The Best Inventions Are Often Simple
What makes a great invention? My exhaustive research leads me to the conclusion that the answer really depends on various factors, such as whether you are slightly mad, or can never find something in your handbag, hate painting ceilings, detest walking the dog, feel you need more whistles in your life and, most importantly, want to survive an earthquake but don't really care what happens to your co-workers. Here's why, based on a whistle-stop tour of recent innovations:
Two German brothers have solved the problem of women not being able to see inside their handbags. Handbag specialists Philipp and Axel Bree announced last month that they were teaming up with Bayer Polymers and Swiss electroluminescence company Lumitech to design a bag that will light up when opened, courtesy of new plastic that doesn't produce heat.
Computers offer some of the best opportunities for inventiveness. MatrixView, a Singapore-based tech company, has just launched what it says is a technology that will change the way we compress, store and distribute digital content. Until now, most forms of compression work by cutting out redundant data. Shrinking sound files that make up an audio CD, for example, involves removing all the bits and pieces you probably wouldn't hear unless you're an opera singer or a dog. MatrixView (
www.matrixview.net) says that, compared to existing compression solutions such as JPEG and MPEG (JPEG is a widely used format for storing pictures, MPEG for audio and video), their system doesn't eliminate data. Instead, it "achieves significantly higher compression ratios by value-adding to data in such a way as to permit superior speed and security without data degradation." If it works, this could usher in a mini-revolution in the way we move data around, since one of the biggest technological bottlenecks is sharing data, whether it's a doctor's X-ray or a video conference.
I think one of the best inventions of the past few years has been T9, the predictive-spelling software now owned by America Online. Using T9 means you only have to press your hand-phone keypad once for each letter when sending a text message. Japan-based software company Justsystem Corp. looks like it's about to come up with something similarly snappy for typists. Inventors Mark Kantrowitz and Shumeet Baluja have developed a software that guesses what the writer is typing while he or she types it, shifting the emphasis from recognizing valid words to recognizing errors. The details are under wraps, but the idea seems to be to avoid those embarrassing moments when your spellchecker has, without your noticing, replaced the names of Chinese leaders with body parts.
Not all inventions need be hi-tech, nor do they need to make your life complete. Consider whistles, for example. A recent U.S. patent filing is for a whistle attached to a folding pocket-knife. The invention of Alexander Presniakov of San Francisco and George M. Davison III of Pittsburgh, according to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, "relates to multi-implement pocket tools, especially those of a folding-knife type, and particularly such a tool which includes a whistle as one of the implements or in which a whistle is incorporated in the body of the tool."
Another low-tech invention is a piece of plastic that sits on the inside of a step-ladder and allows you to extend the size of the step, to help folk who are, say, painting a ceiling. Then there's the Auto-Gram, an electronic sign that hangs in the back of your car as a sort of updating bumper sticker. Naples News of Florida last month reported on this invention of local businessman Tom Mooney, which could be used for anything from chatting up fellow drivers to comments on their driving habits.
Australians seem to be great tinkerers. The Australian inventors' Web site (
www.inventors.asn.au) has a telephone handpiece support that straddles your head and, while useful, could not be confused with office chic, and an Earthquake Survival Capsule for those folk trapped in a multi-storey building when the ground starts to move. What I particularly like about this one is that it's designed not for the hapless worker ant, but the boss: The blurb says "the ESC is built as an integral part of and camouflaged under a fully functional director's table. In the event of an earthquake the person would simply "get under the desk" as conventionally advocated; except this time he will not be under a flimsy wooden desk but in a super-strong protective steel capsule stocked with a full range of emergency/survival equipment and supplies, including food and water." Yes, but what about his secretary? Back down to earth, Bryan Thompson has solved the problem of dogs fouling the footpaths with his Scoo-Bu, which is a kind of pooper-scooper made from a milk carton.
Finally, here's a request of my own for a really great invention: Find a way to send SMS text messages while in the bath, without getting the phone wet or dropping it in the water. I was thinking of some sort of device that I could attach to my nostrils and then prod the buttons, but I'm happy for someone else to suggest a better way. Perhaps it could be made out of old milk cartons and earthquake debris.
浴盆里的异想天开
最伟大的发明通常都很简单，比如内部照明的手提袋和牛奶纸盒制作的宠物粪便铲。那么，有没有人能发明一种方法，好让我坐在浴盆里发手机短信呢？
一项伟大的发明是如何诞生的？经过一番殚精竭虑的研究，我得出以下结论：答案有很多种。比如你是否有点疯狂，或者在手提袋里怎么也找不到要找的东西，讨厌刷天花板、不愿意遛狗、希望生活里有更多的口哨声，希望自己能幸运地躲过地震但不大在乎同事的命运等等。看看最近一些形形色色的发明，你就明白我为什么这么说了。
来自德国的两兄弟已成功解决了女人有时无法看清手提袋里面的问题。皮包专家菲利浦?布利(Philipp Bree)和阿克塞?布利(Axel Bree)上个月宣布，他们正在与Bayer Polymers及瑞士的电致发光技术公司Lumitech合作，设计一种在打开后可自行发光的手提袋，其中应用了不会产生热量的新型塑料。
电脑则为创造发明提供了绝佳的机会。新加坡科技公司MatrixView刚刚推出了一项新技术，据公司称，这项技术将改变我们压缩、存储和发送数据信息的方式。迄今为止，大多数压缩过程都是通过去掉冗余数据来完成的。举例来说，我们要压缩组成音频光盘的声音文件，这个过程中就要去掉那些你根本察觉不到的字节和音符－－除非你是歌剧演唱家或狗。MatrixView(
www.matrixview.net)表示，和目前的一些压缩格式相比，比如JPEG和MPEG等(JPEG是一种广泛应用的图片存储格式，而MPEG则用于存储音频和视频数据)，他们这项技术的优势在于不会删除数据。相反，它"能够通过数据增值实现更高的压缩比例，并以这种方式实现在不损害数据的前提下高速和安全的压缩过程"。如果这种技术可行，它可能为我们携带数据提供一种简单的解决方案，而目前不论是医生的X光片还是视频电话会议，一个最大的技术瓶颈就是数据共享的问题。
我个人认为，T9是过去几年中最伟大的发明之一。这是一种现在归美国在线(America Online)所有的联想式拼写软件技术。有了它，当你在发送文字短信时，只需把每个字母所对应的手机按键按一次，就可以拼出想要的单词。而日本软件公司Justsystem Corp.也即将推出类似的方便打字员的产品。发明者马克?坎特罗维茨(Mark Kantrowitz)和舒密特?巴鲁亚(Shumeet Baluja)开发的这种软件能够猜测打字员正在打的内容，把猜测的重点从辨别正确的字转移到辨别错误的字。有关细节目前仍不得而知，但这种发明的构想也许是为了避免拼写检查软件在你不注意的情况下，用不相干的词替换了中国领导人姓名所造成的那种尴尬。
并非所有的发明都需要高科技，也并不是所有的发明都一定让你的生活更完美。不信，就看看一个有关哨子发明的例子。最近美国有人为附加在折叠水果刀上的哨子申请了一项专利。据《匹兹堡邮报》(Pittsburgh Post Gazette)报导说，其发明者是旧金山的亚历山大?普雷尼亚科夫(Alexander Presniakov)和匹兹堡的乔治?戴维森(George M. Davison III)。他们的发明"和多用途的便携工具有关，尤其是折叠水果刀一类的东西。这类工具的特别之处在于它包含了哨子的功能"。
另外一个低科技含量的发明是将一片塑料置于折叠式四脚梯内部，从而延伸梯子的长度，以帮助那些正在刷天花板的伙计。还有一个发明叫Auto-Gram，是一种挂在汽车尾部的电子显示牌，可以随时更新显示内容，用来取代汽车保险杠上的贴条再合适不过了。据Naples News of Florida上个月报导，这是当地的生意人汤姆?穆尼(Tom Mooney)的发明，可以用来和其他司机聊天，或者介绍个人的驾驶习惯。
澳大利亚人看来是伟大的发明家。当地的发明者网站(
www.inventors.asn.au)上强力推荐一种可以像发卡一样戴在头上的电话筒支架，这种东西很有用，而且不会跟办公室里的时髦装束混为一谈。该网站还发明出一种名为"地震逃生舱"的设备，专为那些高层建筑里的人设计。我对它特别感兴趣的一点是：它不是为倒霉的工人设计的，而是为老板设计的。说明中称，"地震逃生舱"是与主管人员的办公桌浑然一体的隐藏式装置。一旦发生地震，当事人只要像传统宣传中建议的那样"钻到桌子底下"就行；但有一点：他的桌子不是脆弱的木桌子，而是超级结实的、具有保护功能的钢制救生舱，其中配有全部的紧急求生设备和必需品，包括食物和水。这个法子的确不错，但他的秘书怎么办？好，让我们回到现实中来－－布莱恩?汤普森(Bryan Thompson)用自己的发明解决了狗的粪便弄脏人行道的问题。他的发明是用装牛奶的纸盒制作成宠物粪便铲。
最后，我仅代表我本人提出一项伟大发明的构想：发明一种能在洗澡时发手机短信的方法，而且不会把手机弄湿或者掉进澡盆里。我曾想过利用某种能挂在鼻孔上的设备来按动手机按键，但我更希望听到比这更好的方法。也许这种设备能用装牛奶的旧纸盒或是地震后的废墟什么的做出来。
