NPR's science reporter, Robert Krulwich, has made a bet with WIRED Magazine's founding editor, Kevin Kelly. Their wager is about whether there are any inventions in human history that aren't still produced today. Robert believes that this must of course be true, and he said that he would easily be able to find a tool or invention that is no longer being made. Kelly says no. He hasn't been able to find any technology that is not currently produced by someone in the world.
So far, Robert hasn't been able to find anything ranging from paleolithic hammers to agricultural tools from the 1895 Montgomery Ward catalogue that isn't still made today. (Modern hobbyists interested in making stone arrowheads are the market for brand-new paleolithic hammers). Robert is calling on all of us for help in finding some tool that has become extinct.
If you can help, post your ideas here, and Robert will post the most promising candidates in his blog.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
We Need to Out-Innovate
President Obama's State of the Union address on Wednesday laid out a strategy for moving our country forward: "We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time. We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world."
In fact, he mentioned some derivative of the word "innovation" 11 times in his speech. In my opinion, this paragraph sums up the heritage we need to capitalize upon:
The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation. None of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will be or where the new jobs will come from. Thirty years ago, we couldn't know that something called the Internet would lead to an economic revolution. What we can do — what America does better than anyone else — is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. We're the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook. In America, innovation doesn't just change our lives. It is how we make our living.
In fact, he mentioned some derivative of the word "innovation" 11 times in his speech. In my opinion, this paragraph sums up the heritage we need to capitalize upon:
The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation. None of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will be or where the new jobs will come from. Thirty years ago, we couldn't know that something called the Internet would lead to an economic revolution. What we can do — what America does better than anyone else — is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. We're the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook. In America, innovation doesn't just change our lives. It is how we make our living.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
What's To Lose? Recent College Graduates Try Starting Their Own Companies
Given the job market these days, it seems that more young people trying to start their own business. This New York Times article shares the story of several young entrepreneurs. The key to success is finding the idea that makes your business meaningfully unique and that has enough potential customers to be profitable. The primary subject of this story, a filmmaker, tried one business idea before identifying a niche that was profitable. He has since founded the Young Entrepreneur Council “to create a shift from a résumé-driven society to one where people create their own jobs." I love this concept. When only a quarter of students this past year had a job upon graduation, entrepreneurship suddenly becomes a more attractive option!
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