One of the reasons entrepreneurs are so great is because they invent things we didn't even know we needed. Tupperware! Twitter! The iPhone! But for every great new product, there's hundreds of questionable ones (Ronco Food Dehydrator, Yogurt Maker, and Beef Jerky Machine-In-One anyone?).

Here's one that could go either way though: the Mini Motel. Pitched as the tired travelers solution to delayed or cancelled flight, the Mini Motel is a tiny tent that you can pitch in an airport terminal or anywhere else you feel like getting some shut eye (no word yet on how airports feel about that). It comes with an air mattress, pillow, bed sheet, alarm clock, reading light, toothbrush, ear plugs, and eye shades—pretty much everything you need to [sorta] pretend you're not sleeping on the floor of an airport with hundreds of travelers shuffling around you. It costs $39.95 and was, naturally, invented by a business traveler who got stuck overnight at a German airport.

So. We like the idea...in theory. There's no question that more and more people are getting stuck in airport terminals everyday. That's because—and we'll say it—the airline industry increasingly sucks. And if you've ever tried curling up in one of those stiff terminal chairs with metal bars placed exactly where they hurt the most, you know how impossible it can be to actually sleep in an airport. But while it might be more comfortable to sleep in a pup tent, isn't that just, er, a tad awkward? Even if you could ingnore the stares, eye-rolling, and snickers of other passengers, wouldn't you worry about a kick or a jostle or worse from a passerby?

Would you use it?

Image via the NYTimes