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Digital Culture Sewanee

Zuca

While this blog isn’t a gadget-blog, I wanted to sing the praises of a recent purchase that might come in handy for both the gamers and librarians (and gaming librarians) who might read this.

At the Origins Game Fair this year I purchased a Zuca. What’s a Zuca? It’s a rolling bag of many things…

Zuca

This is the best rolling bag I’ve ever seen. It has great organization inside, with pockets and a large open area for books/computer/folders/body parts…whatever you need to haul around. The thing feels indestructible, has inline skate wheels with frictionless bearings and will go anywhere and has a nearly zero turn radius. The frame allows you to use it as a seat or table for those crowded airports or in the library, and since it’s aluminum it doesn’t actually add much weight to the product. It’s still very carryable when needed. It also comes in about a million colors/styles.

The only complaint I have about the bag is that it connects to the frame at all of the sides, but not the top, so when you use the handy mesh hammock in the inside top of the bag to hold change and such, it pulls the top down when you roll the bag. It’s a terribly minor thing in an otherwise remarkably well-designed product, and doesn’t effect the use of the bag at all. There was some issue with it fitting in a few of the overheads of the smaller airplanes I was on this summer, but in every case there was a solution (once it was checked by the crew, and once I stowed it under the empty seat beside me). It fit in the larger planes just fine.

For those of us who carry a lot of books and electronics when travelling (and who doesn’t anymore…) this is a really well made solution. If you see me at a convention, I’ll probably be wheeling this along behind me.

By griffey

Jason Griffey is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at NISO, where he works to identify new areas of the information ecosystem where standards expertise is useful and needed. Prior to joining NISO in 2019, Jason ran his own technology consulting company for libraries, has been both an Affiliate at metaLAB and a Fellow and Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and was an academic librarian in roles ranging from reference and instruction to Head of IT at the University of TN at Chattanooga.

Jason has written extensively on technology and libraries, including multiple books and a series of full-periodical issues on technology topics, most recently AI & Machine Learning in Libraries and Library Spaces and Smart Buildings: Technology, Metrics, and Iterative Design from 2018. His newest book, co-authored with Jeffery Pomerantz, will be published by MIT Press in 2024.

He has spoken internationally on topics such as artificial intelligence & machine learning, the future of technology and libraries, decentralization and the Blockchain, privacy, copyright, and intellectual property. A full list of his publications and presentations can be found on his CV.
He is one of eight winners of the Knight Foundation News Challenge for Libraries for the Measure the Future project (http://measurethefuture.net), an open hardware project designed to provide actionable use metrics for library spaces. He is also the creator and director of The LibraryBox Project (http://librarybox.us), an open source portable digital file distribution system.

Jason can be stalked obsessively online, and spends his free time with his daughter Eliza, reading, obsessing over gadgets, and preparing for the inevitable zombie uprising.

6 replies on “Zuca”

I’ve been thinking about buying one of these for my work in the local city where I need to travel all day with many tools. My only concern about the Zuca bag is that it is somewhat large and might be hard to fit on a bus or subway train where its not possible to store overhead. I currenly use a backpack with wheels which can be made smaller by squeezing it between my legs. I hope the Zuca bag fits because Im 75% ready to buy one. If only it was a few inches shorter in depth

This bag helps me so much! I am a skater, and there is so much room in this bag! I was so happy to recieve this bag for Christmas! It looks like you cant fit anything in it, but remember that most looks are decieving! and when it comes to the Zuca bag, the small look is decieving because when you open this bag, there is plenty of room!

i love my zuca. in hard-boiled NY when people are loathe to comment about anything or visibly acknowledge that anything might be new to their eyes, i’ve gotten queries and lustful looks. getting onto public transport offers no problem and it certainly makes schlepping about on discovery/pillages is made effortless. and hey, i love the flashing wheels!

Thank you for the nice things you have said about the Zuca Bag! Let me say, we listen! We have affixed the bag to the top of the frame as asked. We have also come out with the PRO which has the wheels recessed into the frame so it fits into the overhead compartments of most airlines. What a joy to travel with! And if you don’t care for the flashing wheels, switch them out with the top set! OR buy a new non-flashing set! Check us out at http://www.zuca.com!

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