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One type of interesting modern hand crank device is degaussers.

Goverment regulations require that data is able to be destroyed even if the power goes out. So the top end degaussers can operate by hand crank. It reminds me somewhat of the movie Argo.

My favorite portable hand-crank powered device is the Curta, a mechanical calculator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curta

I've got one. I'm dying to take it apart, but I don't dare. Amazing device.