Inventions Needed

There should be a timer-controlled stove-top burner control, so you can put a pot to boil (or simmer) and have the burner go off after 5 minutes, or whatever. Didn't you ever burn a pot due to this design failure?

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So-called "vampire" transformers and rectifiers should be required, in most cases, to have a three-way switch on the transformer, or, preferably, remotely on the device that says: ON-STANDBY-OFF, where OFF really means off. Indeed, all devices like TV sets, should have the same options. (we might modify this to ON-STANDBY-DEEPSTANDBY-OFF to allow digital clocks to function.)

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We need a better operating system. Windows fails on almost every front. (1) It is not documented for programmers (How are you supposed to be able to write programs for Windows.) (2) It is full of gotcha's, and of various flaws and deficiencies, and incredible complexity - often there for Microsoft's benefit, not the users. Did you read Brian Livingston's columns in the old Infoworld? He was always reporting on obscure software intended to fix various windows deficiencies. (3) It is a mess, designed without rhyme or reason in many areas. (Consider the registry idea, and its excreable execution, and the lack of a scripting language (perhaps that has been fixed, I am told, but I have not seen any manual for it.))

Unix systems have adequate functionality and inadequate documentation, but complexity has damaged Unix as well. (There are multiple places to get documentation on topics in Linux - how am I supposed to know where to go, or "how to go there.") In Linux, the problem of loadable shared "librarys" means you sometimes can't install new versions of programs on an old operating system! And, although unlike Windows, it is possible to be an expert on a Unix system, it takes far too much of your life to do so!

We can do much much better at OS design. Nextstep wss a start, but still too complex and undocumented. I don't know anything about Be or OS/2.

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We need a timer-controllable cassette recording option for radios - I want to use my radio just like I use my VCR to record programs automatically at chosen times. Also, all radios should have push-button pre-settable tuning - not just car radios and very expensive shelf-units. Whoever provides these features will destroy their competition (for a while.)

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Why are the ground transportation systems at most major airports so lousy? If it weren't for the free-lancers flouting the anti-service constraints, there would be no way to get into town at a reasonable cost and in a reasonable time-frame at all! [Does this provoke an idea about a simple reform?] And by the way, what businesses (or government "services") can you think of where the customers hate their suppliers! What will that bring-about in the long run?

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