Could it be that the mark of a true business mastermind is identifying the oddest source of extraneous cost and ruthlessly scything it out?  If so, Apple iPod chief Tony Fadell might just be a genius: the latest patent application to go public from the company, bearing his name, is for a collapsible CD or DVD adaptor that snaps around an 8cm disk and makes it the correct, 12cm diameter to fit safely into a slot-loading drive.  The reason for this new splash of intellectual property?  Saving on shipping and production costs of software releases.

Turns out, plenty of software released comes nowhere near filling a normal, 12cm disk, but Apple are forced to produce that size anyway to ensure compatibility with slot-loading drives fitted to MacBooks.  Fadell designed a ring-shaped adaptor that either folds down or breaks apart for compact transport, but can be restored around a small disk in order to use it.

He’s even thought of a self-constructing version, where the joints themselves act as tiny springs to cause the ring to leap together.

[via AppleInsider]