It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
So begins "A Tale of Two Cities", written by Dickens in 1859, but oh so applicable to American Inventor 2006. Every time I hate the show they do something I love. Every time I love the show, they demonstrate how absurdly shallow Hollywood is, how reality TV bears no resemblance to reality, and how the TV version of inventing is about as real as Ward and June Cleaver are in the 21st century. In comparison to other reality TV drivel, it's a winner. In comparison to what it could have been, it was a disappointment. The good news is that the best inventor won. The only guy on the show that really had a new-to-the-world idea, backed up with a breakthrough invention, won. Janusz's safety capsule was novel and smart. The bad news is that I don't know if we'll ever see his product on the market. The product liability lawyers will no doubt water it down and change its promised benefits, and I still can't figure out how they're going to get it to fit into a car for any child that's over 6 months. But I sure hope I'm wrong.
Personally, I loved the Word Ace ad, but thought the game was nothing special. Heck, go buy Scrabble and Boggle (or any of the other dozen word games). I thought The Catch device was slick if you had kids that needed to learn how to catch. But, that's a pretty darn small market, and you need to be pretty committed to "the right way to catch" to want that. I'm happy when I have time just to throw the ball with my kids! Who needs a device to complicate matters... And I thought the double traction bike was just goofy. I never got that one. So a tandem doesn't fit the bill, but I'm gonna ride around with this thing just in case someone wants to jump on my handlebars? Ah, well, it was TV after all, and it was meant to be entertaining, not meant to be New Product Development 101...
I have some hopes for Season 2 (summer of 2007), and hope they can attract a better inventor pool (by being less greedy with their contracts with inventors). Let's hope they can upgrade the next season... But for now, a toast to Doug Hall, Fremantle, and ABC for making the effort and taking a small step forward in showing that great new product ideas CAN come from regular Joes...
So begins "A Tale of Two Cities", written by Dickens in 1859, but oh so applicable to American Inventor 2006. Every time I hate the show they do something I love. Every time I love the show, they demonstrate how absurdly shallow Hollywood is, how reality TV bears no resemblance to reality, and how the TV version of inventing is about as real as Ward and June Cleaver are in the 21st century. In comparison to other reality TV drivel, it's a winner. In comparison to what it could have been, it was a disappointment. The good news is that the best inventor won. The only guy on the show that really had a new-to-the-world idea, backed up with a breakthrough invention, won. Janusz's safety capsule was novel and smart. The bad news is that I don't know if we'll ever see his product on the market. The product liability lawyers will no doubt water it down and change its promised benefits, and I still can't figure out how they're going to get it to fit into a car for any child that's over 6 months. But I sure hope I'm wrong.
Personally, I loved the Word Ace ad, but thought the game was nothing special. Heck, go buy Scrabble and Boggle (or any of the other dozen word games). I thought The Catch device was slick if you had kids that needed to learn how to catch. But, that's a pretty darn small market, and you need to be pretty committed to "the right way to catch" to want that. I'm happy when I have time just to throw the ball with my kids! Who needs a device to complicate matters... And I thought the double traction bike was just goofy. I never got that one. So a tandem doesn't fit the bill, but I'm gonna ride around with this thing just in case someone wants to jump on my handlebars? Ah, well, it was TV after all, and it was meant to be entertaining, not meant to be New Product Development 101...
I have some hopes for Season 2 (summer of 2007), and hope they can attract a better inventor pool (by being less greedy with their contracts with inventors). Let's hope they can upgrade the next season... But for now, a toast to Doug Hall, Fremantle, and ABC for making the effort and taking a small step forward in showing that great new product ideas CAN come from regular Joes...
I agree with you and I was glad that the best inventor won. That could have been the end of that show for me. Just a thought about the safety capsule which I believe its a look into the future. Imagine if instead of a child safety seat this could become part of the car and protect all human lives! What if the two seats on the front and back of a car moved? What if the seats in the back would adjust to the child? That would really be something! Also the other product I liked was the bike. I think the bike would be great if it allowed a handicapped person to use it. Imagine a father and his handicapped son or daughter ridding together on the bike for the first time. You think the product liability lawyers would like this one :)
I like to read you posts thank you
Posted by: Irita | May 22, 2006 at 08:21 PM