The best product innovations are usually simple and immediately understandable, the kind of ideas that trigger a “Why didn’t I think of that?” A good tech example of this is Webkinz (www.webkinz.com). If you have kids teenaged or younger, you probably just smiled or grimaced in recognition. For you others: Webkinz are soft attractive stuffed animals made by Ganz. They sell for about $15, and that’s a decent price for a regular stuffed animal. But Ganz Webified the concept: for the purchase price kids also get to play with their toy in an exclusive online world. So if you buy a pink poodle toy, online you get a pink poodle. It can move around the online world, play games and interact with other Webkinz.

And kids love the idea. The Webkinz Web site reportedly received 3.7 million unique visitors in May of this year, and few kids own only one Webkinz. It is a collectible craze on the Beanie Babies level.

Why didn’t I think of that?

Which brings us to Rogers. The company just launched a service that is simple, clever and very useful. Its new Second Voice Line Service lets you access two phone numbers with one cellphone.

How many times have you seen someone walking around with two cellphones clipped on? Often it’s a BlackBerry and a smaller, simpler phone. Why two? One is for business, the other is personal.

The new Rogers service will remove that second phone. It can also be used to give one person numbers in two different area codes.

Rogers is not charging an additional fee, beyond the existing cost of the two numbers, and in fact is offering discounts on shared services, such as voice mail boxes. Pay for voice mail on one line, get it free on the other.

If it sounds like I am praising this idea, I am. This is just so smart that I can’t believe no one has offered it until now.

Peter Wolchak