On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 11:47:10 -0500, Hank Gillette wrote:

As far as forcing everyone to use it, they demonstrated that the
technology exists and asked for legislation to make such a safety device
be mandatory on table saws.

But the technology does _not_ exist, except in their demo units. If
they could ship a reliable product, they would be.

Assuming that such a law was passed, it
seems reasonable that the manufacturers of table saws could find
alternate methods of accomplishing the same thing.

Not if the patent is written in such a way as to restrict others
from adapting it.

If you remember, the
auto companies claimed that they could not raise gas mileage on their
vehicles until they were told that they had to.

Actually, all that results from that legislation is a gas-guzzler tax.

Whether it works or not, only time will tell. If you've seen the videos,
they are very compelling. Going back to the auto industry, there were a
lot of doubters about air bags when they were first introduced, but
their reliability has been remarkably good, and there are a lot of
people walking around today who would be dead or crippled without them.

And yet, I bet there's someone out there who holds the patent on the
airbag, and they're not trying to have the government force a single-source
for their invention.

Public good is _not_ their motivation. That's fine, really it is, but
pretending it is is what gets me.