In through the outfield

30 September 2008

MUST get1.com

As many inventors are all too aware there are many sharks out there ready to rip-off those less experienced. So it comes as a pleasant surprise to find a commercial website that wants to to help bring new products to market without the sting.

As well as selling innovative products (many first seen on Dragon’s Den) MUST get1 gives useful information and advice to inventors and would be entrepreneurs. New products very often début first on MG1 either as full launch products or as marketing trials.

As well as my old friend the Milli-grip spanner I came across a remarkable new take on that old favourite the umbrella, which according to Wikipedia dates back to at least 2,000 years BCE. This one is called the Fanbrella and avoids all of the complicated and dangerous springs and spars of the traditional folding design.

Unfortunately the promotional website is not as professional or detailed as I would have liked, so I can’t get a clear view of how it works.

23 September 2008

Manchester’s Commercial Library and Ask About Business service

Today I visited Manchester’s Commercial Library and Ask About Business service with my colleague Nigel Spencer. The weather was spectacular all day which made for wonderful views from the train over Cheshire and the Peak District. But also put a lie to Manchester’s reputation as grey and wet city. Walking along the canal past Victorian industrial palaces and modern glass and steel offices to the impressive circular building (apparently based on the Pantheon in Rome) was a delight.

The meeting was to compare developments in our respective services and to explore how we can support each other in future. They demonstrated their recently launched Ask About Business service, which is particularly impressive.

“Ask About Business is a new partnership between eleven library authorities in Greater Manchester, Blackpool, and Blackburn with Darwen. Led by Manchester Library & Information Service, Ask About Business provides access through libraries to information that supports: Pre-Start and new businesses, Existing business, Jobseekers, Consumers, Inventors, Business students”

What is particularly inspiring was the decision to use their numerous local libraries as the front line for this new service. Customers are then referred to business information specialists on a case by case basis.

It was flattering to hear that some of their initiatives (such as workshops and use of success stories) were inspired by our activities in the Business & IP Centre. Considering the limited budget they have been working to, their achievements are even more extraordinary.

Providing remote free access to the Cobra (Complete Business Reference Adviser) database (one of our most useful sources for business startups) is inspired.

17 September 2008

Maurice Collins and his Weird and Wonderful collection

Maurice Collins, the man behind our very popular Weird and Wonderful small display currently in the Centre, gave a very entertaining talk last night.

We had a full house of over 100 interested visitors, and Maurice entertained the audience with a mixture of slides and items from his collection. Often he would test to see if they could guess what the mysterious object actually did, and was greeted with a wide range of suggestions.

Two of his favourites kept the audience baffled for quite some time. Eventually someone guessed what the applicator for pile ointment was for. But the brothel clock had everyone stumped.

This BBC news story has images of eight more of the gadgets in his collection.

15 September 2008

Journey of an invention blog

The British Library has always had a strong fan base, particularly when our funding seemed to be threatened. However it is great to see a new fan in the shape of Liz Joseph an inventor. She has started a brand new blog to follow her journey of discovery as she develops her mass-market product.

She has started her route to success by making full use of the wide range of services we offer, and it is great to see her positive comments on the practical benefits these give.

She has already put in for a detailed patent search, so fingers crossed for a positive result there. I look forward to following her adventures as the days and weeks go by.

16 August 2008

Business & IP Centre on the Richard and Judy Show

I know the Business & IP Centre has had a lot of good press coverage since it opened in March 2006. We even had a full page story in the Financial Times and appeared on Working Lunch on BBC2. However, I was very surprised to hear on returning from holiday last week that we would be appearing on Richard and Judy on Channel 4.

Mark Sheahan (our inventor in residence) and Maurice Collins

The media interest (including a double page spread in the Daily Mail and an interview on the BBC Radio Today Programme) has been caused by our Weird and Wonderful small display currently in the Centre. It consists of over 50 ingenious gadgets, from a two handled self-pouring teapot (1886) to a clockwork burglar alarm (1852).

I first met Maurice Collins, the owner of this amazing collection, at the The British International Innovation & Technology Conference and Exhibition at Alexandra Palace, last October. He is also involved in the Prime Thinkers service for inventors and entrepreneurs I mentioned at the time.

Although we hoped the small display would be of interest to visitors to the British Library, the press interest has taken everyone by surprise.

5 August 2008

The ‘Not Invented Here’ syndrome

Since joining the British Library in 2006 I have been fortunate enough to meet many inventors. A frequent complaint is about the negativity they come across when trying to promote or sell their invention or idea. This usually stems from a ‘not invented here’ syndrome, and is very frustrating for inventors. The implication is that only a specialist working in a particular area is ‘allowed’ to come up with new ideas in that sector.

I had a client suffering from this syndrome last week, in this instance the resistance came from the shoe trade. Her experience reminded me of the story of my cousin’s invention.

He was a window cleaner and was frustrated by the difficulty in finding his clients locations using local map finding systems. In typical inventor fashion he spent some time thinking of a better way, and came up with “a method of specifying a location on a surface”. As with all the best ideas, it was very simple, and consisted of dividing the map page into 9 sections, in a 3 by 3 grid. This concept was repeated to give up to three levels of accuracy.

Unfortunately, despite having a patent application and a knowledgeable colleague, none of the map producers approached were prepared to take his idea seriously.

Given the cost of maintaining a patent over it’s 20 year lifespan he was forced to let it lapse, which means anyone can now apply the idea.

31 July 200830 September 2015

Design classics – the Bic Crystal ballpoint pen

Often when talking to innovative designers and inventors in the Business & IP Centre, I discover they have a great fear of having their intellectual property stolen. Of course there are many examples where this has occurred. Our friend inventor Mandy Haberman had her idea for the Anywayup Cup copied, and had to win a legal battle to regain her rights. This experience has turned her into something of spokesperson on the topic.

However for many new products such as the Wattson mentioned in a previous blog post, the key is being first to market, and keeping ahead of the competition.

The other winning approach is to produce a design classic first time out. A case in point is the Bic Crystal ballpoint pen. Designed by Marcel Bich, more than 100 billion Bic pens have been sold since 1950 – enough to draw a line to the moon and back more than 320,000 times, according to the Observer newspaper. The only variation on the original design was to create a hole in the cap to prevent choking.

The pen has even become part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and has been reinventing in various guises.

31 July 2008

Re-design your world with RedesignMe

For those of you who get as frustrated as I do with poorly designed products, you will be pleased to know there is now a place you can go to air your grievances. There is even a chance that the product manufacturers will take note and listen to your improvement suggestions.

Just pay a visit to RedesignMe and start a new topic. Or add you comments to the hundreds of suggestions already on the website.

For those of you who are a source of new ideas the site could even pay you for input into new product suggestions.

According to SpringWise, product manufacturers pay RedesignMe to establish “RDM Challenges,” through which a new product concept is presented and the site’s 1,000 or so active members are asked to react to it. Currently on the site, for instance, is one from the international DECT Forum, a group of wireless communications companies that are seeking product ideas based on CAT-iq (short for Cordless Advanced Technology – Internet and Quality).

Beginning with an initial proposed concept, users are free to modify the current design or upload their own ideas, using any combination of comments, sketches, pictures, mood-boards, movies, prototypes or total redesigns. In exchange, they are rewarded with RDMs—RedesignMe’s online currency, which is convertible into products in the online RDM Shop such as mp3-players, game consoles and gift cards. RDM Challenges can be open to all users or only a select few. Ideas generated on the site are then used as input by the manufacturer’s R&D team or professional designers, who decide on the final concept.

29 July 2008

In search of the perfect mouse

I’m sure you are all familiar with the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” There is even a book by Graham Barker & Peter Bissell called A Better Mousetrap: the business of invention.

However, as a computer addict for over 30 years (anyone remember the Commodore Pet) I have suffered from repetitive strain injury (RSI) for many years. The introduction of the mouse in the 1980s only made matters worse for me. Consequently I have spent much time investigating new and improved hardware and software.

For over 10 years I have been using my left hand for mousing at work and my right at home to spread the strain. When the pain was at its worst I experimented with auto-mouse-click software. (When the mouse pointer stops moving, the system counts down a fixed interval and triggers a mouse click.) However this was very tricky to use, especially for moving items around the screen.

A more successful approach has been to upgrade my mouse, first from the type relying on a physical ball for positioning, to infra-red, and more recently to laser powered. Also the introduction of a scroll wheel significantly improved the ergonomic experience, especially for those long hours surfing the web for information.

I briefly experimented with a track-ball mouse but couldn’t get on with it.

However a couple of years ago I saw the the answer to my prayers (and started saving the £70 required to acquire it). This particular example is from Logitech (although I’m sure there are similar ones available now). The key factors are its ergonomic shape, which comfortably fits into my hand, a high precision laser beam leading to less hesitation on the screen, and a wireless USB connection preventing snagged cables. It also has a scroll wheel with a needle roller bearing (something of an engineering anachronism in these days of high-tech). When the wheel is set to ‘free scroll’ (my default setting), I can whiz up and down fifty screens worth of information with one gentle flick of my finger.

I understand that thought controlled computer interfaces are being developed, but until that day I think I will be happy with my digital mouse.