"mlcorson" wrote in message
...
On Sep 24, 6:28 pm, "Tom Gardner" wrote:
I'm seeing previews for the movie about the invention of intermittent
wipers
in '63. Think how things have changed in 45 years. Today, a manager at a
design firm would tell a group of engineers to design such a system and
have
several designs on his desk by the end of the day. True, they didn't have
555s in '63. So, is it that a unique idea is a lot more important than the
actual design?

If you remember some of my previous posts about nurturing ideas that lead
to
designs, this has been an area of extreme interest to me. In the movie, it
looks like Ford screws the idea/design guy, which makes me sick. Designers
and model builders need more respect but idea guys need to be revered!
(coming from a guy that has had very, very few, if any, original ideas)

Tom:
Any good (product) idea takes a commitment of time, smarts and money
to bring it to market and then do the right things that make it
successful (profitable). Those people with the balls to risk their own
personal funds, stay up late nights overcoming problems and plain just
won't take no for an answer are the ones that make it. There are also
a lot of people who did all the right things, built great products and
still failed. In my opinion, ideas are a dime a dozen. An idea is
nothing without the ability (taking the $ risk, generating the
commitment) to fund it, make it and sell it.
-Mike

Excellent reply! Also, those with the "hook" into a market search for ideas
for products that can be shoved into the existing pipe. That "pipe" is a
valuable commodity!