[IP] Summarized -- Has U.S. lost inventive edge?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/business/yourmoney/13invent.html
According to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, an organization in
Akron, Ohio, that counts Mr. West among its inductees, about 90
percent of all microphones used today in devices like cellphones,
acoustic equipment and toys derive from electronic transducers that
he helped to develop in the early 1960's.
Inventors have always held a special place in American history and
business lore, embodying innovation and economic progress in a
country that has long prized individual creativity and the power of
great ideas.
..."The scientific and technical building blocks of our economic
leadership are eroding at a time when many other nations are
gathering strength," the National Academy of Sciences observed in a
report released last month. "Although many people assume that the
United States will always be a world leader in science and
technology, this may not continue to be the case inasmuch as great
minds and ideas exist throughout the world.
...To spur American innovation, it recommends enhanced math and
science education in grade school and high school, a more hospitable
environment for scientific research and training at the college and
graduate levels, an increase in federal funds for basic scientific
research and a mix of tax incentives and other measures to foster
high-paying jobs in groundbreaking industries.
...Mr. West's personal journey has involved overcoming school
segregation and racism, a reading disability and the downsizing of
Bell Labs, the legendary New Jersey research center where he once
worked, and he fantasizes about a day when children hold inventors
and scientists in higher esteem than hip-hop stars and professional
athletes.
...Benjamin Franklin, his kite lofted into the sky to coax
electricity from the clouds, is the totemic American inventor whose
financial acumen gave him time to ponder and then spout a series of
inventions that included a stove, catheter, glass harmonica, bifocals
and, of course, the lightning rod - which he declined to patent so it
would be freely available to the public.
...In 1932, a year after Edison died, corporations secured more
patents than individuals for the first time, and a year later the
Census Bureau eliminated "inventor" as a job class, according to
Technology Review, a trade publication.
...While tipping their hats to the scores of breakthroughs that have
emerged from corporate labs, inventors also say they are concerned
that bottom-line pressures at many companies may cause pure research
to be eclipsed by innovation tied to rapid commercialization -
leading to routine refinements of existing products rather than to
breathtaking advances.
...Despite those tussles, Mr. Stross says he believes that recent
technological advancements have helped to move innovation out of the
corporate sphere and to "give the lone inventor access to inexpensive
tools and resources to once again be master of one's own lab."
...For Mr. West, whose career has spanned stretches in creative
havens like Bell Labs, inventing has meant brainstorming sessions
with fellow tinkerers and long hours walking the corridors of his own
mind.
...Ilene Busch-Vishniac, a Johns Hopkins professor and inventor who
has collaborated with Mr. West for more than two decades, most
recently on acoustical research, called him the quintessential explorer.
...He and Ms. Busch-Vishniac are currently analyzing solutions to
noise problems in hospitals, and they are mentoring two local high
school students and a Johns Hopkins graduate student who have joined
their team as young inventors.
...Nathan Myhrvold, part of Microsoft's early brain trust and the
former head of its heavily endowed research arm, founded Intellectual
Ventures, a fund that he says spends "millions of dollars" annually
to support individual inventors in long-term projects.
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/