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The Obsessed Inventor of the Paper Computer
One of our favorite Great American Myths is that of the lone inventor toiling in his garage or basement to produce a product that will revolutionize society. More often than not, in both the myth and real life, the inventor dies penniless and unrecognized, his invention either cast on the trash heap of history or adopted in a slightly mutated form by a Big Corporation that doesn't pay him a cent for his years of self-financed labor. But a few inventors - just enough to hold out hope for all the rest - strike it big and provide inspiration for all who follow.
Jim Willard hasn't struck it big. He may yet, but there's no telling. His idea was originally an outgrowth of the defense wind-down after the Soviet Union gave up on the Cold War, when defense contractors like the large systems integration company Jim ran during the glory years of DoD spending started looking for ways to make a living in the civilian world. There was no public Internet back then, but there were plenty of computers that required large amounts of remote data input, and this was the market Jim lit upon.
Imagine a census form made up of several glued-together layers of paper with simple keyboard-patterned membrane switches printed in between the layers, and a tiny, triggerable RF transmitter built into it. People would fill out the multiple-choice forms by pressing printed "keys," hit an "enter button" when they were done, and mail the thing to the Census Bureau, where the forms could be automatically read, via the RF interface, without even opening the envelopes. If - and Jim believes this goal is easily achievable - the cost of the "paper computer" forms can be held below $5 or so, the total cost of printing, mailing, and processing them would be much less than it is for traditional, non-electronic census forms.
Jim also found another lucrative-looking market for his product-in-the-making: polling places. He'd already done a study of a voting machine's life. "It sits in a warehouse for two years," he says, "then some grandmother is going to set it up and run it for one day. It's got to be easy for her to use, and its a true mission-critical application. It turned out cheapest to build a stripped-down PC, send it to the polling location, then throw it away after election day and buy a new one the next time around."
And having only one stripped-down PC per polling place, instead of one at each voting station - with paper computers used as the actual ballots - would lower the cost even further.
During the course of his study, Jim found that absentee ballots were even more expensive to process than those cast in person; in 1991 and 1992, he says, Fairfax County, Virginia, spent about $16 per absentee vote cast, and he figured he could easily get it down to the sub-$5 range using his paper computer technology. But no contract was ever signed and no functional test was ever made. Instead, Jim spent his time and personal resources in a years-long search for venture capital that he continues, still fruitlessly, today.
Fairly or unfairly, Jim blames most of his failure to make something big out of the paper computer concept on the flakiness of the venture capital business. "They won't even look at something unless it's presented by friends," he says, "and even then, if it's not something that immediately jazzes them, uh-uh."
Worse, he claims, venture capitalists live and die by industry fads. "One week they're doing nothing but biochem, the next week they're all doing dot coms," he says. "Paper computing is not a 'sexy' project, just a good market, so they're not interested."
The Thinnest Thin Client Ever
Here's the most recent incarnation of Jim's basic concept: a super-cheap piece of multi-layered paper with a flexible light-emitting polymer screen, a low-end dedicated processor, a stripped-down modem, and membrane switches built into it. You could use this technology to make a Web terminal so cheap that you could send it as a direct mail piece. Plug it into a phone line and it would automatically dial the company that sent it out, call up catalog info, and let you place orders. Computer knowledge (and investment) required by the user would be exactly zero. Jim engagingly paints the mental picture of a poster for Victoria's Secret from which you could directly order the products it displayed, literally making the poster into a point of sale terminal that would both make a sales pitch and "close" the sale, all on the spot, for next to nothing in the way of either cash investment or floor space.
Beef up the concept a little, add a decent general-purpose microprocessor and a bit of RAM, and Voila! - an electronic PDA that costs less than one of the binder-enclosed, paper-based "Executive Organizers" you see in office supply stores.
You'd think Oracle, with all of its talk about networked "thin client" computers, or Sun, where the network is (supposed to be) the computer, would be all over Jim. He says this isn't going to happen; that these companies "...have divisions that have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in current technology. I walk in to see the heads of these companies' thin client divisions and tell them they can close the doors, that everything they're doing is obsolete, they're going to laugh. Why would they want to put themselves out of work?"
In this story published on November 11, 1999, CNET News.com reporter Brooke Crothers quoted Jim extensively, but also mentioned research done by IBM that may lead to ultra-thin computing devices similar to his. Does this mean Jim is dead in the water? That he should give up hope the way so many small software developers have given up on projects once they found Microsoft had something similar in the works?
Jim has invested years in a concept that, if handled right, could change the way computing is done and Internet connections are made, and could change the way remote data gathering is done by governments, retailers, and many others. But Jim is running low on stamina - and is out of money. The comment about his old Nissan pickup needing new brake rotors he can't afford isn't a joke; it's a sad fact. This slow descent into poverty, followed by a life of bitterness and regret, is the fate of most independent inventors. Will it be Jim's? Or will he be one of the few who manages to turn a profit (and receive at least a little acclaim) from his work?
Here, for your review, is Jim's Paper Computer Corporation Web site. Take a look at it. Then let Jim know what you think, either by e-mail or, better yet, by posting a comment here on Slashdot. Jim will be reading what you have to say and taking it to heart. If he has time, he may even jump in and respond directly to your comments.
Well, this first post was made with a special purpose paper-computer with internet access and that could be clusterd to form a paper Beowolf
Paper computers have undoubtedly revolutionized th evoting process ....
"He who questions training trains himself at asking questions." - The Sphinx, Mystery Men (1999)
New ultra thin thin client! now run on LINUX.
Yeah... I was in a hurry...
:P
I'm gonna post a pseudo-intellectual post now, to regain some Karma.
OK, I'm on the side of "Let people post freely." Sometimes first posts are amusing, but 99% of the time they're just annoying crap.
This one, however, I take issue with. Can we implement a rule whereby schmuck-ass losers like this one, who post these moronic alladvantage.com links, essentially just trolling for cash, get blocked or something?
I am presently involved in working on a project that involves voting machines. The devices themselves are basically huge Palm Pilots - greyscale touch screens encased in an over-grown Etch-a-sketch case (sans knobs). I can tell you that 1, the federal guidelines are quite rigid; his "paper computer" would have to survive all sorts of damage, and is required to have triple-redundant memory, "just in case". There are standards of usability, as well, that are complex. Luckily, we're just writing the interface and ballot creation stuff, not doing the actual hardware, but I have learned a lot about the process. I wish him luck, but he's in for a LONG, HARD fight if he even wants to get it certified, and then getting the localities to adopt it, well, thats another story. They fear change - elections are the ultimate hard deadline, and if you don't pull it off, you can't re-do it, and your name goes down in history.
Side note: our software runs on Windows via IIS but some large, knowledgeable clients have requested a version for Linux. The reasons: stability of NT, which they don't trust for the above reasons. We're a mostly Linux shop so getting away from the IIS crap is our goal.
ZOMG I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS ON MACINTOSH VERSUS WINDOWS, VI VERSUS EMACS, AND HOW YOU'RE NOT A DORK
Paper computers that can be thrown away? I really hope this is some kind of joke. Americans produce massive amounts of waste as it is, this is just more fuel in the fire of our "disposable" culture.
It's a /. tradition to grab first post when you can, you Karma wh0re.
As for all advntage, people can put whatever the fuck they want in their sigs, m'kay?
Being an inventor myself I know your pain. Too bad about the brake rotors mate. Is there any way you could get the rich and powerful Larry Augustin to kick in? Maybe take a full-time research job with VA Linux.
More race stuff in one place,
than any one place on the net.
This is really depressing.
Not because it's someone going broke - because it's true.
I personally have experienced similar. I have a *killer* business plan. A company that could turn first operating quarter profit without difficulty - minimum overhead, maximum ROI (return on investment). Brought it to three or four different VC's, and they all said 'we're not interested.'
This idea is really a *great* idea! It would be so simple to make it nearly forgery proof, it would make processing easier, everything about it is beneficial in some way! It's the perfect solution to hundreds of problems. But it would put people out of jobs possibly, and it's not a, as it was put, sexy project.
To put it bluntly, that's bullshit. So what if it's not sexy? It's profitable and good ROI and financial (EPS, etc) is FAR more important than marketing and such.
Maybe we should take up a fund to help Jim start this business. Jim, if you're reading this, please email me - I'd like to help any way I can.
We need to help the *real* innovators in the computer world, like Jim, instead of listening to these marketing people telling us what innovation is. Like I said, I've been down this road before, and I wish anyone going down it the best of luck. Take care, and have a merry (insert celebrated holiday here).
-RISCy Business
your company here.
shelby != ford
How Can You Have a "Paper Computer?" Does the technology even exist yet? Why does my desktop weigh 20 pounds if it does?
The thing that bothers me most about computerized elections is that they're almost always closed source. I don't think that the public officials who approve and certify them are qualified enough to tell what's going on. How do they know that there are no backdoors in the software, or ways for the company that makes them to change theoutcome of an election?
Sounds like there's a otential for massive vote fraud...
No comment at this time
We usually lambaste patents here. But isn't this the situation a patent was designed for? We want to /encourage/ and /enable/ Jim to make cool stuff...which obviously hasn't happened. I don't think it would be fair now, after the fact, for a Big Corporation to take the idea and make megabucks from it. Whether it is a patent's place to stop /this/ I don't know. But Jim should at least have some incentive to think up this stuff. If he is not allowed to patent it, and Big Corporations are allowed to steal it X years after the fact, what incentive does he have to continue inventing?
Jazilla.org - the Java Mozilla
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
I wouldn't mind having one, preferably with some way to hook up to my network. Let's see, 3 sheets of paper, a Linux distro CD...
Dive Gear
--- Think of it as evolution in action ---
It seems like the future envisioned in the article would lead to corporate excesses of a kind never seen before in presenting spam. I, for one, have no desire to have a synthesized voice come at me from my mailbox touting the virtues of the lastest fad product. Geez, at least with telemarketing you can hang up the phone.
You can bet that marketing is the #1 target audience here, and that if it ever gets funded that's who'll do it.
This is one of those thing that would truely deserve a patent. It sound like an idea that has has a place and a use.
Has a proto type ever been built?
Who owns your data?
This concept has alot of potential. Intellingence organizations will love it. Anyone who wants a small, cheap internet device will. The only problems I see are if this is to become significant in providing alternate internet devices, the price will jump extremely. RAM is dirt cheap compared to the old days, as is CPU power, but a cheap CPU plus 16 megs RAM, would be about 75 dollars, and chips and RAM that low end are becoming hard to find. This is something to explore, for sure, but I doubt it will become such a groundbreaking device as the article suggests.
Just put your threshold at 2, then you won't see the annoying messages until somebody (just as annoyingly) writes about it like you did.
Hey, maybe we could get some of those suckers who invested beaucoup $$ in Randell "Smarter Than All Physicists" Mills' magic hydrogen atom technology to toss a few bills in Jim's direction. They've obviously all got too much money anyway.
And the brethren went away edified.
Gee. I wonder if Transmeta could help our friend Jim out here. :)
Seriously, though.. I remember reading a wired article a few years ago about e-books, and I remember thinking "well.. if you can do the e-books thing, you might as well make them touch-sensitive". So more power to you, Jim, I'd love to see what can be done with this technology, and if I had any money, I'd become a VC and fund you..
//Phizzy
"Most European technology just isn't worth our stealing," -- Former CIA chief James Woolsey, referring to Echelon
Did anyone else get confused by this story? I don't see how paper can act as a machine. Okay, so chips don't have to be made out of silicon or copper, but exactly what constitutes a paper computer? i recall some sort of rf device, but i don't see where that fits in, either.
I bet Jim really cringes every time he hears the phrase "paperless office".
---
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
(Exchange Migration HOWTO coming soon)
I think this would constitute spamming. Just send the link to the alladvantage abuse team, telling them to note the moderation and chances are all the cash this guy would normally be making will be going to cauce instead...
mcrandello@my-deja.com
rschaar{at}pegasus.cc.ucf.edu if it's important.
Is there any protype available? If paper computers are so cheap to produce (there's even a build-it-yourself kind of link at his website) this should not be a problem, right?
I think this is such a tremendous claim that many people would have to see (and touch) to believe it. If it does work then it will really be a revolution.
idiot.
yeah, if your karma is important at all to you then you may want to use that "anonymouse checkbox" to make sure your meaningful posts get heard. If you're just out to waste moderator points then it looks like you got the right idea. I would reccomend that the moderators leave the logged in first posters at 0, that way you have an extra point to do with what you want, their karma still goes down, and folks with +1 as their threshold still wont see it. Just my 2 centavos
fist
The friendly first poster
Nah, they wouldn't do it. They guy wasn't spamming, it just showed up in his sig. You have to be making posts with no content besides all advantage stuff.
dear friends,
i can relate to this guy. you probably didn't notice, but i'm a bit obsessed with my copyrighted undistributable open source natalie portman and open source drew barrymore project. not as bad as this poor slob, but i do spend practically every waking moment at least thinking about the project.
sure, i lost my wife. sure, my cats hiss at me when i walk in the door. sure, my mother breaks down screaming, "you cannot be my son! my son is dead!" whenever i call.
and yeah, i'm a bit pale from lack of sunlight. yeah, i spend every friday night watching my natalie portman and drew barrymore film collection. yeah, i dressed up like queen amidala on halloween.
none of it matters. not even the sleepless nights, the malnourished body nor the rotting teeth matter. because when it's done... the rewards will indeed be handsome. for all of us.
thank you.
Jim should be talking to folks in the greeting card industry. These folks were on the same track ten years ago when musical greeting cards came out, but the technology wasn't there to do much else. With free e-cards on the web muscling in on the card industry, I bet they'd be interested in something new and interesting.
hmmmmm.....when I read the article I expected to see dozens of 'let's back this guy ourselves!' posts...but there does not appear to be much of a ground swell. To make this happen he would have to have lots of open source/low cost stuff, so perhaps all of those who made money on, or were denied access to, the red hat or va linux IPOs could use their investable funds to buy into this guy.
I drink to make other people more interesting
This is article is in the smae spirit of the essay i am workign on for my application to RPI- smaller, cheaper, more efficient computeing. Remember E-paper? These are great things to bring to fruition, but why oh why has everythign got to be disposable? I suppose this is not as bad as the disposable cell phone a while back. I sympathize deeply with the guy, and i hope he makes it big. Doesn't it seem silly how many peopel pay a thousand dollars or a PC when the work they do could be done by soemthing much less? Economy, ecology, space management. Like our dependency on petrol, i guess this is just another inefficiency that probably won't last forever but is pretty firmly entrenched. Word.
Happy Holidays. Methinks your caps-lock key got stuck from all the good will you spilled typing that :)
Well, one thing they could do would be to de-uglify theit web site. A "best viewed in IE" banner? A photo of the corporate HQ on the front page? A framed layout where I have to scroll to the right to read the content? And, good lord, is that a BLINK tag?? It does not exactly inspire faith in the company.
As for the idea itself...none of the scenarios discussed (other than the creation of more annoying marketing drivel) really call for a paper or disposable computer, they call for better computer-readable data entry. Why have a $5 paper "computer" broadcast its data to a reader when you can have a 1-cent "fill-in-the-bubbles-with-a-number-2-pencil" form scanned by a reader?
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
Americans do not want to pay for things and then throw them away. Remember DIVX? It flopped. You know why? For the same reason.
hrmm. It looks like that's exactly what he's doing....anyway I guess it's not as bad as the dude who posted over 500 bright blue flyers on our campuse last month, 40 or so in our computer lab hallways, stapled to the wooden doors and everything. I don't know what possessed him to think he'd be a millionaire or something, but it was good to know that all he did was lose money on the copying.
Well, the idea of a super-thin paper client is very cool... But I'm not sure that it's really suited for the purposes that this guy has in mind.
With the advent of the web, and now in recent times, the Free PC (really just a monthly installment - $400 PC with a $400 MSN rebate in trade for $20/mo worth of service), which placing the home computer in reach of everyone everywhere, I don't see any advantage in the voting or advertising arenas, which the article focuses heavily on.
A voting system could easily be implemented on a $400 PC. I'll assume that more than 100 people would vote per station, which is a pretty reasonable assumption... Even if the paper computer was able to hit the sub-$5 range that they want to target, the PC would still be more economical.
As for advertising, a mass-production of CD-ROMs is much less expensive than $5 per for the papercomputer. Their example company (Victoria's Secret) could easily put a nice catalog, even include multimedia if they wanted, and make an easy-to-use interface to order their product on the Internet. Once again, much more economical.
So, anyway, my conclusion is that this is a very neat invention... But I think he's targetting the wrong market.
well it looks to me, you're still fighting it buddy
Well, this seems to me to be a non-starter. Gives you all the disadvantages of paper (fragility, environmental impact) multiplied by a factor of 50 in cost in a single use computer form.
We should be looking to get rid of single use stuff, not spread the use of it.
The only thing I can think of that is as silly is the Fax machine. Send a mammouth bitmap to a piece of paper when in fact you could send 1K of ASCII test in the form of an email and convey the same information.
This seems to be a great idea. Of course I haven't researched the implementation behind the idea, but just from this overview it seems that this would cut down on paper waste as well. No more need to send out pages upon pages of product when one of these clients could dial right up and display the pages for the target person electronically. That in itself may cut down a little on environmental waste as well.
If I had the money I would definately invest in this. At the very least it would save my company money on the expense of sending out a lot of expensive paper catalogues and it would let me reach a broader market than just a web only catalogue.
If you can at all do so keep up the good work Jim, and here's to hoping you'll get some capital very soon.
"I swear I won't break you if you let me take you where the willows never weep" -- Switchblade Symphony
The Soviet Union gave up. 'I quit' is not the same as 'I surrender', much in the same way 'you suck' is not the same as 'you suck your grandfathers dick and like it'.
OK, I got rid of the damn sig. Are you people happy now? i'd like to apologize to anyone who saw my signature and/or alladvantage info.
No comment at this time
I'm an electronic guy, professionally and personally. I have always been extremely interested in small electronic devices that do useful things. I have a PICStart Plus on my desk, and the Linux software to drive it.
I think Jim has *part* of a great idea.
Here's the "but."
I am also an environmentalist. I think that small devices should not be disposable.
Imagine how much it would cost to recycle one of these for raw materials or a different application.
Imagine getting a mailing with a reply card using this technology. It is set up specifically for that mailing. To recycle it, for a different mailing would be a real pain, especially if the second mailing requires more buttons, etc.
How about consumer packaging? To recycle that milk carton is all of a sudden not so simple anymore. It's more expensive. If it's too expensive, it'll be thrown out because it'll affect a company's bottom line. It'll just add to the ridiculous amount of garbage that the US has been trying to export to other countries. New York tried to set up a deal to ship garbage here in Newfoundland a few years back. They wanted us to be their landfill... again (the US navy used to have a base here, they left tons of contaminated waste and then refused to clean it up when the base closed).
Unless he can guarantee that this technology is truly reusable/recyclable, and guarantee that users of the technology will reuse/recycle it (ie. easy to do), most companies won't want to touch it.
Here http://www.eink.com
They are the electronic ink guys, i.e. "paper" that can display like a screen based on using electrically sensitive chemicals as "ink." Similar concept to an LCD screen, except you can do it on paper.
This would simply be the most perfect strategic partner for him, especially as they are already in contact withthe kinds of money that would be interested in his project.
- The Count
It would be terribly cowardly of you to do this and I would hunt you down and beat you with a wet noodle if you did, but I must say I would be tempted to do with it what UNISYS did with GIFs.
Let everybody use it, no charge.
Let them get addicted.
They're every where.
And in five years, say, "I changed my mind. You must all cease and desist, or pay me $50,000." And don't forget collecting damages...
I must say, I also liked artemis67's greeting card idea. It's a much better idea than mine. Anyway, good luck.
Please moderate this down as flamebait. Thank you.
I got rid of the damn sig! Are you satisfied?
You wouldn't know anything about the cold war anyway, what with having your head buried in that fucking Richard Stallman's hairy, communist ass.
Say, where do you get a copy of those guidelines? I'm curious to see what the FedGov thinks about usability in a scenario where you have basically all levels of intelligence/language ability/handicaps etc. to deal with.
Imagine what would happen if you overclocked it and it got to hot? "Ah! My pComputer is on fire!"
I think that the effort to save money on election ballots and tax returns is a great effort(More so if there is a method to recover/recycle the Paper PCs' components). A couple of the links on Jim's website didn't work for me (might want to look into that). Sprucing up the graphics on the website would be more professional too (I have some skills in this area, but I would hope that there are more specialized individuals willing, as well, to put in the couple of hours to help with that). An immediate concern was the actual process of the PPC connecting with a phone line or being read via RF. The website didn't show how this was done and the concept wasn't fully explained. Perhaps this deals more with not wanting to release too much information, but we all are familiar with the technically inept being unsure of something they do not understand. A suggestion might to be able to go into much more detail about the processes behind these possible applications for the PPC. Another question, does folding the PPC really still allow it to function afterwards? The electrical conductive ink on laptop keyboards is a bit sensitive (worked with a company that had to do repair work on some that tore or failed to make connections). Another suggestion...put some view/test/picture information of a working prototype surviving this kind of abuse. Keep the faith in what you believe, Rome was not built in a day. Joe jrm_mn@hotmail.com
Go find some tree-hugger to whine your Jerry Garcia bullshit to. Fucking deadhead fucker.
A few folks (though not many) have briefly pointed out that paper computers would be environmentally unsound. Let me emphasize this... The amount of deforestation that would occur if every household in America received a paper 'census computer' would be devastating. With imbedded electronics it would make recycling, at best, very difficult and costly, and, at worst, impossible.
In the case of voting, the environmentally friendly solution would be to have LAN's running ballots with encrypted data packets.
Paper computers are a step backwards, in the wrong direction. It's fortunate that nobody has been naive or short-sighted enough to financially support this scheme.
True environmentalists aren't worried about saving the trees, or the whales, or the planet... They're worried about preserving the future of the human race.
If so, he is the leech in this situation. Waiting for IBM to develop the technology, then swooping in with his patent to say "this is my idea".
I have ideas for antigravity devices, faster than light travel, fusion reactors, and Holodeck porn. I'm gonna run out and patent all of these.
To protest all of these people screaming about the guy putting his all advantage info into his SIG I'm putting mine into the body of a Post which starts at 2 and will take 3 moderator points to get rid of. So there.
www.alladvantage.com Sign up under EBS-939
www.utopiad.com Sign up under Valis
So there!
Kintanon
Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
I agree, the website does need quite a bit of work.
_ _________________________________
I also believe his idea has a lot of merit.
Unfortunately, I do not have the money to invest in the project, but I can contribute something. I am a web page/kiosk designer, and, if Jim is interested, will volunteer to redesign his webpage for free. The page and content won't require much complexity, so it's something I can complete in my offtime without any serious loss of hours.
Jim, if you are reading this, feel free to email me and we can talk about giving your site more of a professional look.
Good luck!
Chris
chrisa@flummox.com
___________________________
--
driph
- Static text - just print it
- Text input - a sticky matrix with hair-thin wires held apart by a very thin layer of insulating gel. Write on top of it with a pen and wires stick together. With enough wires you should be able to read off pixels quite easily at a speed considerably faster than optical scanning.
- Connectivity can be provided by a simple computer port. Plug it into a USB port and put a small serial controller chip on the paper. The chip can be made small as a speck of dust with current tech, then draw lines with conducting foil for edge contacts and have a clipboard-like contraption to hold the paper to the port adapter.
Mass production is, of course, possible. You could just make the entire paper one large wire grid with bus lines on the edges. The chip could be built using a separate assembly on a silicon platform and soldered in at the last moment. There would be some problems with gel stiffnes, to ensure that only a pen or something sharp like it would penetrate it, but this certainly is not insurmountable.So what do you think?
Some of my friends at the University Computer Club of the University of Western Australia did a very similar thing. They had an amazingly antique terminal controller, which they had aquired in the same way they got most of their hardware: it was totally obselete, and therefore free.
But it didn't come with the keyboards; so they made keyboards themselves. Take three computer punch-cards, cut holes in the middle one, in exactly the fashion outlined on Jim's site, place aluminium foil "row" strips between the first and second card, and "column" strips between the second and third. Draw "keys" on the first card. Voila! Instant keyboard.
As the keyboard got older, it would get harder to use, and you'd have to bash the keys with a pen, and eventually throw it away and build a new one.
There's an interesting idea. Submit comments about your "dining experience" at McDonalds... right on the tray!
For public government elections I dislike this
idea and would be firmly against it. In fact...
it apears that it would even more firmly kill the
idea of write in campaigns.
For voting reform I like the libertarians ideas
much better (of course...I would much prefer to
dissolve government alltogether but...for now
its the realistic evil)
They wish to END offically aproved ballots
alltogether. This is because it means state
aproval of who we can vote for. In reality MOST
voters will never look past the offically
sanctioned candidates, thus snubbing out any
candidates who arn't able to win those
all imortant ballot lines.
They call for an end to standardized ballots.
Allow peopl eto vote with pre-printed cards that
are printed up by their candidate...or they
make themselves. (they also call for an "None
of the Above" vote which - if it wins- would cause
the post to go vacant for that term)
I think the problem is not that these paper
computers are a bad idea (which they are. we have
enough disposable products around) but that
saving money should not be the goal of an election
process. Just because its easier, doesn't mean
its better.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
From what I could gather, reading the pPC site (which you should probably read), they're not interested in snapping up cheap CPUs and RAM, at least not the sort you're talking about. Even some old Intel chip with a little low end RAM would be overkill for what this is. And besides, the 'specs' call for it to be the width of three regular pieces of paper, glued together. Not that I'm advancing any ideas to how it would work, but for its intended purposes, it sounds enticing.
------------------------
"Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship it and
A blank page with a generic grid of switches (you don't have to enable or label them all), basic display and a small tab (or holes) from the middle sheet with contacts to interface with a desktop computer (think Palm cradle). Use PROM for the memory so that a desktop program could design and burn in the software for the application, then send the sheet through a spitjet printer for the graphics. If it catches on, you could get printer manufactures to include the PROM burner in the printer. Need to do a survey? Just pop down to Office Despot and buy a ream of PpC, design your form, then click print and burn. Use of the PROM would allow each PpC to be customized as easy as doing a mail-merge. This would also give geeks a VERY cheap Pic type toy to play with.
Other ideas involving the RF interface include security access badges that also require a password (think HUD door scanners).
I do wonder about the phone connections though; the FCC requires some rather bulky (in this vein) surge protection. I'm not sure how carbon strips on paper will handle the 600 ohms needed to grab a dialtone. I'd like to hear Jim's ideas on this.
If the home/office printer idea takes off, we could then create 'letters' that have built-in public key protection.
I better stop now, I'm starting to think of PpC - Lego Mindstorm interfaces.
-- I have a private email server in my basement.
Although what he's suggesting has some good elements, if you look at the potential uses, they all have to do with a low-barrier-to-entry, easy-to-use, remote, distributable means of sending and gathering information. Hmmm, that sounds familiar. Could it be...
the Internet?
It's no accident that many (if not all) of his specific ideas have been done or considered on the net:
census
voting
direct mail
ad plus order-taking (You can go see that Victoria's Secret poster on the web right now, and place the order, too.)
And of course, the internet has even lower costs (by orders of magnitude) than his disposable e-paper. The only advantages he has are authentication: one could mark the paper forms with some unique watermark or holograph or whatever (but ultimately, paper docs are forgeable, too); and market size: not everyone has the internet (yet).
Now, if he had thought of this before the internet...
"You can't get something for nothing." - my grandfather, on the stock market and Reaganomics.
I propose as the faithful Slashdot community that we take up a bake sale, sell candy bars door to door, put jars for pennies at your local Microcenter, run a telethon, and subscribe to All Advantage for ol' Jim and get him some money for this worthy cause. Who's in with me??
Imagine all the venture capitalists discussing what they're going to fund next. One of them looks at Jim's concept. "Hey, this one sounds like a good idea -- on paper..."
Imagine, if you would, buying a book that cost less to print than conventional books, and that you could plug into any phone line anywhere to recieve reviews, links to discussion forums, or even advertisements for future releases. With this kind of thing it would also take up the size of a single sheet of paper.
If you had two parts to this idea of viewing any assortment of books, magazines, newspapers, or even photo albums, one being a client, which could take the shape of anything from a classic novel to a small pocket guide. You simply take this reusable client, and any time you wanted to read a new book, you just buy a card that had the book's text and illustrations stored in it, as well as a possible number to call and list of links that your client could access. Then you just plug the book into a slot in the client, much like a game boy plugs in new games.
And the client itself could be much more useful than static books. You could have an automatic touch-sensitive table of contents or scalable fonts, and much smaller and thinner than paper volumes would be.
And the expansion would be limitless- You could plug in today's headlines, an R.A. Salavatore book, or the lates issue of Time. Then just throw the card into a drawer for later, or away if you don't really plan on reading it again.
- WrexSoul
\/.
vvv
- WrexSoul
\/.
vvv
http://www.webstationone.com/er a/html/armstrong.htm double e's especially should read the story of edward armstrong (the inventor of fm radio). a depressing story of what single mindedness and fighting corporate america will get you. a look at the shameful history of rca. whatever happens jim i hope for your sake you find something else in life that makes you happy
firstly, the computers are not made of paper.
secondly, in having to do with census, it's the definition of recycling... people enter their info and send the thing back to the census dept., which in turn reads the info, clears the computer and sends the thing to the next person on the list. lather, rinse and repeat until the thing doesn't work anymore.
thirdly, no, LANs used for voting would be much worse than paper voting... paper turns to dirt within a year or so and grows again as a new tree (hence the name 'renewable resource'), it's been a while since I've seen a computer do that.
fourthly, if you're soo worried, most of the device could be made using biodegradable plastic... the only parts that'd last more than a few years in a landfill would be a few wires and a couple pieces of silicon.
"It's fortunate that nobody has been naive or short-sighted enough to financially support this scheme."
Actually I think that most slashdotters hold the opinion that it's unfortunate that VC firms are so naive or short-sighted to not support the idea.
and lastly, you needn't space your comments so much.
-----
Do you even know anything about perl? -- AC Replying to Tom Christiansen post.
Maybe the reason that he can't sell it to anyone is because he doesn't have the technology behind it. Yeah, anyone can say that it is a good idea, but without being able to do it, it is worthless. It's just a concept, not an invention. It's like saying, "Yeah, I have this cool invention that does such and such, but with our current technology, we can't do it, nor do I even know how"
It's a neat idea, but perhaps not a good idea. Instead of bemoaning the sad fate of all genius inventors, think of why an idea like this hasn't been produced. I can think of several reasons:
-ruggedness. How much of anything can a paper computer withstand?
-Use. If your target market has capable PCs sitting on their desks, why would you send them a cheap single-function computer that would look chintzy compared to what they already use (color monitor, full size keyboard, etc, etc). for other applications, what kind of interface is possible with a paper computer? If you have to retrain everyone and take lots of support calls everytime a new one is released, there go your savings.
-Quality. Do paper computers work consistantly? Are many defective and, if so, to what extent? Even more important, with the way that we view computing devices do they look and feel reliable to the target audience?
-Advantage. What purposes can these paper computers fulfill that other computers can't or that can be done much more efficiently than existing computers. Voting ballots might be nice, but, when everything is considered, I'd imagine paper computer ballots would cost about the same as traditional voting methods, if not more. Also, don't forget transition costs!
To be compelling, a new product has to be significantly better than what is already installed. Nobody would by a fax machine that was 2% faster; probably not even 20% faster. Only at 100% or 150%, I'd imagine, would a new generation of machines be likely to sell.
My point is that plenty of capital exists in the market for funding companies and bringing ideas to fruition. However, that money is guarded (usually), by people who consider these things, who think about their return on investment. It may seem like something is a great idea, a leap forward in technology. Well, technology doesn't matter for it's own sake, only for what can be done with it, which translates roughly into sales. I think a paper computer is a neat idea, but there aren't too many things, well any, that I could with one that I couldn't do nearly as efficiently, if not more efficiently, with existing, already purchased and installed technology.
Venture capitalists are in the business of making money. If an idea, no matter how great, won't do that, they will be uninterested. Looking at it from the economic perspective, though, products lose money when either there isn't enough demand for them or the technology for producing them is prohibitively expensive. In other words, even as they look at their own bank-accounts, the VCs are also acting as a proxy for consumer valuations. Knowing several people who have set up a few VC funds, I can tell you that if they only looked towards their friends for ideas, they would have been out of business very quickly. First an foremost, VCs are economic actors and will leap at ideas which they believe have promise. For proof of this, take a look at the past couple hundred IPOs on NASDAQ. 'nuff said.
--Andrew Grossman
This keys into the concept of idea ownership but anyone can have an idea... I have many ideas but actually turning an idea into a realized piece of technology is a large task...
;-)
Jim sounds like he's done the research and is vanguarding the idea, but to think he should get something is simplistic and in the end may be part of Jim's problem...
Does he have a prototype? Does he have a manufacturing plan? Does he know who will buy it? Can he produce them now? Or is he still missing critical technologies?
If you even break down the concept completely you'll see how stupid it is... A paper computer... That's like a plastic car...
You can use ocmposites and near magical engineering but it's going to be no more a paper computer than you're going to have a plastic car... The engineering is too complex...
You could market it as a "paper computer" in that you engineered it to be like paper and thats how you want people to think of it... But the true device will need either 2-3 years of hard R&D to make it work *OR* when the technologies have been discovered and the right mix of time, resources, and people come together it will happen...
Or it won't... If Jim really wants to make it happen I'd recommend making the prototype and researching a viable manufacturing path... Then find a high cost, high profile application first...(Based on the 5 minute scan of his page I can't tell how far along he is or what the potential difficulties are with his manufacturing procedure and design..)
Business cards... Greeting Cards... Legally protect as much ownership of the idea as he can and then go forward... If he only sells 5 a year he will have proven it can be done and then funding would be easier...
Realistically there is no way Jim will get 100% control or revenue from his idea... But if works on it in the right way he may get a good 20-30% if it takes off...
But going after government ballot boxes when the technology is not even realized or produce-able is... nonviable... Anyone who thinks government is the place to try new technologies... is... well..
Going to have a tough time of it...
The proving ground is the caveat emptor marketplace... Take a lesson from Jobs and Wozniak.. Make the prototype and try the best you can... If the time is ready it will take off... In the meantime you've proven that you can make it, and legally you've done all you can to show it's yours... Then you just have to make a deal that it's in a company's best financial interest to work with you than to R&D it on their own...
All else fails you sue them for all their worth...
But if you going to just complain that after 10 years no one handed you an R&D budget because you aren't a friend... Well.. that makes sense actually.. Perhaps via this article or the internet you can find someone.. Maybe a college to work with you on a manufacturing plan and prototype... That will go farther...
I'd die to see how far he's gotten and where he's getting stucked... But from all the articles ten years looks pretty silly to be honest... Was their nothing of his research that produce a viable product? Perhaps a paper thin novelty watch/address book?
I'm done now...
Oh one more thing...
www.wearlogic.com
"Don't fear death... fear not living..." -me
I spent my whole life trying to sell a pile of crap. I was hurt when no one wanted to buy it. Instead of simply moving on with my life I decided I would waste my time trying to sell it even though I knew there was no market for it.
It's 50 years later and I have to drive a rusty truck because I was to fucking dumb to move on.
Let's face it. The definition of insanity is to go about the same problem the same way, expecting different results.
It's very well known that companies in rich countries tend to have a Not Invented Here attitude. Approaching said companies for something like this is, well, stupid and (frankly) insane.
A British guy, who invented a clockwork radio, realised this, very quickly. As the idea was aimed at African countries, he took it straight to the prospective customer. Africa. His idea sold, almost immediately, and he's now a millionaire.
Instead of selling the paper computer to companies, who have no need of them or interest in them, this guy should be talking to the people who WOULD want something like this. Joe and Jane Shmuck.
Why would they care about a paper computer? Picture this. Ever tried to keep track of a shopping list, a to-do list, the cash you've got free, the best prices for goods, etc? It takes a lot of paper, after a while. On the other hand, all this is just numbers. Just punch them into a paper computer. How to get output? The display off an old-style pocket calculator would be more than adequate and very cheap to make, and if you make it detatchable, it wouldn't need to be disposed of or even on the computer at all times.
Alternative use: Let's say you're looking for some specific DIY parts. Tap them into the computer, and go shopping. Type in the bar code, and have an LED on the front which lights up if it's what you want.
Once you've started getting into the domestic market, like this, the "big players" become almost an irrelevency. It might sound a bit like "Field of Dreams", but if you make it, the customers will come. A brand logo means a lot, in the field it's for, but outside of that, it's just some ink in some squiggles. Your name means as much as IBM's, in Home Economics, Modern Art or Paper Computers. But if -YOU- are selling them, rather than IBM, it's -YOU- who'll make the name and have the money.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
If he'd been near Holland, Michigan, Rob or Jeff might have done the interview.
It was simply an interesing little article that turned out to have more human quality than I expected, so that's the side that came through most clearly.
The car came into the story because it was a tangible symbol of how Jim Willard's obsession with his invention has ruined his life. This is what writers call a "metaphor."
But IANALET (I Am Not A Licensed English teacher), so for specific information about metaphors, similes, allusions, punctuation, capitalization, and other writing basics, I suggest seeking help from a qualified local professional.
Meanwhile, "don't panic," as my fellow metaphor-user Douglas Adams has said more than a few times. Whenever a Slashdot author writes about a personal friend, we'll let you know. ;-)
- Robin
Thanks. Are you trying to be a shmuck? At least the other guy had it in his sig, which you can easily hide.
The computers aren't entirely paper, true.
Paper, in landfills, has been known to last more than 20 years, as it frequently never gets water, heat or air after it gets buried.
Many energy sources, like hydroelectric, for example, are ultimately renewable. Nuclear, though not perfect, is extremely clean when properly insulated and operated, so many LANs don't have that much impact on the environment via electricity, as the electricity is produced cleanly.
"Biodegradable" plastic is actually only partially degradable. It first transforms into a goopy clump that kills birds and can clog drainage systems, and then becomes millions of plastic molecules that are often toxic to the local environment.
Spacing points out makes them infinitely more readable. Besides, didn't you look at your own post?!
I'm not quite unaccustomed to debates like this, seeing that I've spoken worldwide about the environment, as well as a the UN headquarters.
What is his whole technical basis? The idea of using conducting inks and covering the "computer sheet" with an "interface sheet" that lets you wire the thing and touch some of the wires to use them as buttons; an absolutely trivial development.
He hasn't developed suitable batteries, a cheap and power-efficient display, an appropriately durable and cheap microprocessor, or even the conductive ink (some these things may or may not exist, but he didn't make any of them). There is no prototype which resembles the end product, and no meat to his technical plans. He has absolutely no way to support his claim that he can make it for that cheap.
This guy is just trying to cash in on an obvious idea which will probably become feasible in the next few years, when he doesn't have anything to contribute to the development, except some oddball ideas about what it should be used for.
I'm supposed to think it's tragic that big companies are turning this crackpot away?
The italics were supposed to go around one word: he. Must've missed a key...
I already posted a comment about environmental issues here.
I neglected to mention the positives.
I've done some thinking, and I believe that these paper computers have a lot of great reusable/permanent applications.
A while back I was thinking about remote controls. I got a few emails about it, which I haven't gotten around to responding to yet (I have a lot of ideas, I'll probably get around to it tonight).
One of the things I was thinking about was the ability to print a template and place it under a clear plastic cover.
This looks ideal.
Have a plastic base, and be able to slide one of these into it. A lot of devices have remote controls. If a company can make their remotes like this, their cost drops significantly. For the companies that sell multi-remotes, they can have a base model, plus "templates" that customers can get cheaply. That way, instead of making a couple of remotes that have differring features, they can make one or two, plus tons of different templates that consumers can choose from.
That's an idea that just might flourish in both the short and long terms.
The net is full of then you know, like jusux. Something about this doesn't sit right with me.
My poop detectors are beeping and flashing red lights on this one.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Of that old SNL sketch where Eddie Murphy was hosting a bogus "Black History Minute" about George Washington Carver -- where "Skippy" and "Jif" became millionares, while "Carver died penniless and insane, still trying to play a phonograph record with a peanut." :)
On a more serious note, I can think of one company about a mile up the road from me who would probably love to talk to him about the technology and its potential for inclusion in direct mail. I suspect that the problem isn't that potential and VCs are uninterested in the technology as much as it is a reluctance/inability to hook up with a sufficiently competent marketroid to present it to them correctly. Some of the r&d companies with the best technology around languish for years because they can't sell their way out of a paper bag....
This is my opinion and my opinion only. Incidentally, IANAL.
MOO;IANAL.
There used to be a picture linked here.
I think this is a really great idea. It brings us one step closer to the millinium future that you imagined as a kid where you were flying around in cars like "The Jetsons."
I think what he needs to do, though, is make so they aren't a one use then trash it concept. He should make it always reuseable Let's say you want to take a census. You plug it in to a phone line, and have dial the number for the organization that is taking the census. Then download the data needed to take it, take it, and send it back to them. Then if you want to vote a week later you could dial the apropriate number, download the data over your previous census data, vote, and there you go. It would be a wounderful concept if it was a bit more open. I really would like to see this go someplace
Energy Flow
-D0n'+ h$+3 M3 b3C0u5e 1'M 4 1337 Hax0R!-
I do have a problem with the complaints one hears in conspiracy discussions like this. The basic premise is: the people with money are dumber than the people without money. They must be, they can't see how good these ideas are! Come on! Not only are many people who have money plenty smart (some having founded technology companies), they can even afford to hire the smartest people to make investment decisions for them. You could take their message to heart: they think there is something wrong with the package. If not the idea, then the risk of the team, the risk of weak intellectual property protection, the risk of competition, the risk of substitute products... any explanation that starts out "I know better than everybody else" just falls flat. (I want points for that segue back to "flat":)
Anyway, the suggestions I read all have to do with government paper pushers. Look for applications that are driven by high demand in markets where tracking is really worth some dough, where there are a small number of players who are large and potentially willing to take the risk because they are in a position to reap the benefit. How about FedEx shipping labels, or NYSE buy and sell orders, or medical records. Could he whip up a version and stand on the floor of trade shows taking surveys with it? Many times, exposing technologies like this to many potential customers directly results in them thinking of the applications.
disposible items are NOT the future, not unless we want to destroy the planet (if we haven't already). the idea of an ultra thin paper like computer IS a very good one, but the fact is it will probably not happen for another 5+ years, production cost is just too high right now for it to be a feasible consumer item. also i agree that the uses sugested for it in this article are not very good ones, the voting type thing can be handled other ways more effeciently not to mention all of the federal and state requirements for voting mechanisms. the hypothetical victorias secret interactive ad is a nice idea but the prevalence of home computer systems and public internet connections makes this mostly useless and unlikely. no doubt someday when the technology is there someone will try this but i suspect it will fail. nice comments on the fax machine, why the hell aren't these things fucking DEAD?! I mean, godamn EMAIL? the world, especially America, really needs to make more of an effort to eliminate paper from use as much as posible, instead paper consumption is INCREASING and quite fast too. in case people haven't noticed we are devouring this planet at an unsustainable rate, and poisoning it in the process.
The main point was that you made a first post logged in and with an alladvantage-ad. Two things that the folks around here generally don't respond well to. I have nothing against the first posters, they're just doing their thing, and will be moderated down accordingly. But if you actually try to make legitimate posts later logged in others can't help but ridicule you for it. The MLM plug was, for me, nothing more than icing on the cake. It also ruins folks credibility here as some people will question every post as an attempt to drum up more cash. Sorry if I sound harsh but that's the skinny the way I see it. If you make good postings or at least don't deliberately do things that push multiple "bad" buttons here chances are all will be forgave/forgotten soon enough.
Cheers
Cash is too anonymous. Gov't favors a massive centralized debit database where everything can be tracked. Remember money was once directly convertible into gold and silver *on demand by the bearer*. Not we have these notes that aren't convertible into anything. What's the next logical step? Many states have mag stipes on dirvers licenses. Can gov't issue debit cards be far behing. The infrastructure for this is already and unbeknownst to us being put into place.
I know of several DOD efforts underway now and listed in the Commerce Business Daily that are currently soliciting for "Light Weight" computing devices.
Or possibly Today's Commerce Business Daily, the Contractors Reference, These sites have thousands of RFP's each week.
Thoughts??
More race stuff in one place,
than any one place on the net.
Note: I already self-moderated this down by suppressing my bonus...
The Libertarian voting system you describe creates a huge number of problems -- not the least of which are that there is no mechanism for reflecting "second choice" and consequently most "strategic voting" schemes fail miserably.... I'm convinced what you'd get are a bunch of fringe candidates winning elections with 5% of the vote. It may not be a bad way to run a primary, however, so long as the top n (2? 3? 5?) votegetters wind up on a closed (ie. no write-ins) ballot.
And when you get to closed ballots, the "vote for one" system we use today is a disaster when you have more than two candidates in an election. Dr. Don Saari of Northwestern has done extensive research in voting theory, and openly advocates the use of Borda counts (voters rank-order the n candidates, their top choice gets n-1 points, second choice n-2, etc., last choice gets 0) in elections to avoid the sorts of electoral "tragedies" (ie. where the last choice of a majority of the electorate winds up winning the election) we've had recently.
By the way, as an aside, the pre-printed cards system you advocate all-but-forces the ballots to be hand-counted... driving the cost of conducting the election up significantly.
This is my opinion and my opinion only. Incidentally, IANAL.
MOO;IANAL.
There used to be a picture linked here.
A VCR MANUAL THAT YOU CAN PROGRAM YOUR VCR BY PRESSING BUTTONS ON THE PAGE. You know cause those darn diagrams never match the VCR you bought! So you could set everything up from a nice colorful well explained manual. That's sweet do it man.. If manuals were interactive like a computer is it could help a lot. Has anyone been frustrated in a game where the manual said this key combo breaks the move but you still can't figure it out.. The manual could demonstrate!! neat! Or that lookup sheet beside your computer? You could select like a notes page or a page you previously added to it. No flicking through that big C++ manual trying to find the method you were looking for!
Fortune is a bitch with the morals of an alley cat and the attention span of a ferret. She favors you today, but tommorow....OOOooooh, something shiny!
http://www.sluggy.com/d/990904.html
there was some way he could use some part of the linux kernel for the embeded part translating the input, he could rightfuly put linux into his companies name, IPO, and have his own hawaiin island in no time!
Why would his invention be good? It's disposeable. What does that mean? More metric tons in the landfil. North Americans already consume, and thus produce much, much more garbage than other societies (including the European ones). What is this fascination with "use once, dispose many" products?
Look at the twinky wrapper. A piece of cardboard, a shell of plastic, and none of it is recycled. You want to vote? Don't use a piece of throw-away paper with no security (reading without opening envelope? Does no one else see the problem?), use a proper system that uses the voter's fingerprint. Walk up to a public terminal, verify your identity with the fingerprint and/or retinal scan (both technologies are existant today), and then enter your vote. Strong encrypted, your vote is sent to an automated computer which will tabulate the votes quickly and cheaply. And no more garbage.
Want more info? Go to adbusters.
---
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
"several glued-together layers of paper"
Hmmm... Seems to me a Census card is one small piece of paper. Also, all that glue and circuitry in the paper would *not* make for a very recyclable machine.
My "spouting off" about renewable resources was in direct reply to the preceding post. Perhaps you should read the posts.
Are you sure you read anything except my posts?
Junk mail can be recycled, in general. This thing clearly could not be.
As far as I can tell, the guy hasn't actually made one of these computers yet. It's just an idea he has, and he wants money to research it. Why does he deserve money? Why does he deserve a patent? He doesn't.
I've "invented" a 5 pound mountain bike. I can't actually build it because the technology to make it doesn't exist. I think I'll patent it so when somebody comes along and actually creates a 5 pound mountain bike, I can sue. I guess all that's left is for me to whine about VC's not wanting to spend *their* money on *my* "brilliant invention". Boo hoo.
Patents should be for people who create actual technology. VC's are there to help those people produce the product. They are not there to help every person with an idea. Let's face it, ideas are worthless without the technology to back them up.
Gee, I have an idea for paint that changes color on request. I have no idea how to make it work, but I'll make up some technical jargon and patent it. Somebody else can do the real work later, and pay me for it.
If this guy actually has any real technology, I appologize. I'm sure he doesn't, however, because if he walked into a room with an actual paper computer, I'm sure he would have no trouble finding investors. This guy represents much of what is wrong with patents. Go ahead and whine, but don't expect sympathy from me.
> By the way, as an aside, the pre-printed cards
> system you advocate all-but-forces the ballots
> to be hand-counted... driving the cost of
> conducting the election up significantly.
Hmmm I don't care. It gives anyone who wishes
to run the ability to do so, without having the
horrible restrictions that we have today. That
is way more important than cost.
I think an important thing is the "None of the
Above" vote that would cause a position to go
vacant is most important reform I can think of.
In truth...I would prefer to advocate none of
these. I would advocate getting rid of ALL ideas
of federal impersonal government. No government
should ever be so large or occupy such large
of an area that simple direct democracy town
meeting style government is inneffective.
I think "Democracy" in the huge proportion we
have now is woefully innefective. It reduces
everything to a high school popularity contest
where whoever has the coolest haircut and
prmoises pizza in the cafeteria wins.
I dunno about you...but I look at ALL of the
available choices in almost EVERY election I
have seen...and I have yet to see a single person
I would want in any position of power.
Gore? Bush? Bradly? how about a choice?
I am damned tired of having the best Government
money can buy....but now I have digressed way
off topic.
In any case...I think this guys proposal would
be a terrible way to run elections.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
I cna't believe you follow that viepoint and can honestly say I'm sorry for you that your world view is so limited.
/. or even using computers at all.
Inventing things is often applying technology or in fact anything in a new manner. There's very little in our present current society that was actually invented from scratch and not a collection of other already existing parts.
If we had to wait for someone to invent everything from scratch then I can guarantee that we'd never be typing on
"Bah!" - Dogbert
It seems to me that we could all be being led down a goose chase here. The web page reminds me most of the many hoax web sites that one sees, as we don't see anything that really shows the existence of either a prototype or a working product. It reminds me of those who have sites claiming to have solved the P=NP problem, or those who claim to have a unified field theory (discussed several days ago, on /.) I hate to doubt the veracity of someone, but in this case the unprofessional web site and the lack of technical details at least brings it to mind.
Given that these concerns occur to me (not one talented at all at doing due diligence) it strikes me that VCs would also be suspicious. What evidence is being presented to VCs? Perhaps we could help you tune those documents. Although (as in all fields, even slashdot!) there is some nepotism in VC, good, well presented ideas rise to the top, as always.
David Andre
Especially if it replaces conventional computers, which aren't near as recycleable as something made out of paper is.
Maybe it is conventional computers that should be banned, not paper ones.
Here's a clue: very very few business plans get a large chunk of money from VCs without being implemented as a business first. The legend of going to a VC with nothing but a plan and getting millions simply does not happen unless it is 1) a great idea and 2) you have a track record in the industry you're targeting AS A BUSINESS PERSON. Unless you're willing to give up control to an outside manager, your computer expertise means nothing. VCs know that the greatest product in the world goes nowhere without good marketing and management. If it's so great, find an Angel and get enough money to at least start. If your idea truly has such minimal overhead and could turn first quarter profits, it shouldn't take much to launch.
And what is Slashdot up to these days? This story reeks of "paid advertorial". ("Great American Dream" - jeez)
Another thing to consider is environmental impact. Do we really want to make yet another item to put in a landfill? Is disposable really a good thing? Could they be recycled?
Testing timezone on my computer
The material that the Paper computer is seposed
to be made of will be flexible. Can you imagine
how much this can help the wearable computer
industry? (your computer as part of your
jacket. hm..)
Just look at the parallels between this paper-computing article and the article posted yesterday about the 'scientist' making hydrinos:
Both hope to revolutionize the industry
Both claim to be suppressed by the establishment who fear being obsoleted by the new technology
Both need that little kick in the pocket book to get things rolling (albeit, one has that financial backing and the other is still seeking it).
It's a common enough type of story, and unfortunately most variations are indistinguishable regarding whether it's for real or just a scam. Now all we need is a spiffy icon.
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
I don't know anything about this guy; I don't sympathize with him. However, VCs are not exactly the best thing since sliced bread. They have a very herd like mentality, a strong aversion to risk where they divert from the herd. There is a certain irrational aversion to risk, in that they'd rather take a great risk and fail with company, they take a smaller risk and fail alone.
Today the latest scheme with VCs is the so-called dot com crowd. They've changed the whole investment window timeframe with their huge IPOs. In other words, they VCs expect to get many times their money is two or three short years. This can't and won't hold up. However, the problem with this is that:
a) Most of these internet companies are going to go poof in a year or two. They just don't have the fundamentals.
b) They are diverting money from even higher rewarding investments with much much better fundamentals. It's not just Joe Schmoe's like this who're getting turned down, but people in strong industries [where the industry is atleast a sure thing], strong management, great experience, great technology [strong IP], and great marketing.
I'm not proposing that we create laws to force VCs to change their behavior or anything. But, coming from a family of sucessfull entreprenuers, I can tell you that VCs as a group are not all they are cracked up to be. Not when it comes to risk. Not when it comes to experience. Not even when it comes to even basic common sense.
I think what you're forgetting is that Slashdot folks aren't just blind fight-for-the underdog maniacs. It's just that usually the underdog is in the right. Here, he is not.
Actually, I have found that the folks here are not very tolerant and do not forgive so easily. I've seen a post or two get flamed and it takes several weeks or a new account to get past it. Sad, but thats Slashdot. It's a pretty tough crowd, these folks are pretty passionate about the issues.
Scientific American had a an article by 5-7 years ago about having systems like the Paper PC. The idea that with very cheap system, you would have lots of them and stack them on your desk like you do your papers today. Once PC per topic and then leave them on your desk. If needed, up/download info to your desktop. Use several to track your hardware inventory, what ones are on contract,etc. As needed take it with you to your equipment closets, update the list, then download it back down. Put your Xmas list one, upload to others in your family and download theirs, take it to Kmart with you as you do your xmas shopping so you get everyone the right gift.
One idea is that people are used to filing things on their desk, so having these PC's lets them continue in that paradyne but with greater information density. (Let's see. The Smith contract from last month would be 4 inches down and over on the left side).
The Cross Tablets with the handwriting recognitiion and the paper tables where a good start, but way to expensive. Those should have been $50-60 bucks each.
One idea is to use the Paper PC to track bowling scores. When you rent a lane you get a unit, you enter in the names and then keep score. It can help make sure you don't make a mistake, and then download the results to the league secretary when you turn it back into the desk. Spill a litter beer on it, no problem because they are so cheap to replace.
What If I told you that a German company had this idea for using giant airships to lift and transport hundreds of tonnes of cargo thousands of miles? Nuts eh?
Well, that's exactly what they're going to do, and I believe that they *will* do it. Want to know why?
Market research a business plan, a working prototype and some discipline in executing the plan. They now have millions of DM in backing from large banks and thousands of private investors who have applied through the web site. They they don't have an airship yet and the hangar isn't finished but both will be. They just do it.
Have a look at their web site at http://www.cargolifter.com/
(Slight overuse of frames and javascript)
Deleted
Sending data throught RF signals?... This reminds me of that distributed computing scam about that russian computer... All it needs is a smart alec to open up this paper and figure out the device, then we all would start having false ballot results.... and i don't see how someting so small can have an encryption device...and again...with more devices, means more cost...why not just dump the idea. Aaron
Jim's obviously done a study into a solution for voting systems. Perhaps he should attack it from another angle - ie. do a study into different markets for his 'device'?
Mail order catalogues must be feeling the pinch right now, the net's better for all but the most un-techno-aware housewife (include househusband here) who don't have time/money/knowledge to use the web. Personally I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of starting a mail-order catalogue account, but I would if it used Jim's paper device.
This way the forms can be reusable still - you need some way of entering numerical data instead of multiple choice - then the device becomes a reusable mail order form. Note the word reusable. With good planning it could be sent out to customers wiped clean - but still with minimal weight keeping posting costs down.
Another good point: security. Take Mrs Average Housewife (or Mr Average Househusband) who normally fills out a tedious form to order some stuff out the catalogue. They include their credit card details at some point. Uh-oh, zero security. Mr Dishonest Post-Interceptor can read it. Whereas this paper computer could 'lock' and encrypt these details once the user had finished the order - now it's safe in the post - right up till the form is unencoded. No credit detail insecurity, no chance the order is misread and incorrectly dispatched.
Possibilities are endless, Jim. You could make it 'sexy computing' if you started taking it to the right people. Perhaps move away from the Vulture Capitalists, go straight to the potential customer - they'll always be looking to get ahead of the competition.
insignificant sig
"The Paper Computer is not just uncommon nor merely special, it is, in truth, unique. No other company has anything like it, and, due to extensive patents, no other company will have anything like it for a long, long time."
Ok, is it just me, or does this sound like exactly the sort of thing many slashdot articles have been biased against lately? Sounds to me as though this company isn't going to have it for a long, long time... and they want to prevent other people who do have the research money from having it too.
Now, that's just a gut reaction to the statement, and is probably worded a little harshly. More power to this fellow if he can get off the ground. I just wonder how it fits in with the past articles...
I had the idea for a *recordable* greeting card based on a specific analog recording chip that made it cheap enough to implement. Sadly a "friend", without my knowledge, savaged a musical card to build a prototype, and showed it to Hallmark without them signing any NDAs.... Not too long after this Hallmark started selling this exact design, and had also secured an exclusive use agreement with the chip manufacturer so that no-one else could use the chip in card application. Needless to say, neither of us got a penny.
:-(
But you're right, the greeting card industry does appear to be interested in new ideas!
I wonder why this site features an icon that is linked to a site containing 'humour', and a link to the Urban Legends debunking site:
:)
http://members.thebee.net/allen/
Though, in truth I wasn't able to find an actual urban legend regarding paper computers...
- me -
I wasn't trolling. It was stupid, but I wasn't trolling. :]
There is one particular function that this product is especially suited for. Unfortunately, I see it as the only thing it can do that isn't being done better/cheaper some other way. This technology is a weapon of war. Ever since the airplane became a weapon of war, we've dropped leaflets on our enemies. Many people also remember the legendary "modem guy" who distributed modems to students and resistors in one of the early conflicts of this decade. Sounds practical to meld the two using this technology.
Each leaflet could contain messaging software that allows citizens to organize a resistance, upload intellegence or attack LANs to which it is attatched. Imagine the scope of the Human Intellegence effort you could launch against your foe if you gave 1,000,000 of these to their citizens.
No internet? No problem. Slap a flexible solar panel on the back, charge up capacitors, and communicate with satellites in bursts. It's mighty hard to track down the source of tiny transmissions in a broad and random storm.
Imagine 100,000 of your citizens using these against you during a war. Frightening. Not only will your enemy have extensive knowlege of your warfighting capability, but your enemy and citizens will know exactly where to strike where it hurts most.
Millions of these could be dropped by a plane over a large city in under a minute. People will pick them up and play with them. Especially geek types who are into technology, and might not care too much for the war their people are fighting. Being made of paper, there is a certain amount of "streamer" effect during descent, which could reduce impact velocity such that people don't get hurt and the device survives.
This technology seems especially suited to this application.
"Let him go, Ralph. He knows what he's doing." --Otto Mann (simpsons)
The reason this story is depressing isn't because the silly VC's can't see the genius of this guy's idea, it's because a guy can spend years working on something like this and still no so little about how to justify it to someone.
:-)
The fact is that there are THREE criteria that have to be met *strongly* for an idea to get funded, not one.
1) Is it a good idea?
The ways to tell this of course are what most of us are used to thinking about in the startup world. Where is the money? What is the revenue model? What kind of capital requirements are there to create the necessary factories, etc. to produce the product (this one is why dot-coms are so attractive.)? How long will it take to make money? Are there lots of customers? How will the market change over time? etc.
My sense from the article was that he has a *couple* ideas for uses and customers, all of which are basically centered around the government. Ideas get moderated down if they involve changing heavily bureaucratic organizations. It's just not going to happen, imho. But ok, let's grant point #1 and say it's a great idea.
2) Who is the competition and how will you handle them?
This idea is one which clearly has numerous competitors, some of which are heavily entrenched (like the existing balloting systems), and some of which are still under development (like the other poster doing the PalmPilot balloting). There are also all sorts of apples-to-oranges competitors like punched cards, CD-ROMs, etc.
Point #2 basically says that it's not enough to show the Promised Land to the VC... you have to show him that you understand the minefield between you and the Promised Land, and each and every mine between here and there, and how you're going to get through it.
This article did not give me a comfort feeling that this guy understands his competitors and understands a) how he is different from/better than each one, b) what is the barrier to entry for those competitors to do something similar, or c) what he will do to raise the bar on them when they do figure out how to react to him. But for now, let's grant him point #2 as well, just to get to #3...
3) Why You?
The last question is usually the hardest for entrepreneurs to answer. They hem and haw and say "well because it's my idea." Well guess what? Good ideas are a commodity. Everyone (including the poster I'm replying to here) has their own great idea. Lots of people have duplicate ideas. So why should the investor sink millions of dollars into YOU personally?
Most of the time the answer is helped by proprietary technology, patents, etc. But the real reason is because of the *team*. The saying among VC's is "Bet on the jockey, not on the horse." In the original posting, the inventor was quoted as saying "well you have to KNOW someone to get meetings with VCs." Well guess what? Yes you do. After this many years, it should tell him something that he doesn't have A-1 talent signing up to help him out. Where is his board of directors and advisory board full of A-list players who have taken companies like this public before? Where is his team of technologists and his team of financial guys? Where is his team of VC experts who KNOW the people you need to know to get the right meetings?
I've been going through it recently (and gotten this education), and trust me, it's not that hard to find these sorts of people if your answers to Points #1 and #2 are good.
Anyway, I've been writing long enough... but *sigh* if even ONE entrepreneur out there reads this and saves themselves 10 years of needless frustration, it will have been worth it.
...Crash
"The difference between theory and practice is small in theory and large in practice..."
I dig it. I think it's a great idea and that Jim is the man. Feel real sorry for him that he's doing so poorly. Here's an idea: I bet some of we (not me) slashies are real good at making nice website. Wouldn't it be nice if someone helped spiff out his URL? I think it could help lure investors. Other than that, I just wanted to offer some encouragement to our good man J. Don't let them get you down, man. I think it will work out for sure.
...just waiting to be unearthed!
If you're feeling down and about ready to quit, let me tell you a quick story about two college dropouts who had an invention that no big corporations wanted. All the corporations that saw this invention said "It won't sell! No one's going to want one!" Well, that little invention was called the personal computer, and I don't think I have to explain about HOW WRONG the corporations were. The two little simpletons who decided to make the invention had their own corporation within five years called Apple Computers!
Let me first say GOOD JOB! It's pathetic, how 99.9% of stuff we purchase is either an overpriced, overhyped spinoff of last years fad or a product which went through a year of corporate testing and surveying before implemented. There's rarely ever an Original Idea that a simple person came up with in their little "personal work space."
When I read about this, I was thinking if this thing could even possibly have a good use. So, what's the problem? You're barking up the wrong tree. I work for Coca-Cola, and personally, I can see this working PERFECTLY in this business: invoices. Right now, Coca-Cola and Pepsi lug around a unit weighing about 16 pounds with one of those "Trackers," and a printer, and the unit costs around $250 (in this tech age, it isn't worth $15). But they continue to use it, because it gets the job done.
It would be SO CLEAN AND EFFICIENT to have a small, cheap "Paper Computer" that we could simply program to list the products on an invoice, compute their cost, and display it in a simple table (something even an 8088 processor could do), and have a little place for a signature. Personally, though, I'd much rather have it so they could be recycled rather than thrown away. The drivers would be much more happy to have a simple paper sheet they could pull from their truck programmed with the order, able to display it, and obtain/record a signature.
Another idea: use these paper computers on electronic clipboards. If you could make, as you claim, a cheap way to display text digitally on paper, you could easily replace all those "digital clipboards" that cost around $100.
There are plenty of inventions that were invented for a specific purpose, only to be adopted for a completely different use. Great example: the Tommy Gun. This gun could fire more rounds in a second than any other gun in it's time and was manufactured for use during WWI. They were shipped late, however, and were never use during the war. The inventor tried and tried to persuade security companies and police agencies to adopt the gun, but too many officers just couldn't fathom a use for an expensive gun that fired that fast (and was that big). So, where did it find it's niche? The mob. Price didn't matter, and it fit PERFECTLY into the lifestyle of the rich and aggressive.
Case in point: your invention sounds like a great one, but don't limit your views to a small market (and a very difficult one to enter into... the government, that is). Brainstorm, and try and find other markets.
One last thing to realize: if you want to push your product, YOU'RE going to have to do it, rather than hoping that some big-time corporation (or the government) will adopt it. Look around, becuase I'm SURE that there's a market for this somewhere!
And for all those asking about patents, quit asking. Had you actually looked at his web site, you would have discovered that it's patented... good thing too, considering how many inventions have been toiled over by individuals only to be swept away and adopted by corporations.
I think the idea of a massive centralized debit database would be AWESOME. Think of something like a Visa card only the system would be 100 times bigger and EVERYTHING would tie into it. Newspaper stands, McDonalds, porn sites, Blockbuster, gas stations, etc. I've come to the point where I don't buy anything over $20 with cash anymore.. it is WAY too inconvenient to go to the ATM and get out money and then you have to worry about being robbed or mugged. Cards should definitely also have strong authentication though. At LEAST a 12 character code (alphanumeric non-dictionary words only). Maybe a biometrics combined with a pin number. That'd be fantastic. I'd love the day I could go up to McDonalds, flip out my plastic cash card, enter my pin number into the machine, put my eye up to a reader and have my Big Mac and fries automatically deducted from my "cash reserve" in the federal government's huge computer system. The more and more I think about it though, it'd be cool if we also had some kind of transmitter imbedded under our skin at birth. That'd kick ass for finding lost children and criminals. Maybe embed it into the heart tissue so that it would be extremely hard to remove without killing yourself or undergoing major surgery. Centralized, controlled societies are the way of the future and it is a GOOD thing. Anybody that wants to remain anonymous in this day and age is a freak and a psychopath.
It's just plain stupid for people to be coming up with more disposable garbage for non-critical purposes. I wish the gee-whiz crowd would pull their heads out of cyberspace long enough to recognize that the computer industry leads the pack in shortening the amount of time this planet will remain habitable. But hey, let's bring on another piece of marketing BS emphasizing short-term returns over long-term survival.
The voting booth is a perfect example of the sort of technology we ought to be pursuing: durable, long-lasting tools that may cost more but destroy less. At the very least, how about a GPL'ed secure electronic voting app that can be run on obsolete hardware?
Moore's Law does not apply to natural resources. The gratuitous use of natural resources for frivilous purposes needs to be brought into check, and soon. This guy deserves his poverty; it's a pity the junk mailers and the packaging people can't follow him there.
Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
Stick them out on your desk for the morning while their lithium ion battery recharges.. use it for the next month.. all the while if it's in sunlight it'll be charging. ;-) It is the ultimate PADD like in Star Trek. Screw disposable batteries. Palm V is the first step away from the AA disposable society of PDA use. So no, we would need paper, you'd bring your government issued PADD (give everyone in the US one.. make them cheap enough to be able to do this.. maybe $50) and you would be responsible for it. You could use it for everything from banking to shopping to voting and paying your taxes. Go to a voting place (or online), enter your authorization information, enter your votes, and voila.
At least from what I've heard, our entire supply of paper in the US these days comes from tree farms NOT "old growth" forests. They don't go logging in Yellowstone park to make paper anymore. Sure, third world countries may still do that because they don't have enough farms setup to fill their needs, but screw them. I hope they all catch AIDS and die.
Putting people out of jobs is NOT cool. Screw you man. You're just like the jerks who say they have some ultraefficient car that doesn't burn any gas and can go 1000 times farther between fillups. You're going to put oil companies and car makers out of business! Stop it! People need jobs.
``Matter can never be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction; it can only be transformed.''
Recycling, Reusing, throwing away.. NONE OF THOSE CAN change this fact. The atoms aren't destroyed.. They can always be reused. Even people with a good understanding of science never seem to remember this law of chemistry.... at least when recycling is the topic of conversation.
(Yes, while there are a finite number of atoms within the earth, there are so many you might as well say its near-infinite.)
So what is all this uproar about there being a ``finite number of resources''? All you need are the atoms... Crude oil, wood, trees.. All of these can be manufactured given the raw materials (atoms) and energy.
Yes, right now, its not usually worth the money (IE: hours of human labor) to actually refine these raw atoms (What you disparigingly call trash).. It requires less human labor to extract from mines or land which already exists. So we don't typically reuse those atoms.
When the economics of obtaining raw materials change, humanity will remain using the most economical methods. Maybe we will mine the `landfills' and `dumps' as raw source material.
Read the posts before you moderate. This was quite on-topic indeed.
--------
"I already have all the latest software."
Innovation: reminds me that the iMac was voted most innovative product of 1999, when we had the same thing eons ago (CP/M or whatever the predecessor of the commodore VIC20 was called) Innovative, yeah right...
I gave up sigs almost a year ago.
``Matter can neither be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction. It can only be transformed.''
The atoms still exist. The atoms can still be reused. All that's needed is human labor and energy.
PS: This applies to every other post about the evils of ``disposible'' products, or the evilness of the ``consumption culture'' on this whole damned thread. I've responded to two of these messages. I'm going to ignore all the rest.
What's so mysterious to me is why do so many in the slashdot crowd.. And so many scientific types.. They all seem to forget about this fundamental law of chemistry. I would love for someone to explain to me how they manage to do it?
Of course someone will have to say it...
Imagine -- every trashcan a beowulf!
How many DES keys could a landfill go through in a day?
..etc, etc...
I for one could care less how much he invented... The real question is dose he have a working prototype...
I don't care how posable it is the question is can he do it...
My sister and I worked on an invention once and we had to present a working prototype before anyone would even look at us...
It didn't seem posable, it wasn't sexy, it wasn't trendy but people seemed intrested becouse we were building a prototype...
In the end it became a problem of matching skills.. I could build the electronics and she could work on the hardware but we were never able to meet up to work on the thing together. In the end we dumpped the project.. no money invested other than our own becouse we had no working prototype...
It looks like he has not presented a working prototype... maybe he has but it dosn't sound like it...
Also the disposable part may make it a harsh sell.. bad busness planning.. no one wants a new disposable product.. that was good a few years back when we didn't care about the environment but now any new disposable product gets a lot of people pissed... disposable calculators but only if you don't sell them as such... Never let the consummer know you expect them to throw it away...
A change in the plan.. not PAPER but PLASTIC.. same results but now it dosn't look disposable.. it's durrable and can survive.. otherwise the same product...
Even better recyclable cards... the card itself is a plastic computer (paper computer using plastic) give to friends.. great.. they take the card to the halmark store and upload a NEW card image and give to friends... the upload would cost less and be more costum.. just replace or recharg the battery.
I don't actually exist.
Perhaps if we made them from hemp, we could do something else with them after using them instead of just discarding them.
It strikes me that a perfect market for paper-based computers is trading cards, such as for sports or collectible card games.
Companies like Topps and Wizards of the Coast have extensive experience in manufacturing trading cards, which can consist of multiple layers of card stock bonded together with metalic foil imprints. Plus, they also have huge audiences of collectors/players/traders.
It also strikes me that collectors would most likely hang on to such cards, so they wouldn't end up in a landfill somewhere.
Another possibility is disposable hand-held video games, anything from keychain up to Gameboy-sized.
Of course, worn-out paper computers would be discarded, but perhaps they could be sold with a deposit like glass bottles, which would be refunded in the same fashion.
Aryeh
Dexter is a good dog.
If you had any clue you would know that the actual process of recycling paper is more harmful to the enviroment than creating virgin paper.
Conservation of energy? My ass! Producing virgin paper takes less energy on our part but it takes a lot more patience (trees take a while to grow. I know, it seems like they grow pretty fast, especially since we've wiped out the bison, fight forest fires and made more room for expansion of forests.....but it still takes a lot of time. Deal with it). You talk about conservation of energy all you want, we all know what you're really saying is that you want instant gratification and won't let nature, or the laws of physics, do the work for you at a leisurly pace.
. Quit playing Monopoly with Bill. Switch to one of many non-Microsoft products today.
I think not. That is a very broad statement you're making there. I simply do not like the idea of being able to be tracked wherever I go, or having to rely on my "money card" to pay for things. Power goes out, I'm basically SOL if it's out for more than a battery backup system can sustain it. Satellite breaks, we're screwed. Take the problems people have with credit cards, add all the people who don't have one, and you've got a crapola of problems to deal with. What about the little ones? Right now mommy can give little maria 25 cents to buy her own blowpop, but with a "carded" system will little maria have a card? Are we now going to have an age limit on who's ALLOWED to spend money? If I want to load my friend $20, I can whip it out of my wallet and give it to him pretty darned quick. With this "carded" system, how would that work? We have to go to an ATM-like machine a do a transfer? I suppose that's tracked too right? Will the system have to approve that? What if it decides not to let me? IMHO, there's too many problems with a wired system completely replacing cash. If you don't like using cash, then don't, go to your local bank and get a debit card. Also, who's going to pay for the cost of all the equipment that will need to be installed at all the retail locations that aren't "wired" yet? If the gov't is going to force physical cash to be obsolete, I hope they're going to supply the proper equpment to make it happen everywhere in the country. On top of all this, I must be a freak or something, cause I sure as heck don't want "big brother" tracking where, when, and on what I spend my money.
how can such an idea not have investors, why
havent companies just straight out bought the
patents by buying the company ?
All this guy appears to know how to do is build a paper keyboard. A keyboard is a lot different from a computer. A computer requires a CPU, which can be cheap. A computer also requires a display device, which is a problem. Obviously, LCDs, CRTs, and other displays of that sort are not disposable, nor are they small, nor are they cheap. The only alternative that I immediately see is that of paper-based displays, which have been coming RSN for a long time.
Switch the . and the @ to email me.
And yeah, if you actually want to use that debit card, them gov'ment guys will make you get a special tattoo on your forehead. That way they can have you run your head over the scanner at the cash-register then run your card through and be sure that you are using *your* debit card. This guy told me the gov'ment thinks this will keep people from stealing debit cards, or useing fake ids to be to make anonymous purchases of ammo, fertilizer and diesel fuel. Thereby destroying our freedom to buy lots of ammo, fertilizers and diesel fuel.
10 years ago, I was designing membrane keyboards for microprocessor controlled systems. The difference was that the "PC" was not attached directly to it. Now any greeting card or kids noise making book has a similar setup.
As an electronic designer and inventor for the past 25 years, what I have found to be the greatest hurdle is not the electronics but the mechanics of a product and the market.
I've looked at "modernizing" electron microscopes, flying spot scanners, photo ionization chambers, magnetic bearings and many many other devices. The electronic portion is the easiest to modernize, the actual physical mechanics of the devices are the most difficult and usually require the most investment in money and time.
In the many companies that I have worked in, it was the individual that had the product idea, who believed in it and a market for it who became rich. They hire joe schmoe like me to design the product. The joe who made it work just got the biweekly pay cheque and if they were lucky a pat of the back. Usually, after the product was completed, it was slam bam thank you ma'am.
In order to come up with the invention, you have to be an expert in the industry that needs the invention. This means that you need to know the industry inside and out. The key is to listen to what people say - "I wish that they would make something that does ..." or look at where money can be saved by automating a process, or when people say "This is so boring because it is so repetitive..."
Ideas come from listening to what every day joes say about their jobs.
The problem with the paper computer is that there isn't a market and a working prototype. After 10 years, and the patents (don't they require a working prototype?), he should have a computer to demonstrate that it does exactly as he says. Then people will sit up and listen.
Ideas are cheap, working prototypes are what sell.
Here's a cheap and dirty way of getting fast market evaluation. Advertise that you have model A1 vaporware, see how many enquires you have from interested parties. If there's lots, go for it. If not drop it. Sounds unethical, look at all the vaporware we hear about especially the features on software products from Seattle.
Go to major distributers/sellers and see if they are interested in distributing your product. Get written confirmations. Distributer XYZ will purchase/distribute 10,000 units over the next 3 year if the cost is under $x.xx. This type of marketing support is what the VCs are looking for.
They don't care how good the product is, they want to see a return on their investment.
I have seen people get rich from the most stupidest inventions. One that comes to mind is the furnance vent fan. The sales pitch was that every house has one or two cold rooms. The idea was that you could buy a floor vent with a small fan attached that would help suck the hot air out of the furnance and warm the room.
So the guy incorporated a company and put it on the penny stock market. Spent about $30,000 setting up the initial stock offering. Got a government grant ($300,000) also.
Set up a lab - basically a workbench with every cheap fan he could find to hang on it so he could demonstrate that he was doing something with it.
Went to all the major hardware and department stores. Got a committment out of them for so many per year if it worked and cost so much.
Went public, made about $750,000 on the initial offering. He owned a matching number of shares. Paid himself $500,000 for the idea. Paid himself a hefty salary. Bought a new company car etc..
Decided to make a second offering about a year later, for building a facility to manufacture. Raised $1 million, sold his shares for $500,000, ran the company for a year and it went under.
He made over $1 million over 3 years on $30,000 initial investment on his part and a lot of footwork.
Now, government's don't want to loan or support small businesses even though they say they do. What they want to hear is how many jobs will be created. If you say I need $20,000 and I will be able to hire 3 more workers, you will be laughed out of the office.
If you say that I need a $100 million loan guarantee and I will be hiring 400 workers over the next 3 years and it will generate $40 million a year over the next 10 years, then the government will give you every tax break possible and you will end up with $200 million no matter how stupid the idea is.
I think that it has to do with the more money you need means that you must really know what you are talking about. Most government workers are intimated by large amounts but understand small amounts.
Go figure..
Never coherent and especially exhausted, i think i must try to burp a reply. I shrugged at your first post, grimaced at the second, now I struggle to belch.
Ah! I should like you--thou sayest that this matter (nevermind) of sansara is the riverrun, commodiously recirculing...
Actually, I think this point of view is stupid, except from the perspective of the elemental atoms themselves. They are invincible (pertaining only to chemcial reactions)!
Simple "scientific" flaws: all of this capitalist consumerist merchandise mongering uses a lot of energy manufacturing worldly attachments... and a lot more energy will be needed to demanufacture goods into reusable resources. Ah! What if some of this energy is nuclear (natural like the sun or artifical like springfield nuclear). Now, can you think of some practical way to reverse these processes? Even if all of the energy behind our hyperreal gluttony comes from "renewable" sources, our very consumption, in any form, irresponsibly fosters greater rates of entropy increase. Whatever you have in mind for the final cats-game of the universe, be it closed or open, iron atoms... who knows how many billions of years have been shaved from the distance
Ok, that was absurdly long-view. And slightly fatalistic. Let's look at this idea of reusing atoms. It seems that you admit that this atom reusing = recycling. You point out that recycling is a waste of energy and not a very good way of doing things presently. That is an argument against recycling. It is nothing even close to a good defense for disposible products or our evil consumption culture.
Landfills will enbiggen! Air will dirtify! The good savage, wherever he or she may roam, sheds a tear as we drown in our decadence.
BLAST! I can't make a good argument even if I try. Maybe tommorrow. Too much sun and college-applications tonight. Email me if you want more tommorrow. It's just dumb to try face problems of ecology/sociology with absurdly reduced thermodynamics.
Careful, they're moderate you down for that sort of thing, here. :^)
A thought might be to not concentrate only on world-shattering implications, and use paper 'puters for smaller things, like novelties aimed at Japanese markets. The parts of the device humans must interface with should be protected by plastic or whatnot (sounding wonderful for the environment already), but there are attractive things that can be made on an almost completely flat surface. Try floating the idea without trying to make much money.
That way, the items become more pervasive, and the components of normal computers are very energy-intensive in the first place.
--fourthstring
I like this.
Hands in my pocket
Now, if I could buy one of this, I'd be different. Actually, if there was a "release" version of this, that people could buy ($5, mailed on a envelope..), maybe he could make a better impression of the product.. "Paper computers" sounds ridiculous, but I think it'd be really cool to try one..
I can pay $5.. (sure, the guy would need to produce a lot of these..)
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Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!
Ah yes---he commands the Taco.........
DAILY ROTATION
maybe they should look at:
punched cards.
heh.
smash
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
oh yea ...and by the way, last night I was eating a freekin double quater pounder with extra bacon and fries right in the bun while clubing little baby seals right between the eyes. I wait untill they loook up at me with that sad sad poutling little look in there eyes, then *THWACK* bash there little skulls in.
If you want to see some bad moderation, check out my post over here. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, but even incremental power corrupts at least incrementally. For some reason, people like to confuse "troll" and "flamebait" with "I don't agree with his political views so I'm going to whack him anonymously instead of responding to his post (which would prevent me from moderating other posts on this article)".
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
"...where the forms could be automatically read, via the RF interface, without even opening the envelopes."
Er, what's to stop me from swiping your mail (somewhere in the chain there's bound to be a weak link, or even from within the mail system itself, we know how dependable they are) and reading it myself? I realize that Census records aren't that interesting, although I'm sure many corporations would love the market research. But if that sorta thing caught on: what if your taxes were filled via paper computer? Sounds like an easy way to get confidential information out of unsuspecting victims.
And anyway, why send a paper computer (which would cost more than paper, and takes a while to reach the destination) when you can send email (with an attachment if need be)? This might be a good idea in a very small amount of applications (in areas where email isn't a viable option for security reasons, for instance), but it seems like it has been outdated by more recent, cheaper, and faster alternatives. Once encryption reaches the right levels, we should be able to do much of what he suggests online (in fact, we already can). If you factor in the fact that all the technology in that paper computer could easily be built into the wall next to your front door (or anywhere), it seems like getting computer-paper mail would be a waste of resources. Factor in portable computers (both PDAs and the more techno-keen wearable computers) and e-books and you have a pretty small market.
I think that, sad as it may be, the market for paper computers is almost past. It would have been a perfect technology for the transition to a more technologically integrated culture (read: computers built into the infrastructure and daily life, but they're so inconspicuous you hardly notice them), but since we seem to be on the road there already--see the computer touchphone, the on-hand PC and driving with night vision--I don't think it's going to work in this late stage. I'm sorry for Jim, but I just don't think he's gonna have luck with the invention. Damn cool invention though.
Then again, I could be wrong.
Try Interactive Greating Card. :)
Only takes a few months to grow a crop. Now what to do with all that useless resin from the seed pods?
OK, this guy's putting this lame money-grubbing crap into all of his posts, and I'm the whore?
Yes, people can put whatever they want to in their sigs, congratulations. As for my posts, I can put whatever the fuck I want to in them, m'kay?
Just like the "tradition" of grabbing first post, just because you can doesn't mean you should.