Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Where Have All of the Inventors Gone?

What happen to the Thomas Edisons, the Alexander Gram Bells, the Eli Whitneys of the modern era? We all know their names and what they invented, but what about the inventors of the products we use today? Who invented the computer, the DVD player, cell phone, or the internet (besides Al Gore)? Which inventors of the 20th century will 5th graders 100 years from now learn about?

I'm talking about the modern-day inventors here. Where have they gone? The ones slaving away in their basements with beakers, wire, and crazy contraptions, trying to discover the next best thing to make life easier, better for the rest of humanity?

I've puzzled over this question for the last couple of years and I've settled on three possible theories:
  1. They work for corporations or well-funded organizations which take credit for their work. I know that Sony invented the Walkman, but I have no idea who within Sony came up with the idea.
  2. They've turned into computer programmers. Significant software development is still possible without the support of a corporation or well-funded organization. Shawn Fanning (Napster) and Bram Cohen (Bittorrent) were capable of making products used by millions of people from the chair of their desk.
  3. Modern society has lost the inventor spirit. Do we know who invented the light bulb because at the time of the invention to create such a life changing product elevated you to rockstar status? Now we have real rock stars to follow. Modern society is no longer interested in the personalities of inventors.
I'm personally going with theory 1 for now. Any other ideas?

Viral Education

Did I just coin a new term?

A Great Example of Social Software

Have you ever wanted to do something, but backed down because your friends or family wouldn't join you? I can't even count the number of great concerts I missed out on because I couldn't find anyone to go with.

Pledgebank aims to solve this problem--and i'm not just talking about increasing the number of concert goers. You pledge that you'll do X given that Y people also do X. Most of the pledges are for noble causes--blood donation, purchasing a hybrid vehicle, donating money to a charity in need. I'm not sure if this will work the way as planned, but it has the potential to be something great.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Wired News: E-Tutors: Outsourcing the Coach

First tech support, then application development, and now education. America's world dominance is slowly shrinking as the service industry, one of our last main competitive advantages in the global economy, is slowly slipping away. I think it's great--it keeps the US on its heals and forces us to be more aggressive in investing in education and technology.

Wired News: E-Tutors: Outsourcing the Coach

Great Stone Roses track

If I could only run one application on my computer it would be Rhapsody. It's the perfect product for a music lover--especially one that loves to channel surf. I've tried both Yahoo's Musicmatch and Napster's subscription based services, and they all pale in comparison. Rhapsody is the perfect combination of speed, usability, quality, and quantity.

You can even blog tracks. Like this one: Made Of Stone - The Stone Roses

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Lists will set you free

I spent the sunday indoors, but it was great--I got so much done. Woke up, took a shower, and got to work on a list of 40 or so errands that I wanted to get done. By committing myself to this list I was able to stay focused. At the end of the day I was able to measure my progress and it was real--about 60% of what I wanted to do I accomplished. Lists are great.

BTW, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are amazing--I've been listening to them nonstop since they showed up on Rhapsody early in the week. Listen to this live show from Mornings Become Eclectic.

Friday, October 21, 2005

First Post

This is my first post. Right now I have nothing to say.