I am surprised by the outcome tonight. They knocked out two of the twelve finalists: the guy with the Sackmaster (which the relief workers in N.O. really liked) and the woman with the collapsible inverting umbrella, which was first called UnBrella and then InBrella.
They chose instead the fellow who has invented an odd device that people can wear when they play football so they can catch better; it forces them to move differently. (Well, so would you if you had a pool floatie stuck to your chest!)
I really can’t see how this thing could have mass market appeal. And what if someone fell on it? Would they poke their eye out, get it up their nose, or bruise their chest? This was not addressed at all.
I can’t quite fault them; they were each given $50,000 to improve their inventions and the sackmaster guy pretty much got a cardboard box to put it in, the strap wasn’t worked on well.
As for the unbrella woman, they showed tests of it, and some didn’t like it-didn’t close quickly, too small, too heavy.
I don’t know what they do with the final 4, which doesn’t seem to happen for 3 more weeks.
I missed this tonight, but my husband was flipping through the channels and we heard the female judge *freaking out * - what was going on there? Neither I nor my husband caught what the invention was - did she freak out for good reason? We’ve been trying to figure out what was so horrible all night.
Could somebody explain the sackmaster? I only caught portions during commercial breaks of another show, and kept seeing it and trying to figure out what the hell it was…
Sackmaster
A shovel which is connected to a bag so when one shovels, as in a disaster, one doesn’t need one person to shovel and another to hold the bag.
That was the first time I’ve ever watched the show. I liked it.
The “inbrella”: addressed a completely MINOR nuisance with an unmbrella that is BIGGER to hold but has a smaller canopy. It looked like people were holding a club. Terrible invention.
The football device was junk. It looks like it would break or hurt you if you rolled on it. The video was crap. The players were obviously dropping easy passes to set up the “need” for it, and then they’d have us believe that in three days, they started catching more balls. And, what it teaches you is a good lesson, but is pretty easily understood and taught.
The sackmaster, however, was a good product. I’ve filled sandbags in a flood zone. It’s a dirty, pain in the ass job. And, could there have been a better testimonial? Relief workers outshoveled by a family of four in New Orleans? THAT’S who that product is for. He could sell those shovels to every single National Guard unit and Fire Department in the nation that is in a flood plain.
I think the reason they canned him was because of ego. They told him, “here’s $50K” and he told them “go screw, it’s perfect”. Really pig headed. Problem is, if you invent something, I suppose you have to work with marketers and designers, and if he can’t do that, that’s his problem.
Yeh, the SackMaster guy needed to be more open. Nothing is ever perfect, and when you’re given 50k to improve your invention, you do just that. He was arrogant, pig-headed, narrow-minded, egotistical and greedy. He basically told them his product was ready for market. So why continue within the confines of the show? If it’s done, it’s done. What’s a million bucks gonna do, when he didn’t even spend 50k on it?
That said, I do think he has a product people will want and need. I think he’ll end up making a fortune on it, and pretty soon you’ll see it at Home Depot. So why not let those that have a more obscure product have a shot? Maybe they can turn it into something. I do think the football device needs more work, and study… the big thing there is proving it actually does something. I really liked the InBrella. It needs more R&D, but I think it’s plausible. She made some significant improvements, and throwing more money and brain power at it, might just make it a good alternative to a typical umbrella. I guess we’ll never know now, but i thought it had the most development potential.
I started to watch this last night . It was billed as a 2 hour special edition. At 8 o’clock it was a repeat or they were just showing old stuff in a new format. After falling asleep during it last week I gave up and watched something else. If they want to fill out the show with other stuff then show all the ones that didn’t make it on TV instead of showing the same crap all over again.
They harped so much on the product having mass appeal that I can’t believe the football catching thing made it through. Who’s going to buy that? High school gym coaches, maybe, not colleges or the NFL because if you can’t catch a pass by then you’re not on the team.
Yeah, the Sackmaster guy sounds like he didn’t play it very smart but why penalize him if his product is superior? Well, maybe it will be manufactured and available to the public in another couple months in time for hurricane season.
I just watched this with the roommate. Initially, I was pretty upset with the result. A football catcher thingie? Who on Earth is going to actually spend money on something like that? Like Wile E said, any coach who could afford them is probably coaching a team that doesn’t need them. A coach of a grade school or highschool team probably can’t afford what I’ll bet they’ll end up costing. And, learning to catch a ball is pretty teachable without a gadget that probably could hurt someone if they fell wrong.
The Inbrella is pretty clever, but they threw 50K at her and it still didn’t work. And she had the gall to say, “if I just had more money I could make it work!” I think that may have lost if for her. My roommate told me in the final episode they’re going to have America voting. If so, I wonder if the fact she was a lesbian may have influenced their decision to sack her.
The Sackmaster is a fantastic product. I couldn’t believe it didn’t win. But after thinking about it a bit, I think I understand. My roommate, who’s been watching the show all along, noticed that a few contestants whose inventions were pretty much already 95% finished - and seemed to be good inventions - disappeared from the show. They’ve already got some exposure, and their inventions are most likely going to make them millionaires. But they wouldn’t make very good TV. So why waste our time giving someone a million dollars they’re about to make anyway?
The Sackmaster guy is going to make a bundle. He was kind of an ass though. 50K and all he got was a cardboard box, a haircut & a new wardrobe. There was no excuse why he didn’t have a nice fancy strap for the thing. But really, he’s done. He’s going to be rich. Get off the show.
I still think the Inbrella should have been chosen to continue though.
I figure the football catcher guy got the I’m broke and about to lose the gym trying to help poor inner city kids get good at sports so they can get out of the ghetto sympathy vote.
In fairness to the football catcher thing, there are endless infomercials for the “hit-away” and similar gadgets marketed to teach how to hit a baseball. (And now they’ve introduced something for tennis balls, though it’s the same principle.)
There are also infomercials for the “throw-away” (or somesuch) that’s basically a football on an elastic band that lets you practice throwing the ball without a partner to catch it; the band flings it back to you.
The football catching thing doesn’t look any more gimmicky or niche than those actual products.
