At first the idea of the pull string seems horrible and bound for failure, but it appears in the videos as if the load isn't too significant and the ability for self maintenance changed my mind on that.

In the first article linked it is stated that they hope to sell the generator for about $17.00, which is a great pricepoint for such an item if it can produce the kind of juice that they claim.

I was hoping to invent something that was easier to use than the typical hand crank generators by making them more ergonomic and maximizing potential while minimizing workload, but it looks like I was beaten to the punch. Bummer.