The Joy of Innovation
One of my first successful mashup inventions was when my daughter, Zoë, was a toddler in the 1980s and we were traveling with a car seat for her while flying. We needed a car seat at our destination and it kept her safe and secure during the flight, but hauling it on and off the plane was a chore. Then I noticed I had an extra folding luggage cart that could be dedicated to the traveling car seat. I used some bungee cords to keep it attached and found I could roll Zoë in it like an instant stroller. The handle even folded down nicely. It came in very handy when we would land and she was asleep. Many times we didn’t have to wake her to de-plane, rolling her down the aisle and into the terminal, sound asleep in her rolling car seat. It wasn’t long after that that I saw “my invention'' in one of the Sky Mall catalogs. Nowadays, what used to be a separate dolly, is an expected feature of every piece of luggage, even carry-ons.
Innovation isn’t always about creating new products or programs from scratch. Often it's about combining existing innovations to create a new application for them all. That’s why one of my favorite activities is wandering through hardware stores and supply catalogs, letting my imagination run with how to combine off-the-shelf tools and fixtures. This is a much faster route to a working prototype, and using off-the-shelf items early on helps to clarify what will need to be customized and what will not, keeping final costs to a minimum.
This is how we came up with the DIY Flow Desk. We found the few folding card tables that lent themselves to alteration. You can see a video of how to do that here.
My latest mashup is to leverage the new lighter weight of large computer monitors and combine them with our sturdy Flow Desk. The monitor arm I found at Fully is itself less than ten pounds. With a wireless keyboard, this gives me back more real estate on the Flow Desk as well as access to a large screen at floor level. Now we don’t necessarily need a large stand-up desk to enjoy multiple or large monitors.
Have you found ways to create a new innovation by combining existing tools? We always love to hear about your creative adaptations.