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- - - - - - - - - - T A B L E__T A L K The e-book: Would it work? Would you read it? Join the discussion in the Digital Culture area of Table Talk - - - - - - - - - - R E C E N T L Y Let's Get This Straight
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Mr. Gates, meet Mr. Antitrust The Internet strikes back Trashing the flamers - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE - - - - - - - - - -
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TINKERER'S PARADISE | PAGE 2 OF 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - By the look on his face as things were winding down last Saturday, you'd hardly know that Belgian inventor Luc Deprez was the show's emotional favorite. With a presentation only slightly less fiery than that of safety-blanket mastermind Moolman, Deprez spent most of the show sitting unsmilingly in his booth. His silence may have had something to do with the poor performance of his "mobile traveling case" in a race against another inventor's motorized leg cast. Or it may have had something to do with his not speaking English. Good thing the literature, describing his invention as a "portable and mobile suitcase assuring itself the transport of the passenger," was in English. Otherwise, attendees may never have known that it is indeed possible to ride a motorized suitcase as easily "through carless streets as through busy urban traffic." When asked for his take on the show, Deprez said two of the few English words he seemed to have memorized: "Comedy Central." Indeed, the folks from Comedy Central arrived as INPEX opened to tape a segment on Luc Deprez and his embarrassing ride-along suitcase, available with either steering wheel or voice-activated controls. "Could you imagine," read the product description, "Saturday-morning shopping in a couple of years ... you step onto your suitcase and say 'to the supermarket,' upon which the DGPS-programmed suitcase would take you to your destination?" How could Comedy Central resist? INPEX rep Kelley Crowley, who works for the show's sponsoring Invention Submission Corporation, said that while the excitement generated by the riding suitcase rivaled that of the fire show, Deprez had a hard time controlling his 12-mph ride during demos. His English-speaking companion added that the product still needs work. With any luck, Deprez will be back again next year riding his suitcase to teary-eyed victory against an amputee. Perhaps Doug Boes will return with an all-new selection of buddies for handy types of all sexual orientations and marital statuses. Maybe veteran inventor Frank Groth, the man responsible for the Chip Clip, will be back with his Drink Tag adhesive beverage labels, or just to give the place a sense of seasoned distinction. And maybe dear old bottled-water hoister Kerney Sheets will make peace with distiller designer John Smith. Sadly, though, even with minds powerful enough to conceive a voice-activated suitcase and bodies brave enough to ride one, this year's crop of INPEX inventors won't likely yield much recognition. The odds of inventing a successful product, says the Invention Submission Corporation's Crowley, are akin to winning the lottery. Pittsburgh-based ISC is surprisingly forthcoming with the harsh realities of the invention business. Between 1994 and 1996, the company's literature states, it signed submission agreements with 4,385 clients. Of those, 37 received licensing agreements for their inventions, and just 12 made more money on their products than they paid to ISC. Getting a product to market, concludes the pragmatic Crowley, is "like trying to be a rock star." Except your groupies are mostly graduates of the ITT Technical Institute.
Sara Kelly is the editor of In Pittsburgh. |