Noticed in my local coles (coorparoo, qld) that their travel umbrellas were reduced to clear at $1.93 - I bought the 5 they had left. The regular price is about $4 - so they are cheap umbrellas but if the kids get a few months from them I'll be happy. Don't know if this is only for that store but thought it might be worth posting anyway.
I'd like to patent it but alas…no point, they'd just end up pumping out millions of copies of the damn things.
Why not have an MP3 umbrella with a rechargeable player in it with the mono speaker pointing downwards so you can listen while you walk :P