# Inventions **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 6, 2000, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213 "2000-09-06T12:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/1 "2000-09-06T12:08:53Z")
An A&E biography on great inventors got me thinking. Some of these inventors, Edison, Franklin, et. al., made some truely astonishing inventions. Inventions that had a profound effect on peoples’ lives. They were also prolific as Hell. My questions: Is there anyone living today who could be considered as bright and forward thinking as these and other inventors of the past were in their day? Was it easier to invent things in days past? Have we gotten to a point of knowledge today that the major breakthroughs these inventors came up with is simply impossible today? ---
**Author:** ![CandyMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@CandyMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandyMan)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/2 "2000-09-06T12:28:13Z")
The guy that invented the Post-It notes gets my vote. They are everywhere. CandyMan ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/3 "2000-09-06T12:44:30Z")
I suppose that my invention of an actually functioning Warp Drive (it’s in my shed! Really!) might make me somewhat known in the community. ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/4 "2000-09-06T12:54:14Z")
Sheesh. I need to wake up before I post. Very funny guys, but I’m serious here. Is our knowledge base so large that the number of inventors and the impact their inventions had on society at that time, could ever be replicated to that degree today? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/5 "2000-09-06T13:00:34Z")
I was partially serious, too. I think it WOULD take something as drastic as superoptic speed. We’re physically restricted from finding out more about our universe without it. Sure, there’s new things discovered on Earth as well. Perhaps even more regularly then in the old days. But it doesn’t surprise people anymore. Unless it’s something like the Definitive Cure for Cancer. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/6 "2000-09-06T13:03:35Z")
This is an interesting question. One that would probably be better served in Great Debates since I don’t think there’s a definitive answer. I’m gonna wait to see if it gets moved before I post a response, since Manny’s already gonna be mad at me for making a debate-like response to another thread. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/7 "2000-09-06T13:04:40Z")
I work closely with the US PTO. Without revealing any inside info, I’ve noticed that most patents I’ve seen are basically old inventions/developments put together in new combinations. I think that this will be the status quo until a new area of physics is breached. Past breaches include electricity, radiography, electronics, genetics. ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/8 "2000-09-06T13:15:38Z")
Mods- Do what you please. I, too, wondered about which forum would be best suited for this kind of question. I guess I thought someone might have some definitive answer. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/9 "2000-09-06T13:17:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CnoteChris \* > \*\* > My questions: Is there anyone living today who could be considered as bright and forward thinking as these and other inventors of the past were in their day? > \*\* I’d say Swedish inventor Håkan Lans, who, among other things, is the man behind the computer mouse and computer colour graphics (pirated by the Japanese, but with IBM behind his back he got his recognition (and money)). ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/10 "2000-09-06T13:21:30Z")
The era of the “lone genius inventing stuff in his basement” is pretty much gone. There are a number of reasons for this. For one thing, most people who “invent” things nowadays do not call themselves “inventors”; instead, they call themselves “engineer,” “lab technician,” or “physicist.” (Be wary of **anyone** who _does_ call themselves an “inventor”; all too often, they’re con men in disguise. _Real_ inventors don’t call themselves “inventors” …) Secondly, it has become cost-prohibitive for anyone working on his or her own to “invent” something truly unique. The R&D costs can easily get into the 6-figure range for even the simplest device, and often get into the 7-figure range. And then there are the marketing and PR costs, which can easily eat up half your budget. This is something only a company or corporation can handle, which is why 99.99% of new products originate from companies rather than “lone geniuses inventing stuff in the basement”. Many independent inventors also get bogged-down in the stupid patent process, which only accelerates their demise. (Tip from Crafter\_Man: _Stay away from anything even **remotely** related to the patent process_.) And there are other things… Inventors of the past were _masters_ at self publicity, including Edison. They were darlings of the press, and did just about everything to keep their names in the spotlight. People were also more gullible during that era, especially when it came to scientific claims, and many inventors got away with making outrageous claims. And unlike the days of yesteryear, today we also realize that _“ideas” are worth about 10 cents a bushel_. The bottom line is this: The process of going from an “idea” to a “marketable product” is much _smarter_, more _efficient_, and more _refined_ now. An independent inventor simply can’t compete with the Big Boys. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/11 "2000-09-06T13:24:02Z")
sheesh. Ron Popiel, inventor of dozens of can’t live without items, like the fish scaler, the fake hair in a can, etc. oh. you were serious. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/12 "2000-09-06T13:35:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AWB \* > \*\*I work closely with the US PTO. Without revealing any inside info, I’ve noticed that most patents I’ve seen are basically old inventions/developments put together in new combinations. > > I think that this will be the status quo until a new area of physics is breached. Past breaches include electricity, radiography, electronics, genetics. \*\* 999 out of every 1000 can be busted if you perform a very thorough search. Let me take my gloves off here… For 99.999% of individuals, the patent process is a complete sham. Period. _In fact, I think the entire department should be shut down, and the people who run it charged with high crimes_. Very, very few companies have made a net profit with the help and assistance of a patent. And maybe 1 out of every 100,000 independent individuals has actually utilized a patent to acquire a net advantage. I say… _shut 'em down_. ---
**Author:** ![CandyMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@CandyMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandyMan)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/13 "2000-09-06T14:59:41Z")
Ok, in all seriousness? Cloning is a huge “invention” maping DNA is a huge “invention” Invention of the LCD, etc… But as someone else said, one person just can’t do it anymore. There are various people that are the driving force behind various things, but information just spreads too quickly now. Edison would have posted on the internet that he couldn’t get the damn light to stay lit and 20000 other people would have been doing the same thing that night and found it by noon the next day. CandyMan ---
**Author:** ![Ranma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Ranma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranma)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/14 "2000-09-06T16:10:17Z")
Well, there’s always the guy who invented the transistor…(I can’t seem to recall his name?) ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/15 "2000-09-06T16:28:04Z")
> [@](#): > > 999 out of every 1000 [patents] can be busted if you perform a very thorough search. **Crafter\_Man** , with all due respect, this is just plain false. You can probably make an argument that won’t actually get you thrown out of court the day you walk in for a lot of patents, and I won’t deny that there are a lot of invalid ones, but this proportion is way overboard. I work as a patent agent in a law firm, and I know whereof I speak. Undoubtedly, we can and will argue either side of many validity disputes. But when a patent gets into litigation, the side trying to invalidate it has a _huge_ incentive to do “a very thorough search,” and nowhere near 99.9% of patents are invalidated in litigation. If memory serves, it’s something like 40% (that is, more patents valid than not, but not by a huge margin). With respect to the original question, I have to agree that few inventors are as good as self-promotion as Edison was. You could make an argument for Samuel Lemelson, I suppose. But also remember that Edison’s inventions probably have more of an impact on our daily lives than they did immediately after he made them. You may need to wait another twenty or forty years to figure out who the great inventors of our time are. Oh, and I think it was Shockley (sp?) who invented the transistor, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/16 "2000-09-06T16:30:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranma \* > \*\*Well, there’s always the guy who invented the transistor…(I can’t seem to recall his name?) \*\* Actually, there were three people who got credit for inventing the transistor: William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter H. Brattain. And they weren’t “independent inventors”; they were physicists working at Bell Labs. BTW: While Schockley was a genius when it came to semiconductor physics, I thought he was a reprehensible individual. (His political views bordered on Nazism.) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/17 "2000-09-06T16:59:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ENugent \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > 999 out of every 1000 [patents] can be busted if you perform a very thorough search. > > **Crafter\_Man** , with all due respect, this is just plain false. You can probably make an argument that won’t actually get you thrown out of court the day you walk in for a lot of patents, and I won’t deny that there are a lot of invalid ones, but this proportion is way overboard. > > I work as a patent agent in a law firm, and I know whereof I speak. Undoubtedly, we can and will argue either side of many validity disputes. But when a patent gets into litigation, the side trying to invalidate it has a _huge_ incentive to do “a very thorough search,” and nowhere near 99.9% of patents are invalidated in litigation. If memory serves, it’s something like 40% (that is, more patents valid than not, but not by a huge margin).\*\* The “999 out of 1000” wasn’t a number I pulled out of thin air - it is an actual estimate made by one of the leading authorities on this matter, Don Lancaster. More info can be found at his web site: [http://www.tinaja.com/patnt01.html](http://www.tinaja.com/patnt01.html) Not only does he hold quite a few patents himself, he has amassed literally _thousands_ of patent horror stories over the past 30 years. Empirical evidence has lead Mr. Lancaster to conclude that “there is not one patent in one thousand that cannot be busted by a diligent enough search for prior art in obscure enough places.” Also, “at least 95% of your search for prior art should take place _ **outside** _ of the patent system.” Now how many people do _that_? Which, of course, is why so many patents can be busted by a diligent enough search. ---
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/18 "2000-09-06T17:22:33Z")
I think the other difference in ‘inventors’ today versus yesteryear is the dissemination of knowledge through the Internet and otherwise. Thus, I may be some technician somewhere who actually ‘invented’ the VCR or the cellular phone or CD/ DVD player, or other device people can’t live without. However, it goes through a million refinements overnight and in secrecy (lest your competitors steal your idea before you can patent it - and I am NOT getting in a debate on the value of a patent). That said, when the device in question finally comes out, all that anyone remembers is that Sony, or Nokia, or Phillips, or whoever made the first one, and not ‘Bob, the brilliant engineer in cubicle #7’. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/19 "2000-09-06T17:23:28Z")
There was a guy that I just saw a small news piece about recently. I do not remember his name, but he called himself an inventor. He had over one hundred patents. His first came way back when he got a patent for some part of the process of making individually wrapped pats of butter. Apparently, until that point, the busboys would have to do that. Most if not all of the rest of his patents are in the area of food packaging. He’s no Edison, but I’ll wager that everyone in the US and perhaps the world, has used one or more items that this guy has a patent for. Wish I could remember his name. ---
**Author:** ![Meephead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b782af/32.png) [@Meephead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meephead)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213/20 "2000-09-06T20:15:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crafter\_Man \* > \*\*The era of the “lone genius inventing stuff in his basement” is pretty much gone. > > There are a number of reasons for this. … > > The bottom line is this: The process of going from an “idea” to a “marketable product” is much _smarter_, more _efficient_, and more _refined_ now. An independent inventor simply can’t compete with the Big Boys. > \*\* I’ll add another reason. Most of the Engineers and othere “inventor” types work for the Big Boys and are contracted such that their “inventions” and patents are the property of the corporation, thus the only credit they get is a pat on the shoulder from the Director or CEO. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions/32213.md?page=2)