Yeah, I Thought Of That...Too

I remember getting the idea--it's simple really. What if you could invent an attachment for an smartphone that would allow anyone to take and record an ultrasound picture or video? I even did a little research, and by "little," I mean I searched the web to see if, 1--it had already been invented, and, 2--a basic idea to see if it was even possible.

Turns out, it is, and it has been.

I've had other ideas that have been created. Back on April 7 of last year, I blogged about another one of my ideas that someone actually produced. Like last year, I'm not too upset about the smartphone ultrasound device being made by someone else. Because it actually exists now, that means I had someone else's idea long after they not only had the idea, but produced it as well. And, like most of my ideas, they usually just swirl round in my brain going nowhere. 

I knew an invention like this would take some pretty serious cash to even get it started, or someone with case who believed in the idea to support it.

I heard a podcast this morning from Mike Rowe. He's the "Dirty Jobs" guy who can tell a story in a charmingly folksy way. Today's story centered around inventors and he had some pretty amazing stats of those who invent things. Turns out, people who come up with new ideas don't stop at one--they have several patents to their name.

And even though my name doesn't appear in the patent office, I know at some point, I've had ideas that came to me. Unfortunately, they came to others, too, and many times, they came to them before they came to me. It's just as well. At least someone is making their ideas become realities.