Can just see it now, while Little Miss American Housewife is fumbling to hit play to listen to favourite track #4 on the train to work and BAM, the guy in the next seat gets blasted with 50,000V of Taser loving..

burbling about his latest gadget.

Only to have the BOFH & PFY show him what a REAL electrical deterrent feels like!

Not so much barbaric - but how insane are we to continue with such heavy handed band-aids to societal ills?

The longer we ignore the root causes of rising violence (socio-economic, pyschological, familial, etc.), we'll build more menacing weapons. Eventually, in order to protect the "innocent" (also known as the "haves"), we'll allow smiting another's life for their misunderstood (or at worst, inappropriate) action.

Goodness help us.

Whatever the designer is smoking, i'll take a tenners worth.

Still, useful if you come into a situation were its "So, whats your Ipod do?" - "Hmmm, about five thousand volts."

The RIAA/Taser cross-promotion opportunity, I mean.

This is what I call civilized violence. Now, whilst your would be attacker lies convulsing on the ground,you can relax him with a selection of suitable music, say Beethoven's ninth or perhaps nineteen(thousand volt) nervous breakdown.

C'mon gang!

Surely 1Gb is enough storage to hold "Shock The Monkey"!

It was surely designed for the American market... Ugly thing in "leopard" pattern.

Bemi, this is by far one of the most ridiculous self defense devices I've ever seen for obvious reasons but your comments about a criminal's "misunderstood (or at worst, inappropriate) action." is just as bad and because you quote the word "innocent" implies that these people are the cause of other people's poor decisions and bad behavior.

Although we can and should study the causes of increased violent behavior to reduce it doesn't mean that doing so will eliminated it. There will always be people (also known as the "have nots") that will lie, cheat, steal, and murder because of their inability to compete in this world regardless of the social class in which they were raised. So there will always be a need for self defense. What are your recommendations?

pulse with the bassline? If not, what's the point?

zzzzzzzzap!

God, this DRM stuff is really starting to get heavy!

The burberry taser is coming.

NOW! look if they have saturated their real market enough to try this as a breakthrough product they are doomed time to sell it has no future. Think combination gun/ cigarette lighter or respirator/ fridge when I see this I know the company can't grow in business.

The Taser-related death toll, often blamed on 'Excited Delirium' (*), in Canada is up to about 20. And we're not particularly happy about it.

* 'Excited Delirium' is a registered Trademark of Taser International Inc.

Well... Electric Six have already produced the perfect track...

...that is all...

I'd be worried about a device that can pump out 50,000 V at one end while you have the other end plugged into your ears!

Best not use it when it's raining, eh?

I actually think this is a good idea. With proper training, sensible user background checks and the like, violent crimes could be cut simply by providing an unpleasant deterrent. Yes, it *seems* unpleasant because, after all, aren't we intelligent and civilised beings? Well, Reg. readers may be but the average yob on the street isn't, thats for sure, and I have yet to see any useful crime-cutting initiatives out there. Yes the possibility remains that 'orrible youfs (or is it youves?) may get their hands on the iTaser. Well, they already have knives and guns so that's a step in the right direction, IMO.