Karl Elsener, born to a hatmaker's family in a small village in Switzerland, took advantage of his innate dexterity to create a unique pocketknife. This multifunctional tool had a main blade, erasing blade, hole puncher, can opener, screwdriver and corkscrew. Despite its numerous uses, the knife was simply designed and very durable. The first such knives, called soldiers' knives, were delivered to the Swiss Army in 1891, commencing the long history of the Swiss Army Knife. Today, the Swiss Army Knife is a necessity when working or playing outdoors. This trusted brand, symbolizing reliability, has been carried to the peak of Mt. Everest and even into outer space.

If you take a look at the many tools surrounding us in everyday life, you might be surprised at how few examples there are of tools successfully combining different functions. It is often difficult to bring together even similar functions. Obviously, there is more to the formula than simply cramming functions together. This makes the Swiss Army Knife a unique example of multifunctionality.

On the other hand, while it is possible to combine just about anything in the digital world, turning such combinations into packages that add value to products is another difficult task. Canon's OPTURA300/MVX10i, inheriting high performance in a compact body, takes advantage of the expertise Canon has accumulated through the years from film cameras to digital cameras, analog video camcorders and digital video camcorders. The engineers of this camcorder tell the development story in their own words. (Reference: Victorinox website)