# Ideas, inventions that may never come to market **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255 "2016-01-26T12:24:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/1 "2016-01-26T12:24:09Z")
A plastic teething object for toddlers. It resembles a raw, short rib of beef. When it is chewed, the toddler’s teeth and gums turn red! Care to share your ideas, inventions? ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/2 "2016-01-26T13:05:44Z")
A fat-sculpting undergarment that squeezes body fat into pronounced geometrical shapes, corporate logos or Masonic symbols. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/3 "2016-01-26T15:52:23Z")
A portable wearable vest made out of heating pads so you don’t have to stay in one spot when your back is hurting. ---
**Author:** ![teflon\_grut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@teflon\_grut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teflon_grut)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/4 "2016-01-26T17:03:51Z")
I have a few really good ones, but I don’t want to share those. How about this, a bar/coffee shop. The issue with bars and coffee shops is that they both only operate for a specific portion of the day. If you combine a coffee shop with bar, you can do coffee in the morning and booze at night. This would all be under the same roof, so one rent payment, one set of utilities (commercial electric is billed for peak usage, so no rate hike there), one point of sales system. Effectively, your revenue is doubled but your expenses do not. This is not a product, but an idea. I’m sure they’re out there, but I’ve never heard of them. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/5 "2016-01-26T17:07:32Z")
A feminine hygiene pad that changes the color of the collected blood to lime green and then explodes once it is full. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/6 "2016-01-26T17:16:21Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > A feminine hygiene pad that changes the color of the collected blood to lime green and then explodes once it is full. Or one that has a stick and can be frozen and sold to fetishists. ---
**Author:** ![teflon\_grut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@teflon\_grut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teflon_grut)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/7 "2016-01-26T18:05:00Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > A feminine hygiene pad that changes the color of the collected blood to lime green and then explodes once it is full. I’m pretty sure they already have that. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/8 "2016-01-26T18:14:45Z")
I want the gene-splicing community to insert lightening bug genes into the common housecat. Because who wouldn’t want a cat that has a butt that lights up? Y’all with me? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/9 "2016-01-26T18:47:18Z")
> [@teflon\_grut](#): > > I have a few really good ones, but I don’t want to share those. > > How about this, a bar/coffee shop. The issue with bars and coffee shops is that they both only operate for a specific portion of the day. If you combine a coffee shop with bar, you can do coffee in the morning and booze at night. This would all be under the same roof, so one rent payment, one set of utilities (commercial electric is billed for peak usage, so no rate hike there), one point of sales system. Effectively, your revenue is doubled but your expenses do not. > > This is not a product, but an idea. I’m sure they’re out there, but I’ve never heard of them. [http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/starbucks-stores/starbucks-evenings](http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/starbucks-stores/starbucks-evenings) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/10 "2016-01-26T19:52:12Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > A feminine hygiene pad that changes the color of the collected blood to lime green and then explodes once it is full. It doesn’t need to explode; a plain ol’ siren will do. ---
**Author:** ![teflon\_grut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@teflon\_grut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teflon_grut)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/11 "2016-01-27T13:20:13Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > [http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/starbucks-stores/starbucks-evenings](http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/starbucks-stores/starbucks-evenings) Those bastards stole my brain thoughts!!! The only reason I shared that concept, though, is because it’s not like someone else doing it would preclude you from doing it. Also, I’m not sure Starbucks could shake the stigma of being a coffee place. I also don’t think an established bar could simply start serving coffee in the morning. It’d be a novelty instead of an identity. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/12 "2016-01-27T18:26:31Z")
From the thread about the [crotch pocket in women’s panties](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=782140)… a panty pocket protector! ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/13 "2016-01-27T18:29:44Z")
Not just one but three; - Snooze button for smoke detector - Mailbox with built-in-shredder - Fast-Forward button for my microwave oven. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/14 "2016-01-27T18:34:39Z")
An “undo” button on a microwave oven. Your beverage got too hot? Undo it so it becomes cool enough to drink. Your cheese burrito burns the roof of your mouth? Undo it so the cheese turns from soup back to cheese. Etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/15 "2016-01-27T19:06:03Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > - Snooze button for smoke detector Already been invented. Sort of. Years ago [The Onion sold gag gift boxes](http://gizmodo.com/323726/the-onions-new-gotchaboxes-for-2007-even-more-hilarious-than-last-year). One of them was printed up as a box for a smoke alarm that included, among other things, a snooze capability. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/16 "2016-01-27T20:19:33Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Already been invented. Sort of. Years ago [The Onion sold gag gift boxes](http://gizmodo.com/323726/the-onions-new-gotchaboxes-for-2007-even-more-hilarious-than-last-year). One of them was printed up as a box for a smoke alarm that included, among other things, a snooze capability. And Christmas is already past…darn…maybe next year. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/17 "2016-01-27T20:45:37Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > - Mailbox with built-in-shredder YES! I totally want that and would buy it in a heartbeat. Many years ago I lived in an apartment complex where the management was pretty hip and kept a large trash can next to the mailboxes. That was SO convenient! How about a service that will drive around and pick up everybody’s junk mail in a large truck and then go dump it on the front door of those Val-Pak and Money Mailer bullshit scammer companies? Oh, and cover it in rancid dog poo and light it on fire, take a picture and post it on Facebook so we can all share it around. How about a button that attaches to a phone so when a scammer or telemarketer calls you press it and it delivers 8000 amps down the line to their office and straight into the CEO’s chair? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/18 "2016-01-27T20:48:16Z")
Bourbon scented car air freshener Wet ashtray flavored gum Covered kiddie slide with a yonic exit ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/19 "2016-01-27T20:54:26Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > YES! I totally want that and would buy it in a heartbeat. Me too. I hate bringing junk mail inside the house because I know it will just pile up on a shelf. If I deal with it outside, no pile. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255/20 "2016-01-27T21:23:38Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Bourbon scented car air freshener > > Wet ashtray flavored gum > > Covered kiddie slide with a yonic exit Excellent! Current thread winner. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-inventions-that-may-never-come-to-market/744255.md?page=2)