More previously-thought-of ideas
Once in a while, I will be sitting around with some science and engineering-y types and people will start tossing around ideas for companies. A few times we have hit upon some truly stunning ideas that seem like sure ways to make tons of cash. Invariably, typing the key words into Google reveals that someone has already done just this. Two samples:
Since it’s a big pain to sort your socks into pairs after doing the laundry, why not come up with some kind of clip to hold them together in the wash? Voila! Sock Cop has done just this (not to mention several other companies). I bought some of these in the mail and tried them out, but unfortunately, being too lazy to sort the socks after they come out of the wash is strongly correlated with being too lazy to put the clips on the socks before they go in the wash. So don’t buy stock yet.
Selling a service to parents to do real-time tracking of their kid’s location through a GPS feature on the kids’ cell phones. Oops! Accutracking (and a few other companies) got to this idea first. Oh well. I’m not sure I wanted to spark an increase in paranoid parental monitoring anyway.
I know what you mean, but only on a much smaller scale of brilliance. For example: coffee singles and ritz bits. My parents made their own rigged versions of those things way back in the 70s. Then along come the 90s and they’re like the greatest inventions ever.
Comment by JM — August 27, 2006 @ 11:48 am
They can put a man on the moon (or at least used to be able to, anyway), but for all of the ubiquity of satellite communications, we still need to rely upon hand gestures and signal lights to communicate with cars in our immediate vicinity. We got to the intersection at the same time–who goes first? We have to look and wave to see. Of course, I think that the reason nobody’s come up with this technology is that there would probably be a lot more freeway shootings with people cursing drivers who just made a boneheaded turn.
I can’t imagine clipping dirty socks together, but then again, my washer and dryer are only about 20 feet away from my hamper. Not too many opportunities for them to escape.
Comment by Kristin — August 28, 2006 @ 1:34 am
Good pre-thought ideas. My own solution to the sock problem is to only own socks with outlandish patterns. Their bright colours offers a visual cue which helps me to keep them together.
Comment by FemaleCSGradStudent — August 28, 2006 @ 3:03 am