# Tell us how you'd commercialize one of this fantasy-tech inventions. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086 "2013-09-05T16:30:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/21 "2013-09-05T18:46:12Z")
Okay, prison reduction’s full of hassles. I’ll go the quick route to fortune: **instant weight loss!** The mass removed by using Pym Particles goes to the Kosmos Dimension, so the people really will lose weight. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/22 "2013-09-05T18:52:11Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Yeah but then you’d have to find lobbyist to lobby congress to pass ridiculous laws ensuring that said prisons would stay full. I’m pretty sure pond scum like that doesn’t exist. And even if they did, it’s not like lawmakers would actually pass such ridiculous laws. Speaking of Congress and lobbyists, I can think of a less profitable but highly satisfying use of an army of spiders. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/23 "2013-09-05T19:19:39Z")
I’ll take the bugs. For starters, I will use them to affect the outcome of major sporting events, on which I’ll have placed substantial wagers. Say Julio Jones (WR-Falcons), is wide open for a game winning catch against my Saints. My insect army stings him in the face and hands right as the ball arrives. He drops the ball. Saints win. Tom Benson boogies in the Superdome. Oak goes to the pay window. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/24 "2013-09-05T19:35:31Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How much do you think a pocket supercollider would go for? Not much. It’d be about as useful s a pocket helicopter–or, as you pointed out above, the tiny tiny star ships. The shrinking tech is fine for shipping things, but there’s innumerable devices which have to be at their regular sizes to be useful. > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Okay, prison reduction’s full of hassles. I’ll go the quick route to fortune: **instant weight loss!** The mass removed by using Pym Particles goes to the Kosmos Dimension, so the people really will lose weight. :: slips on reading specs, checks specs :: Says here that our reverse-engineered Pym shrinking tech can only be used on an entire entity. You can zap down the entire body, or nothing. The procedure you suggest was lethal in 100% of the Welshmen upon which it was tested. I’m not saying you can’t market the [del]PymShrinker [/del] Rhymer Reducer that way, of course. Just thought you’d wanna know. > [@Oakminster](#): > > I’ll take the bugs. For starters, I will use them to affect the outcome of major sporting events, on which I’ll have placed substantial wagers. Say Julio Jones (WR-Falcons), is wide open for a game winning catch against my Saints. My insect army stings him in the face and hands right as the ball arrives. He drops the ball. Saints win. Tom Benson boogies in the Superdome. Oak goes to the pay window. Odin would approve of this stratagem. Thor would not. But people are gonna start looking funny at you when you come to the stadium wearing the Ant-Man helmet. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/25 "2013-09-05T19:47:25Z")
Garbage disposal. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/26 "2013-09-05T20:11:14Z")
What happens if someone shrinks down to itsy-bitsy size, eats until he’s had his fill, and then returns to normal size? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/27 "2013-09-05T20:14:10Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > What happens if someone shrinks down to itsy-bitsy size, eats until he’s had his fill, and then returns to normal size? The items he’s eaten grow with him, of course. Seems like there’d be cheaper ways to cut down on grocery expenses, though. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/28 "2013-09-05T20:19:41Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > But people are gonna start looking funny at you when you come to the stadium wearing the Ant-Man helmet. Are you kidding? Have you SEEN the wacky crap people wear to football games? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/29 "2013-09-05T20:26:58Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > Are you kidding? Have you SEEN the wacky crap people wear to football games? Actually I have not. The last time I attended a football game was probably 2009, for work, and the last time before that was probably 1988. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/30 "2013-09-05T20:31:48Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > The items he’s eaten grow with him, of course. Seems like there’d be cheaper ways to cut down on grocery expenses, though. Still, isn’t that kinda sorta the _embiggening-past-normal_ trick you don’t trust us with? X shrinks, swallows Y, re-embiggens, disgorges now-giant Y… ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/31 "2013-09-05T20:35:07Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Still, isn’t that kinda sorta the _embiggening-past-normal_ trick you don’t trust us with? X shrinks, swallows Y, re-embiggens, disgorges now-giant Y… Hmm, good point, and I will have take that up with ReverseEngineering. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lurker\_Above](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Lurker\_Above](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lurker_Above)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/32 "2013-09-05T20:47:41Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Still, isn’t that kinda sorta the _embiggening-past-normal_ trick you don’t trust us with? X shrinks, swallows Y, re-embiggens, disgorges now-giant Y… Hmmm, being a drug mule just got way more profitable. Until illegal drug prices crash of course. My idea is dirt cheap nuclear waste disposal. Followed in year 2 by hideously expensive not-reexpanding-the-nuclear-waste services. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/33 "2013-09-05T21:07:14Z")
Shrink tech, if you please. North Korea won’t be a problem when all of it’s military and troublemakers and weapons are ant-sized. Zap them, then send in a touring company of “Riverdance.” Or “Stomp.” Apply as needed to all Enemies of the People: Syria, Russia, Texas…Texas alone would be fun to pull off. “Everything’s bigger in Texas” my ass! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/34 "2013-09-05T21:44:54Z")
Is there a lower limit to the shrinking effect? Obviously, there has to be since Pym Particles have a size themselves. Can you become microscopic in size? I just remember Antman becoming… ummm… ant-sized in the comics. If you can become microscopic and then spontaneously return to normal size, you could become the world’s most effective assassin. Breathe in my tiny armored body and then it is all over with. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/35 "2013-09-05T23:24:53Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Is there a lower limit to the shrinking effect? > Obviously, there has to be since Pym Particles have a size themselves. > Can you become microscopic in size? I just remember Antman becoming… ummm… ant-sized in the comics. If you can become microscopic and then spontaneously return to normal size, you could become the world’s most effective assassin. Breathe in my tiny armored body and then it is all over with. I see many problems with this plan, several of which could prove hilariously fatal to the assassin. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/36 "2013-09-05T23:26:24Z")
In post 24 above, Skald mentions that the shrinking effect is 100% fatal to Welshmen. Don’t use Welsh assassins. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/37 "2013-09-06T00:31:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > With very tiny engines giving out very tiny amounts of energy, propelling the very tiny starships very tiny distances? No, though that would be very cool. I’m thinking of tiny star ships full of tiny people. But the ships have regular size engines. Can you shrink things at a distance? Quickly? Is it an anti-missile defense? ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/38 "2013-09-06T01:32:56Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > No, though that would be very cool. > I’m thinking of tiny star ships full of tiny people. But the ships have regular size engines. > > Can you shrink things at a distance? Quickly? Is it an anti-missile defense? It would be a hell of a missile delivery system. Shrink, drop out of a plane and embiggen just before impact. Boom! No time to defend as you never know it’s coming. Any defense system that could see the tiny bombs would be plagued with constant false alarms from birds or insects. Hey anyone want to get the bug helmet and we’ll work together? Shrink weapons, deliver with ants, embiggen just before they’re triggered. What’s the range on these rays Skald? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/39 "2013-09-06T01:51:07Z")
Since the military applications have come up: The rifle of the future. An assault rifle with a dial on the side and a de-shrinker mounted on the end to return the projectiles to normal size. The ammunition is artillery shells that have been shrunk to miniscule size, allowing a single rifle to carry thousands of rounds. The dial allows you to decide how much of their original size (and therefore the explosive yield) the shells regain as they leave the barrel; anything from about normal bullet size, to full fledged artillery shells. It ought to be spectacular when fired at maximum yield at full auto. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086/40 "2013-09-06T01:55:43Z")
I’ll take the shrink ray, and revolutionize the semiconductor industry. I’ll buy up old, obsolete semiconductor fabs, shrink it, and churn out product a step beyond what my nearest competitor can produce. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-how-youd-commercialize-one-of-this-fantasy-tech-inventions/668086.md?page=3)