Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Since I was little, I have always asked the question -- "What If Someone Could Invent or start a..."

In my mind, I have created a movie theater where you could have dinner (dinner and a movie). 

A refrigerator that reads product bar codes and "knows" when containers are empty, then spits out a weekly shopping list.  (the deluxe model, would be able to plan meals, based on your patterns of product use)

A solar soda machine, so you wouldn`t have to leave the beach. 

Water for dogs that have special vitamins and jillions of other ideas, some of which now exist, some don`t because they are just dumb.

My question is, what would you invent for the entrepreneur to help keep him/her motivated, focused, amused....S.U.N. books and advice don`t count here...lol

Mine is the "refriger-washer" -- a fridge on one side and dishwasher on the other...minimizing the need to get up from your desk.  (Biiig fan of the original "Cheaper by the dozen" movie).


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Kim
the-petset.com
blogfabulous.com

I need the ultimate memopad/organizer device.  I was thinking about that this morning in the shower.  Name one that exists right now, and I`ll name you an easy way to short circuit it.  most of them, for instance, will not work for you in the shower - but plenty of people will point out that the shower`s a great place for ideas.    You can`t even easily bring a wipe-off pad into the shower unless it is specially made to be waterproof.  And then, if you take notes on it, you have to remember to do something with them.  You get out of the shower, get ready for work, get in the car....and oh rats, you forgot what you wrote down.

I want something that can be with me at all times, without inconvenience.  In the shower, in the car, by the side of the bed.  Something that keeps the information I feed to it in a useful format so I can easily do something with it without having to copy it from device A to device B.  Even better I want a cluster of devices that are smart enough to transfer my data to the logical spot. Best example?  I do not want to carry a device into/out of the shower.  I want something mounted on the wall.  But why can`t it be smart enough to wirelessly network itself with my home computer, which in turn wirelessly networks with my PDA, which networks with my car....and so on.  It`s my data that follows me, device agnostic.




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Personal: http://www.morinfamily.com/blog
Geeky: http://duanesbrain.blogspot.com
Shakespeare: http://suchshakespearestuff.blogspot.com

ahhh...good one BardStuff...what about a cool protective sleeve for the organizer, like the ones you see for ipods or cells?

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Kim
the-petset.com
blogfabulous.com

There`s at least one "shower MP3 player" on the market, so I know it`s tehcnically possible to build a relatively complex computing device and make it waterproof.  The question with an organizer would be one of interactivity.   Build that protective sleeve so that I can still write on it and be understood.  With ipods you only need to push a button.

I want a very simply mechanism (and I literally just thought of this while typing).  I want a dry erase tablet, waterproof for the shower, that has a couple of buttons on it.  When I write down an idea I can push "send" and a screenshot of the notes will be sent to the email address of my choice.  Ideally, several (or literally give me a choice at the time, home or work address).    That`s simple enough that I could distribute such pads around my house - nightstand, kitchen, etc...  (It`s at this point that my little voice starts saying "And it could sync with your appointments for the day...and play your podcasts....." and I have to say "No, little voice!  Not yet.  Don`t overcomplicate things.") 




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Personal: http://www.morinfamily.com/blog
Geeky: http://duanesbrain.blogspot.com
Shakespeare: http://suchshakespearestuff.blogspot.com

This is such a great and thoughtful idea...what would be the first step, if you wanted to keep this idea moving forward?

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Kim
the-petset.com
blogfabulous.com

:) Thanks Kim.  The technology I`m describing does not currently exist in any sort of massmarket format (trust me, I`m in the field).  I`m basically describing a tablet computer, stripped down into a whiteboard.    A cheap tablet runs upwards of $1000.

Instead I`d go find myself a regular, waterproof board (they exist, I just googled for them), and a half decent digital voice recorder that comes with a removable memory card.  Attach them together and say "Here`s how it works: If you get an idea in the shower, write it down.  Then, after the water`s turned off, press the button and speak your idea."  Then whenever you want you can pop that card and take it with you to your computer to have with you.  If your idea is so brilliant and/or complex that you can`t speak it, then heck, take the whiteboard with you out of the shower :).

Is that the original idea that I described?  Nope.  As a matter of fact it breaks two key rules -- having to remember to take it with you, and having to transcribe voice -- *but*, it is very easily build out of existing parts and technology.  You could, in theory, build and start selling such a thing.  And maybe even make enough $$ to fund future prototypes that get more fancy.

I`m sure there`s similar things, combining paper legal pads with voice recorders.  Most of them won`t fit the need.  I specifically do not want a paper record, because paper is not the best medium for the sort of idea we`re talking about.  Nor would paper be waterproof :).

Somebody get to it.  Mention my name in the acknowledgement section and send me a free one. :)



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Personal: http://www.morinfamily.com/blog
Geeky: http://duanesbrain.blogspot.com
Shakespeare: http://suchshakespearestuff.blogspot.com

lol...keep at it.

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Kim
the-petset.com
blogfabulous.com

Here`s mine:

What every entreprenuer who`s had his or her share of "no`s" needs: The Ultimate Yes Man.
A bobble head doll that always answers "yes" when you ask it, "Isn`t this a great idea?" or "Can I have some venture funding?" "Is my website the most search engine optimized?" Etc.
Call it the Mr. and Ms. Yes Ucan doll, or something.

There are some technologies that would make this idea ( excellent one by the way ) a fairly easy reality. All I have to say is BLUETOOTH! Motorola is currently working on getting their next gen phones to wirlessly transmit your data as you pass through your living room to your TV then as you walk into your home office it automatically transmits to your computer, and in between it is on your cell phone. Then you leave your house and your car ( that is BLUETOOTH compatible ) picks up your cell phones transmission and puts it through to the display that is on your dash. This type of technology is available. I think that probably by the end of this year you will see this type of technology being advertised. Talk about bringing the office home with you or, in many of our cases, bringing the home office with you where ever you go! Let`s get a production team together and get this product idea of yours off the ground. I`m ready to buy it!

Best wishes!

Here are some links to videos that motorola has about this topic:

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It is pretty interesting!