[LMagic007]

Yes I have a hand cranked torch with 3 LEDs and It' been working perfectly fine for over 12 months and stays charged all the time with minimal winding and I use it near every day. I suspect the brand quality may be a factor to consider, e.g. quality of re-chargeable battery etc...

In regard to the hand cranked laptop, foot cranking may be another option for some situations. Don't forget though that in the third world, raw physical labour is not something new to people, so I doubt winding 1 minute to get 10 minutes of power would be a problem. The daily rigours of a Third World inhabitant are typically much more demanding than that. We in the west are just used to having it too good, but to third world people this would be a luxury.

I'm just highlighting the concept of the technology and like many concepts, over time they tend to be improved. I will leave the implementation strategies to the dreamers with great vision, but of course we all know that inequalities will always exist and it's unlikely any grand vision will ever change that. Of course part of having vision is about the striving of the journey and not just about the end result. In any event the goal posts invariably always change as we navigate toward them.

As a general concept though I think hand crank powered technology has great promise.