What Invention Would You Like To See?
from the day-dreaming dept
The NY Times is having a little fun today by asking eleven famous people what invention they’d like to have (note that they’re not all technologists). What they want actually says quite a bit about what sort of person each one is. For example, Moby wants non-harmful, non-addictive recreational drugs. Both John Perry Barlow and Donald Trump want brain implants – but for very different (and telling) reasons. Barlow wants it for the informational value – so that he doesn’t need to carry around all his other gadgets. Trump wants information to go in the other direction. He wants his brain to be able to tell his “people” exactly what he’s thinking so he doesn’t have to explain himself all the time. William Gibson has been paying attention to too much politics lately and wants all the news he reads to be color coded automatically to point out lies, spin and misperceptions – which would make for one very colorful news reading experience these days. Bill Joy wants his very own cone of silence, mainly to block out annoying people sitting next to him in restaurants (such a social guy, huh?). Gadget Man (and FCC chairman) Michael Powell wants a gadget that will fill out forms for him – not the online version (that tech exists already), but the paper ones. The best one of all, though, comes from former tennis star Martina Navratilova. Given the opportunity to suggest any invention possible, she just wants a tennis line judge who was always right.
