Inventions - are there any more electrical inventions to invent?

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In summary, the conversation discusses various potential electrical inventions that could be developed in the future. The speakers mention improvements in internet and smartphone technology, phone communication, electric power plants and transmission, and CD technology. One participant also shares their experience with filing a patent application for a music electronics invention related to guitars. They discuss the process and cost of obtaining a patent and express their interest in potentially submitting another patent in the future.
  • #1
Sulfur
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inventions -- are there any more electrical inventions to invent?

are there any more electrical inventions to invent ?:confused:
 
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  • #2


Everyday! I just filed a patent application and cross my finger!
 
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  • #3


Millions!
 
  • #4


Heck ya...Just to name a couple of the millions coming up...Have you ever noticed delay in your internet or smart phone internet? Huge improvements can be made here. The ideal system will be instantaneous.

How about talking on the phone? The bandwith is disgustingly narrow right now. It makes commuicating on the phone kinda difficult. If the phone had full bandwitdth, it would be like talking with someone standing in front of you. Right now, I think phone communication is one of the biggest dissapointments of mankind as far as technology.

How bout electric power plants and transmission? Our current system will be obsolute eventually...

How about CD's? They will be history fairly soon as well.

Etc...etc...etc...
 
  • #5


psparky said:
Heck ya...Just to name a couple of the millions coming up...Have you ever noticed delay in your internet or smart phone internet? Huge improvements can be made here. The ideal system will be instantaneous.

How about talking on the phone? The bandwith is disgustingly narrow right now. It makes commuicating on the phone kinda difficult. If the phone had full bandwitdth, it would be like talking with someone standing in front of you. Right now, I think phone communication is one of the biggest dissapointments of mankind as far as technology.

How bout electric power plants and transmission? Our current system will be obsolute eventually...

How about CD's? They will be history fairly soon as well.

Etc...etc...etc...

I thought CD is obsoleted already, I can't even buy my favorite singer Kate Voegele.
 
  • #6


psparky said:
How about talking on the phone? The bandwith is disgustingly narrow right now. It makes commuicating on the phone kinda difficult. If the phone had full bandwitdth, it would be like talking with someone standing in front of you. Right now, I think phone communication is one of the biggest dissapointments of mankind as far as technology.
.

This is by design. If they gave "full bandwidth" to your phone, they could fit fewer calls in a given amount of spectrum, so they would need more basestations and so your phone would cost more. This is not a technical issue... it is an economic issue. The technology exists to give cell phone calls the same clarity as being in the room with someone. No inventions required. The market has decided it does not want this.
 
  • #7


yungman said:
Everyday! I just filed a patent application and cross my finger!

Congratulations! Is this your first patent? The day I was awarded my first patent was truly extraordinary! What is the subject (you can be vague)?
 
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  • #8


carlgrace said:
Congratulations! Is this your first patent? The day I was awarded my first patent was truly extraordinary! What is the subject (you can be vague)?

Thanks, that's my second. Well, I am no where near celebrating yet, I just submitted 3 weeks ago. I wrote it myself, I did the patent search the best I can, but I never know those are in pending and not published yet. It is related to music electronics involving guitar. I was a musician before I got into EE in the 70s. Now that I am not working, I am on and off playing around with those electronics again.

My first patent is more in my field of semi conductor equipments and mass spectrometer.

http://www.google.com/patents/US7561438
 
  • #9


Congratulations Yungman ! You wrote it yourself ?

i wrote one but sent it to a patent lawyer. $ ten thousand and a couple years later it came back approved, US 7177383.

Wishing you good luck and continued success !

old jim
 
  • #10


jim hardy said:
Congratulations Yungman ! You wrote it yourself ?

i wrote one but sent it to a patent lawyer. $ ten thousand and a couple years later it came back approved, US 7177383.

Wishing you good luck and continued success !

old jim

Thanks.

Yes, I wrote it myself. I always curious on the patent law, and I feel it's always an advantage to learn how to write it. I really spent the last half a year, quit studying electronics and study how to write a patent application. It is quite tricky, the most important part is the "Claims" of the patent, it is almost like learning how to write a computer programming language. There are words that have more meaning than just English. It is like "IF, THEN, ELSE", "CASE" etc. And you have to follow certain progression. You name names like you define variables etc. and address accordingly. It was really kind of fun writing it. Learning how to convey the concept without being specific so it is hard for people to modify so the patent won't cover it.

It makes a big difference in the cost. Like you said, it can easily be $10K not even including the filing fee. For me, so far I paid $530 filing fee. This include the patent search by the USPTO, examine to make sure it is "unobvious", that nobody has a patent on it. I will get a feedback on the basic format of my application in a week or two to make sure the application pass the initial format or anything obvious. Then it will be a waiting period of a year for the examiner to do the patent search. Then if I am lucky enough that they approve the patent application, then I would have to pay the final patent filing fee of about $1200. If that happens and I pay the money, then the patent will be in pending.

Hopefully it would be a lot easier if I write another patent. This one is more major, but I have another simple guitar effect circuit that I am slowly doing patent search that I might consider submitting after I search through the existing patents. The patent search is very tedious, that's the boring part.

I think knowing how to write a patent is very important for an inventor. It's up to whether you believe me or not. One evening in 1987, me and stepson was talking about suitcase. We were just brain storming how to make it better. I came up with the idea putting two wheels one on each side on the broad side. Then have a retractable handle in the middle of the bottom of the suitcase. I believe we were a few years ahead of time before this kind of suitcase became popular. The difference was in my idea, the two wheels were on the broad side so it is more stable. The existing suitcase mostly has the two wheels on the narrow side. We laughed it off. I don't know what happened if we pursue this. I was very into real estate at the time and working full time, so I wasn't really taking it serious. BUT if this happen that I have an idea like this, I would write a patent application and see what happen as it's only $530 to file one if I write it myself.

You seen those gripping sticks for old people? you use it for grabbing stuff high shelf, picking up things on the floor if you cannot bend down. My brother came up with a cane with the gripper, he actually manufactured 5000 of it and shipped to US in 1984. I invested into it. But same situation happened. I was at the beginning of my career and I was busy at work. My brother was in Hong Kong. We depended one sales person to sell to the pharmacy store. He did not do a good job and the business failed. Nobody thought about applying for a patent. Now the gripping stick and stuffs are so popular.

I really advice any inventor should learn how to write a patent application. You never know where the little joking ideas end up. If one of the two I described pent out, I'll be a lot better off. You never know what can be money making, it is easy to Monday morning quarter backing. Bottom line, I did not pursue, it's no body's fault, it's not even about luck, I did not pursue them and I have no one to blame.
 
  • #11
jim hardy said:
Congratulations Yungman ! You wrote it yourself ?

i wrote one but sent it to a patent lawyer. $ ten thousand and a couple years later it came back approved, US 7177383.

Wishing you good luck and continued success !

old jim

Congrads for your patent. I just download the file and I'll read it. For people that want to see this:

http://www.google.com/patents?id=GOt-AAAAEBAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=US+patent+7177383&source=bl&ots=xT-4RN_69O&sig=p9ONX4Z5YAvUKpnf4tvwmPywMjo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=U8r_T7rXHKiq2QWmlcSABA&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=US%20patent%207177383&f=false
 
  • #12


For the inventors here. This is the book I studied:

https://www.amazon.com/Patent-Yourself-Step---Step-Filing/dp/1413313825/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342164050&sr=1-1&keywords=patent

I think it's a very good book. I have to wait and see the feedback from the USPTO, but I thought it is very clear. If you are an inventor, you owe it to yourself to buy a copy of this and read a little. The most important part is chapter 8 and 9 on how to write the claim and how to do the drawing.

USPTO is very helpful, they reply emails, they are willing to spend the time to answer your questions on the phone. Filing a patent is easier than you think. It will take a while to learn their language, but I feel my time is well invested. You can't pay $10K a pop for the lawyer to write out any idea you have!
 
  • #13


carlgrace said:
This is by design. If they gave "full bandwidth" to your phone, they could fit fewer calls in a given amount of spectrum, so they would need more basestations and so your phone would cost more. This is not a technical issue... it is an economic issue. The technology exists to give cell phone calls the same clarity as being in the room with someone. No inventions required. The market has decided it does not want this.

Wow...I didn't know that. Knowing this pisses me off even more.

I hate talking on the phone. It's so difficult to hear.
 
  • #14


psparky said:
I hate talking on the phone. It's so difficult to hear.
You're talking specifically about cell phones, aren't you? Landlines don't have anywhere near the garbled speech of cell phones, usually.
 
  • #15


Sulfur said:
are there any more electrical inventions to invent ?:confused:
I'm waiting for an affordable hi-res display that can be read with ease in bright sunlight, by phone users with typical middle-age vision.
 
  • #16
NascentOxygen said:
I'm waiting for an affordable hi-res display that can be read with ease in bright sunlight, by phone users with typical middle-age vision.
I just read this with squinted eyes on a sunny beach in Italy, and I fully concur. Someone should do something about this. Meanwhile I will go for a swim. Au revoir.
 
  • #17


NascentOxygen said:
I'm waiting for an affordable hi-res display that can be read with ease in bright sunlight, by phone users with typical middle-age vision.

It would probably drain the batteries even faster haha. The problem with glare reducing coatings on the glass is that it also reduces brightness and viewing angle.
 
  • #18


How about inventing a cable and ports that let's you transfer the mind of a brilliant person to a not so brilliant person.

Invent that and you will be a multi-trillion-zillionaire.
 
  • #19


psparky said:
How about inventing a cable and ports that let's you transfer the mind of a brilliant person to a not so brilliant person.

Invent that and you will be a multi-trillion-zillionaire.

I like that idea, or the transfer of someone's complete brain structure to digital storage.
 
  • #20
DragonPetter said:
I like that idea, or the transfer of someone's complete brain structure to digital storage.
Quite a daunting task if you consider this quote from neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran:

"The human brain, it has been said, is the most complexly organised structure in the universe and to appreciate this you just have to look at some numbers. The brain is made up of one hundred billion nerve cells or "neurons" which is the basic structural and functional units of the nervous system. Each neuron makes something like a thousand to ten thousand contacts with other neurons and these points of contact are called synapses where exchange of information occurs. And based on this information, someone has calculated that the number of possible permutations and combinations of brain activity, in other words the numbers of brain states, exceeds the number of elementary particles in the known universe.”
 
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  • #21


gnurf said:
Quite a daunting task if you consider this quote from neauroscientist V. S. Ramachandran:

"The human brain, it has been said, is the most complexly organised structure in the universe and to appreciate this you just have to look at some numbers. The brain is made up of one hundred billion nerve cells or "neurons" which is the basic structural and functional units of the nervous system. Each neuron makes something like a thousand to ten thousand contacts with other neurons and these points of contact are called synapses where exchange of information occurs. And based on this information, someone has calculated that the number of possible permutations and combinations of brain activity, in other words the numbers of brain states, exceeds the number of elementary particles in the known universe.”

Yes, it is very daunting and I doubt any of us would ever live long enough to see it happen if its possible.
 
  • #22


psparky said:
How about inventing a cable and ports that let's you transfer the mind of a brilliant person to a not so brilliant person.

Invent that and you will be a multi-trillion-zillionaire.


I definitely can use one. I always admire great minds.

I can definitely use a device to stimulate growth of memory cell. I am loosing them fast!:rofl:. I am trying to get back to studying, I review some of my notes on EM so I can pick up where I left off. It looks foreign to me...just from a year or so ago...it's my own hand writing:cry:.
 
  • #23


Let's think about the brain transfer a little bit.

At first only the richest of the rich could afford it. So then all the rich would have the greatest minds. And the middle class and the poor would have to do all the work as usual.

And then the rich would file it in area 51...because if everyone had the great mind and experience...who would do all the hard labor?

Then again, just because you have all the info...all brains are still not equal. A guy with a IQ of 200 would still dominate a guy with 80 IQ.

Or would the brain transfer increase IQ as well? I guess that would be the upgraded software.

Also, in a court of law...the truth would always be told with a download! (just think if we could see into the mind of our government officials and see how bad they are screwing us!)

Scary stuff...you are essentially messing with evolution...which typically never works out so well...at least they said so in Jurassic Park...
 
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1. What are some examples of recent electrical inventions?

Some recent electrical inventions include the smart home technology such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, electric cars such as Tesla, and wireless charging devices.

2. Are there any new developments in renewable energy technology?

Yes, there are many new developments in renewable energy technology, including advancements in solar panel efficiency, wind turbine design, and battery storage technology.

3. Can electricity be generated from sources other than fossil fuels?

Yes, electricity can be generated from renewable sources such as solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal energy. These sources are more sustainable and have less impact on the environment compared to fossil fuels.

4. What is the future of electric transportation?

The future of electric transportation is promising, with more companies investing in electric cars and developing new technology such as self-driving cars and electric planes. This will help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and decrease air pollution.

5. How can I get involved in the development of new electrical inventions?

There are many ways to get involved in the development of new electrical inventions. You can start by learning about the latest advancements in technology and renewable energy, joining a research team, or pursuing a degree in a related field such as electrical engineering. You can also support companies that are working on sustainable energy solutions.

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