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Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities Paperback – December 17, 2013

4.6 out of 5 stars 496 ratings

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Cool Tools is a highly curated selection of the best tools available for individuals and small groups. Tools include hand tools, maps, how-to books, vehicles, software, specialized devices, gizmos, websites -- and anything useful. Tools are selected and presented in the book if they are the best of kind, the cheapest, or the only thing available that will do the job. This is an oversized book which reviews over 1,500 different tools, explaining why each one is great, and what its benefits are. Indirectly the book illuminates the possibilities contained in such tools and the whole catalog serves an education outside the classroom. The content in this book was derived from ten years of user reviews published at the Cool Tools website, cool-tools.org.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Cool Tools is a refreshing antidote to the hype that surrounds the latest hot gadgets. Unimpressed by newness for newness' sake, Kelly is attracted to objects that have withstood the test of time -- and is passing those ideas on to others. It's a habit he learned while editing and publishing the Whole Earth Catalog, the bible of counterculture do-it-yourselfers who wanted in 'tools and ideas for the 21st century.'" (Leander Kahney, Wired News)

"Stewart Brand said that
Cool Tools had captured the spirit of the Whole Earth Catalog but without taking on a counterculture and back-to-the-land philosophy. 'It proves that you can restart the essence of something,' he said." (John Markoff, New York Times)

"
Cool Tools is what the Whole Earth Catalog always wanted to be." (Peter Schwartz, futurist, Salesforce)

"Jeff Bezos is a fan of e-mail newsletters such as
Cool Tools, a compendium of technology tips and product reviews written by Kevin Kelly, a co-founder of Wired." (Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon)

Cool Tools has been featured in "Best of the Web" lists, such as the following:* Forbes Best of the Web Directory* Alltop - Gadgets* New York Times Blogs 101 - Technology Toys & Cool Things

About the Author

Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He co-founded Wired in 1993, and served as its Executive Editor from its inception until 1999. He is editor and publisher of the Cool Tools website, which gets half a million unique visitors per month. From 1984-1990 Kelly was publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Review, a journal of unorthodox technical news. He co-founded the ongoing Hackers' Conference, and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985. His last book, What Technology Wants (Viking/Penguin October 18, 2010), asserted that technology as a whole is not just a jumble of wires and metal but a living, evolving organism that has its own unconscious needs and tendencies. He also authored the best-selling New Rules for the New Economy and the classic book on decentralized emergent systems, Out of Control.
Kevin Kelly's website is kk.org.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cool Tools Lab
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 17, 2013
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 472 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1940689007
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1940689005
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.4 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 11 x 0.6 x 14 inches
  • Best Sellers Rank: #322,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 496 ratings

About the author

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Kevin Kelly
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Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He co-founded Wired in 1993, and served as its Executive Editor for its first seven years. He is also founding editor and co-publisher of the popular Cool Tools website, which has been reviewing tools daily since 2003. From 1984-1990 Kelly was publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Review, a journal of unorthodox technical news. He co-founded the ongoing Hackers’ Conference, and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985. His books include the best-selling New Rules for the New Economy, the classic book on decentralized emergent systems, Out of Control, a graphic novel about robots and angels, The Silver Cord, an oversize catalog of the best of Cool Tools, and his summary theory of technology in What Technology Wants (2010). His new book for Viking/Penguin is The Inevitable, which is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller.

Photo credit: Jamie Tanaka

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
496 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find this book to be a fascinating coffee table read that offers hours of compulsive reading material. Moreover, the book serves as a valuable resource, providing absolute best tools for every imaginable task, with lots of useful content and references. Additionally, customers appreciate the catalog's comprehensive collection, with one noting it's the most complete catalog for gadget freaks, and they consider it well worth the Amazon price of $30. Customers also value its content variety, with one describing it as a wonderful interesting volume of assorted gadgets, and find it makes a great gift.

120 customers mention "Readability"113 positive7 negative

Customers find the book easy to read, describing it as a great coffee table book with fascinating products.

"Great book, successfully uses the Whole Earth formula. Informative, useful, stimulating. Also, good quality softcover book with quality paper. Buy it." Read more

"Such a great book and beautiful too. I wish there was a UK version though, as shipping charges make many of the items prohibitively expensive." Read more

"...It was time for Kevin Kelly to put together this fantastic book showcasing the many years of the web site...." Read more

"I love this book. Lots of ideas, tools and toys are contained in this oversized book. I have found and bought several items I found in the book...." Read more

68 customers mention "Enjoyment"66 positive2 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable, describing it as endlessly fascinating and fun to read about, with one customer noting it provides hours of compulsive reading material.

"Although there are a lot of fun and well researched items in the book it did not have the old timey homesteaders DIY feel which the original Whole..." Read more

"...A fun book even my wife likes, as there is chicken (farm) stuff in the book also. Would buy it again in a heartbeat!" Read more

"Excellent content and entertaining. Have recommended to all our friends and relatives. Makes a very goog gift for everyone we know." Read more

"The best resource written from an intelligent, kindly perspective. Fun to read! Our copy is filled with post-its for the 'want list'." Read more

67 customers mention "Resource value"66 positive1 negative

Customers find the book to be a valuable resource, with good ideas for tools and resources that are particularly helpful for handy people.

"Great book, successfully uses the Whole Earth formula. Informative, useful, stimulating. Also, good quality softcover book with quality paper. Buy it." Read more

"...Great resource and something you should give to every high school student." Read more

"What a wonderful resource. A must have for any big system dreamer/tinkerer." Read more

"Excellent resource and great source of ideas. Heard about it from Twit netcast." Read more

57 customers mention "Information content"54 positive3 negative

Customers appreciate the book's content, particularly its references and resources, with one customer noting how it helps with further research, while another mentions it provides knowledge for both geeks and non-geeks alike.

"Full of useful info. I find myself just skimming the pages looking for tools I didn't know existed...." Read more

"Great information but extremely poorly organized. Tools are not organized by category or alphabetically...." Read more

"...The book is fascinating, informative and quite possibly one of the best books I have ever read...." Read more

"Fantastic book! Seemingly endless amounts of great information. Kudos to Kevin Kelly!" Read more

36 customers mention "Value for money"29 positive7 negative

Customers find the book well worth the money, with one mentioning it provides practical ways to save money, while another notes its comprehensive tool reviews.

"Needs an update, but I learn a lot. Well worth it. It's the ultimate coffee table book for the DYI guy. It will give you lots of creative ideas...." Read more

"...This is the best book purchase for me in a long time. Indispensable!" Read more

"Books are dead except this one makes the cut to living--great ref, easy read, knowledge building for geeks/non-geeks alike. A must have" Read more

"...Well written high quality informative book. Highly recommended." Read more

32 customers mention "Catalog content"30 positive2 negative

Customers appreciate the catalog's content, describing it as awesome and comprehensive, with one customer noting it includes hard-to-find items of all kinds.

"The Whole Earth Catalog, updated for the 21st century..." Read more

"Amazing collection. The perfect men's browsing material. And everyone that picks this up is addicted. Can't wait for Cool Tools II!" Read more

"Although there are a lot of fun and well researched items in the book it did not have the old timey homesteaders DIY feel which the original Whole..." Read more

"Cool Tools is a comprehensive collection of all you need to know in life...." Read more

30 customers mention "Content variety"30 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the variety of content in the book, with one customer describing it as a mind-bending selection of stuff, while another notes it has a little bit of everything.

"Full of good stuff. I have my Christmas list for the next few years." Read more

"Lots of great ideas. I have bought quite a few things that I didn't know about from this book - mainly books and infographic posters...." Read more

"...Not disappointed. Not just for geeks but full of great ideas." Read more

"I love this book. Lots of ideas, tools and toys are contained in this oversized book. I have found and bought several items I found in the book...." Read more

23 customers mention "Gift value"22 positive1 negative

Customers find the book makes a great gift, with one mentioning that the whole family loves it.

"...Anyway, great gift and resource for both." Read more

"...A good gift!" Read more

"Great gift for gadget lovers and life hackers." Read more

"The whole family loves this book. I will buy more to give as Christmas presents." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    COOL TOOLS is a sprawling compilation of useful tool reviews that author Kevin Kelly and a thousand contributors wrote over a 10-year period on Kelly's blog of the same name. Every tool in this massive (472 pages, 11" x 14") collection was recommended by an avid tool user who actually used the tool. Every tool in COOL TOOLS is either the best, the cheapest, or the only thing that works.

    A builder for 40 years, I thought I knew a bit about tools. Not anymore. Kelly and his crew have put together the most exhaustive, inventive and mind-bending selection of stuff I've ever seen. For starters, their definition of tools encompasses more or less every human activity on earth. So in addition to hand jacks that can raise 7000 lbs., the Teeny Turner (a pocket sized driver), portable band saws, and laser measuring tools, you can find the best source on how to buy a car cheaply, make a low-budget movies, brew your own beer, rear an optimistic child, design a logo, win a fight, soak in feral (!) hot springs, learn to swim efficiently, prepare for a natural disaster, vagabond the world, do something dangerous (and live to tell about it), run for local office and win, go solar on your roof, or (a great boon to Boomers) remember anything.

    This list doesn't scratch the surface of what's in COOL TOOLS and that's one of the things that makes it so irresistible--you return to it again and again. Open it at random and you experience something like being six again, with a child's sense of delight and wonder at how clever people can be and what abundance this world holds. Like the Whole Earth Catalogue from 40 years ago, COOL TOOLS might just delight and empower a new generation of people who love learning--and doing. A most remarkable book.
    71 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2025
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I had no idea how fun it would be to flip through a catalogue of things of all kinds.
    I got my book a few years ago so the content is probably outdated for some categories, but the general, core things should still apply. A great ”coffee table” book and conversation starter. Can be read quite casually, a LOT more engaging than some product review website. I hope this kind of product can be released and updated periodically.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This is the most exciting book I've seen in years. It's the Whole Earth Catalog come back to life in technicolor and updated for the 21st century. For 10 years, Kevin Kelly, one of the founders of Wired Magazine, has run the Cool Tools website/blog (kk.org), with daily reviews of useful tools of every nature, and this is a compilation in book form of the best and the brightest. It's a real book that knocks the socks off any kind of electronic media; for graphic books, print on paper has still got a magic that can't be duplicated digitally.
    It's been sitting on the kitchen table for a week now, and every single person that comes by sits down and gets immersed in it. If you're one of the millions of Whole Earth Catalog fans from years back, you're going to love this book. If you don't know what the WEC was or about its profound impact on American culture in the 60s and 70s, check it out on Wikipedia.
    There must be thousands of tools here, from lightweight tents to noise cancelling earphones to the best LED flashlights to grain grinders. Computer enhancements, books, work clothes, shop tools and kitchen tools and garden tools, sports bras, ukuleles, skateboards and baby strollers -- don't get me started! And the reviews are -- ahem -- way better (more informed and in my opinion more trustworthy) than Amazon reviews.
    Full disclosure: I was the shelter editor of the Whole Earth Catalog back in the day, Kevin is a friend, I've written a bunch of reviews in the book, and a number of our books at Shelter Publications are reviewed here, so I'm hardly unbiased. But if none of this were true and if I had just picked this book up out of the blue, I would love it just as much.
    15 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2014
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This book is a wonderful, worthy successor to The Whole Earth Catalog, which is its spiritual as well as literal fore-bearer. Endlessly fascinating collection of a wide-ranging array of tools and reviews and factoids and ideas; even if I never in my life plan to, say, take up tethered swimming, it's just neat to know that there is such a thing (and what the best tether is, should I ever decide to try it). Endlessly browse-worthy; the kind of book you pick up to look up one thing, and instead end up flipping through as thoughts are chained and you go "Oh, and what about..."

    Unfortunately, the format of the book does not lend itself well to this casual browsing. Its large format (10.8 x 13.8 inches) is, I think, in part due to its being a successor to the aforementioned Whole Earth Catalog, which was large format too. But TWEC wasn't printed in full color on heavy coated stock; it didn't weigh a ton. Or, at least, 4.4 pounds, which feels like a ton when you're reading it. There's no comfortable way to browse it except sitting at a table with it laying flat in front of you. Sitting up in a chair with the book in your lap, you have to hold it up, and the heavy pages flop down and your arms quickly tire. Sit up in bed with your knees pulled up to support the book, it slides down into your lap so that the bottoms of the pages catch on the bed covers as you turn the pages.

    It's the kind of book I'd like to be able to read, say, one-handed while brushing my teeth, but that's never going to happen. I'm seriously considering slitting the spine to split the book into three or more manageable chunks.

    And, as mentioned by others, the number of pixelated, over-enlarged photos is surprising in a book of this caliber. The publisher should either get a new photo, show it smaller, or at least invest in proper image re-sampling software to make them look better.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • AS
    5.0 out of 5 stars Tolles Buch dass seines gleichen sucht
    Reviewed in Germany on February 4, 2016
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Das Buch stand schon länger auf meiner Wunschliste da ich sehr Technik Interessiert bin und gerne selber mache.

    Im Buch findet man für eigentlich jede Lebenslage passende Werkzeuge oder auch nur Tips zum Thema. Die Inhalte wurden auf einer Internetseite zusammengetragen von Nutzern die sich länger mit der jeweiligen Materie beschäftigt haben und nach längerer Recherche das richtige/gute/hochwertige/günstige Werkzeug gefunden haben.
    Beim Stöbern im Buch findet man immer wieder interessante Werkzeuge von denen man noch nie gehört hat oder die einem unbewusst schon immer gefehlt haben.

    Leider sind viele Werkzeuge sehr amerikanisch geprägt. Sie sind in Europa oft nicht erhältlich oder nicht üblich. Bei vielen High Tech Themen ist das Buch auch oft schon überholt und nicht mehr aktuell, bei den Beiträgen steht zwar ob sie von Kevin Kelly selbst oder jemand anderem verfasst wurden, aber leider nicht wann. Die Informationen findet man auch auf der Internet Seite [...], oft aktueller und mit Datum und Suchfunktion. Hier kann man auch mitwirken.

    Zum Buch selbst ist zu sagen, dass es doch wirklich sehr groß und unhandlich ist. Der Paperback Einband ist empfindlich gegen Stöße an den Ecken, die Seiten sind dünn. Trotzdem ist das Buch sehr schwer und unhandlich zu lesen. Zum Nachschlagen oder kurzen stöbern ist das kein Problem, aber von vorne bis hinten lesen kann man das Buch eigentlich nicht.
    Die US Amerikaner nennen das ganze dann Coffee Table Book.

    2 von 3 Büchern die ich bestellt haben (super zum Verschenken...) wurden von Amazon beim Versand beschädigt. Amazon hat leider die perfekte Verpackung für das Buch noch nicht gefunden. Ich habe die Bücher also mit verknickten Ecken verschenkt. Je nach Verfügbarkeit aus den USA ist das Buch grade vor Weihnachten oft vergriffen.

    Fazit:
    Super Buch mit tollem Inhalt und wenigen Schwächen. Das perfekte Buch für jeden Bastler und Neugierigen.
    Report
  • whalebone
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brought Back Many Memories
    Reviewed in Canada on May 25, 2022
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This large, tabloid-sized book definitely reminds one of the old "Whole Earth Catalogs" of yesteryear. Tons of reviews on books and products you might never have come across except for finding a review in this marvelous publication. I spent many happy hours paging through this catalog and wound up buying several items from it. Highly recommended.
  • Machinehead
    5.0 out of 5 stars Tool nerd ecstacy!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2016
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    What a feast of tool delight! I had never heard of cooltools until someone mentioned this book in an Amazon review! So it's a website that features, reviews, reports and showcases tools, gadgets, new tech, how to's etc, etc. This book is a compilation of tools and LOTS of other stuff cooltools has shown on their website over recent years. The diversity of stuff is mind boggling, everything from hammers to bookbinding! As a complete tool geek fanatic I thought I knew of every tool worth knowing about but this book shows me otherwise, thankfully! I literally could not put it down! I went through it once, then had another pass with a note book to jot down all the stuff I just had to check out on line! Now I just keep going through my favourite sections to gorge some more! I was gratified to discover tools I already owned and highly regarded to be featured in it's pages, and motivated to mention some that weren't on the Cooltool website.
    Even the actual book itself was, researched, compiled, produced and printed with techniques and technology featured within it.
    Trust me, if you are a tool, tech, maker, trade, etc fanatic, you MUST have this book! If someone you know is, it's a great gift for them.
    Most highly recommended!
  • Bruce
    1.0 out of 5 stars Très très moyen
    Reviewed in France on November 14, 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Certaines photos sont pourries et des erreurs dignes d'un stagiaire de 14 ans: Festool Domino avec une photo de scie ! Serieusement, ca se vend ce livre ? C'est ni plus ni moins qu'un vulgaire catalogue... Retour a Amazon illico.

    PS: il y a 4 pages imprimées en DOUBLE... effarant.
    Customer image
    Bruce
    1.0 out of 5 stars
    Très très moyen

    Reviewed in France on November 14, 2015
    Certaines photos sont pourries et des erreurs dignes d'un stagiaire de 14 ans: Festool Domino avec une photo de scie ! Serieusement, ca se vend ce livre ? C'est ni plus ni moins qu'un vulgaire catalogue... Retour a Amazon illico.

    PS: il y a 4 pages imprimées en DOUBLE... effarant.
    Images in this review
    Customer imageCustomer imageCustomer image
  • カズ
    3.0 out of 5 stars 大きすぎる。
    Reviewed in Japan on April 2, 2014
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    内容はとにかくとして、日本で開くには、大きすぎる。
    テーブルに置くと、コーヒーも置けない。