as human ergonomics.
The result was a sleek 2-ounce opener that doesn’t put a huge bulge in your pockets and won’t damage the phone when force is applied to opening the beverage. There is no chrome involved in the design, so the owner never has to worry about chrome flakes getting into the phone (or more importantly, the drink). Another cool feature is the ability to sync up a song with the actual opening of the bottled beverage. Tailgaters can now play their school’s fight song or any George Thorogood drinking tune whenever they crack open a cold one.
Ramies and Baker were also concerned about helping the U.S. economy, which is why all the parts are manufactured in the United States. The West|280 duo has also set up the “Friend-Direct” distribution channel where any consumer could create a business by selling the iOpener to friends and earning 15 percent commission on each sale. The only thing better than tailgating is actually making money while tailgating.
For more information, connect to West|280.com.
