I agree, this seems like far too simplistic a proposal for my tastes.
As with anything else in life, there are far more variables involved with innovation than "Do we have the extra stuff kicking around?" and "Can we get some help starting out?" There are a myriad of things that might stifle innovation, and the one that comes to the forefront of my mind is the old phrase, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Sure, I understand that for things we use every day, there will always be someone who has a financial interest in making something better, and that, Mike, is why innovation will never truly stop. Money makes the world go 'round, after all. It's not that difficult to reverse engineer a process - I could take apart a vacuum cleaner, and, never having built one myself, tell you exactly what you need to build one just like it. The plastics may not be exactly the same, and the metal bits may be a slightly different alloy, but I guarantee you I can tell you how to build a vacuum cleaner given a model and a modicum of quiet time. I could probably even rig a way to give it more sucking power by sticking an electric weedeater motor on it. (Disclaimer: I have never been a vacuum inventor or manufacturor, nor have I ever actually had the time or desire to take mine apart, but I'm smart enough to know there's a motor in there somewhere and that would be my starting point if I wanted to overclock the S.O.B.) However, what Ronald needs to realize is that your average Joe on the street simply doesn't care that much if his bedsheets have a 1200 thread count or his alarm clock can record his wife's voice yelling at him to get out of bed (I think those are actually out there somewhere, and all I can say is, why would anyone want that kind of torture?). So why would he take time out of his busy life, with work, the loud wife, the kids, grilling in the backyard, watching that Cowboys game and having a few drinks with the boys to invent a loom that will weave a sheet that tightly? There is a reason why basement inventors are the catalysts in so many comedy films. It's because they end up having no life. At the same time, that fancy new grill (that someone got PAID to design) probably cost enough that Mr. Joe wouldn't have the money, like so many others, to invent that loom, even if the loud wife DID want silkier sheets. You have to remember that while the economy may be good, it is very rarely so good as to allow people to throw money away on the first ten attempts before old Joe realizes that the thread actually has to be strong enough to hold with the tension involved in weaving it that tightly. Your average middle-class American lives somewhere between tightening the belt a notch or two tighter and comfortably depositing in his kids' college funds. He might buy his wife some fancy new perfume for her birthday, sign his oldest boy up for little league, try to convince his daughters that they don't need boys, they need degrees from good universities, and try to make sure there is something to leave to them all when he finally gets to go have a chat with St. Pete. And then maybe, if his kids do the same, a generation or two down the line, there will be enough money to allow for tinkering in the basement while the kids are at camp.
I know that was a bit of a rant, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that you have to look at the bigger picture and the priorities involved. For people that get paid to make things better, it will always be a greater priority to take apart the vacuum cleaner and find out what makes it tick (I would suggest a Dust Devil or a Dyson), but for office types or blue collar workers, there are just more important things going on. So Mike, you can't try to condemn the patent system that protects the lives and livlihoods of so many because you're too lazy to break out the wrench and screwdriver and recreate the vacuum cleaner yourself, if it's that important to you, and Ronald, you'll have to excuse me if I don't take time away from my husband and children, and money for food, gas, and entertainment away from the family, so I can go play Dexter and make myself a softer sheet.
And one more thing guys...
Btw, Ronald, what products have you brought to market?
But over a year of watching Mike's responses to those who have tried to educate him convinced me that this is futile.
Seriously? Call it an outsider's perspective looking in, but can't we all play grown-ups and have a polite intellectual discussion, or do we need to separate you two? Some of your comments remind me of politicians, my four and six year old boys poking each other at the dinner table, or both.
Courtney
Working wife and mother of two, and the girl that turned down MIT to serve her country.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Courtney.
I agree, this seems like far too simplistic a proposal for my tastes.
As with anything else in life, there are far more variables involved with innovation than "Do we have the extra stuff kicking around?" and "Can we get some help starting out?" There are a myriad of things that might stifle innovation, and the one that comes to the forefront of my mind is the old phrase, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Sure, I understand that for things we use every day, there will always be someone who has a financial interest in making something better, and that, Mike, is why innovation will never truly stop. Money makes the world go 'round, after all. It's not that difficult to reverse engineer a process - I could take apart a vacuum cleaner, and, never having built one myself, tell you exactly what you need to build one just like it. The plastics may not be exactly the same, and the metal bits may be a slightly different alloy, but I guarantee you I can tell you how to build a vacuum cleaner given a model and a modicum of quiet time. I could probably even rig a way to give it more sucking power by sticking an electric weedeater motor on it. (Disclaimer: I have never been a vacuum inventor or manufacturor, nor have I ever actually had the time or desire to take mine apart, but I'm smart enough to know there's a motor in there somewhere and that would be my starting point if I wanted to overclock the S.O.B.) However, what Ronald needs to realize is that your average Joe on the street simply doesn't care that much if his bedsheets have a 1200 thread count or his alarm clock can record his wife's voice yelling at him to get out of bed (I think those are actually out there somewhere, and all I can say is, why would anyone want that kind of torture?). So why would he take time out of his busy life, with work, the loud wife, the kids, grilling in the backyard, watching that Cowboys game and having a few drinks with the boys to invent a loom that will weave a sheet that tightly? There is a reason why basement inventors are the catalysts in so many comedy films. It's because they end up having no life. At the same time, that fancy new grill (that someone got PAID to design) probably cost enough that Mr. Joe wouldn't have the money, like so many others, to invent that loom, even if the loud wife DID want silkier sheets. You have to remember that while the economy may be good, it is very rarely so good as to allow people to throw money away on the first ten attempts before old Joe realizes that the thread actually has to be strong enough to hold with the tension involved in weaving it that tightly. Your average middle-class American lives somewhere between tightening the belt a notch or two tighter and comfortably depositing in his kids' college funds. He might buy his wife some fancy new perfume for her birthday, sign his oldest boy up for little league, try to convince his daughters that they don't need boys, they need degrees from good universities, and try to make sure there is something to leave to them all when he finally gets to go have a chat with St. Pete. And then maybe, if his kids do the same, a generation or two down the line, there will be enough money to allow for tinkering in the basement while the kids are at camp.
I know that was a bit of a rant, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that you have to look at the bigger picture and the priorities involved. For people that get paid to make things better, it will always be a greater priority to take apart the vacuum cleaner and find out what makes it tick (I would suggest a Dust Devil or a Dyson), but for office types or blue collar workers, there are just more important things going on. So Mike, you can't try to condemn the patent system that protects the lives and livlihoods of so many because you're too lazy to break out the wrench and screwdriver and recreate the vacuum cleaner yourself, if it's that important to you, and Ronald, you'll have to excuse me if I don't take time away from my husband and children, and money for food, gas, and entertainment away from the family, so I can go play Dexter and make myself a softer sheet.
And one more thing guys...
Seriously? Call it an outsider's perspective looking in, but can't we all play grown-ups and have a polite intellectual discussion, or do we need to separate you two? Some of your comments remind me of politicians, my four and six year old boys poking each other at the dinner table, or both.
Courtney
Working wife and mother of two, and the girl that turned down MIT to serve her country.