New Ideas

Scott Adams recently wrote that every time he mentions a book idea on his blog, several people will write to tell him that book has already been written. I've reached the point where I jot down ideas and inventions just so I can say, "Oh yeah, I thought of that back in [year]" when someone else manufactures it. For example, I suggested to Ford years ago that they put a drop-down door under the rear window of an extended cab pickup, so the truck bed could effectively be extenbded by pushing long items into the back seat area, and saw that idea finally appear in another company's truck years later. This doesn't mean I thought of it first...I just have the satisfaction of saying that I came up with the idea years before it appeared on the market.

I came up with the idea of a New Beetle station wagon a few years back, to make the VW more practical and cash in on the appeal at the time of the PT Cruiser and what was then the new New Beetle. (If they do another version will that become the Newer Beetle?) I'm waiting for them to build it--I may even buy one!

There's a website, whynot.net, that is an open forum for ideas like this. Let's face it: most of us lack the resources and/or dedication to ever bring our cool ideas to market, so why not put them out in the public eye where some auto exec or maufacturing honcho might see the idea and "make it so"? One woman suggested inswinging windows (the whole unit) , so you could clean or paint the outside as easily as you clean a door. Can this be built practically? Maybe not, but she has no means to execute it, and perhaps some window manufacturer will see and like the idea. We don't always have to be paid for our ideas, do we? Yeah, it'd be nice to get millions of dollars for an idea, but there's a certain satisfaction in being the one who came up with the idea first. Hey, they can put in in your obituary, so at least you get credit posthumously.