As we’ve all seen, technology changes very quickly. While it may take years for some wunderkind’s idea to go from a concept to a functional product, once it IS a viable product, next thing you know it’s on a virtual and/or brick and mortar shelf at your fingertips.
Of course, demand is a huge driver. Many have been able to turn their brilliant idea into a sellable product – at least long enough to (hopefully) break even on the investment it took to get the product to market. I still recall my astonishment at the success of the “Pet Rock” back in the 1970s. Since then, there have been hundreds of other endeavors like that. Some successful and continuing (Facebook, YouTube, Google); some that were a flash in the pan, and not worth mentioning.
I’m no wunderkind. But in my travels on the road of life, I’ve had a few light-bulb moments for “new technology” products. I don’t have the engineering background, talent or skill to create these things. So I rely on time and others to realize the need for them, and to create them.
That said/admitted, here is one of my favorite ideas that I hope to see soon:
The “Time Bank Register”: A type of game where you can enter the amount of time you spend doing innocuous things like standing in line at the grocery store, waiting on hold on the phone to speak to a human being, sitting in a massive traffic jam. I suspect many would be surprised at how much time is spent on these value-less activities. Like a bank checking account, you could deposit this wasted time, and make withdrawals for the activities you REALLY want to spend your time on: a few more days of sunning on the beach, a few more hours with a loved one, a few more minutes of that precious commodity known as sleep. Perhaps it should be called the “Reality Time-Check” game.
