Spin-Off Businesses

Some products create unique industries all on their own. When Thomas Edison invented the phonograph/gramaphone, he created a list of 10 uses for his invention, which consisted mainly of business applications and recording books for the blind. Interestingly, playing music didn't register on his top ten, yet playing music spawned the massive music industry that we know today. 

Other spin off business occur all the time, such as an on-the-go mobile phone charging station found in a Manila convenience store. It seems the kind of product that is almost too-obvious for Nokia and the likes to invent. 

The Black market is Blue

Hello from Manila,

Visited a resort near a volcanic lake on the weekend, and the resort had about 12 of the above birds... beautiful macaws from South America. The cheapest you can buy one of these in the us is $12000, AUD $24 000. Considering the resort had 12, the origins of the creatures is quite dubious, however the owners insisted they were bred locally. 

Which leads me to this question:

Even if the original stock was black market purchased and smuggled, are the descendants still black market? Is it ethical to buy from what essentially has become a local breeding program?

Absolutely gorgeous birds...

Fish Tank Energy Meter

A design from 2007 for an in-house energy meter. The aquarium hangs from the roof and changes colour with your monthly energy use.

Two modern mad scientists

Associations de Scientifiques Fous, the Associations of Mad Scientists. Two extraordinairy collections of inventors:

La Machine 

www.lamachine.fr

Creators of wonders such as giant mechanical spiders, elephants and giraffes, La Machine is a collection of artists, engineers and technicians who are notable for their ambition in creating mechanical spectacles.

Prototype This

The result of MIT graduates getting a Discovery Channel sized budget to create anything they wish.. such as body covering airbags so that anyone can survive a ten storey fall, or this giant waterfall simulator.

DeWalt PowerVac

2008 - A Vacuum Cleaner concept using the DeWalt rechargeable battery. This project was about enhancing the brand of DeWalt - i.e. strong, tough, over the top, powerful. Box Packaging done in the DeWalt style

Design Work 1

Since design work prevents me from blogging as regularly as I would like, I thought I would start putting up some of the work thats kept me so busy. Here's one from 2007, an exercise in Photoshop Rendering for a SunBeam Hair Dryer:

Dogs and Canon

Independent Candidate for Strathfield Daniel Lim grabs attention with his references to modern culture. Strathfield Station, Sydney, August 2008.

Canon Literature is that which stands the test of time and becomes universal - essentially they shape the way you view the world. The typical examples of canon are of course Shakespeare, and at times Hemmingway and Austin. But how long does a media need to exist before it can enter canon - think of how the Simpsons shaped a generation, or certain internet videos like the "star wars kid" or the "you kick my dog".

Fame and Fortune

On Fame

In the age of the internet, nothing needs to be remembered. Any formula, fact, address, or phone number is just a search engine away, and people expect the information instantly. This has spilled into other areas of life - a 2 minute late train is a disaster, McDonalds burgers that aren't cooked before you enter the store is a hassle. What chance does my generation have of every wanting to be come farmers when it takes ten years for fruit trees to flower?!

This concept of Life Instantaneity exists in other places - for example the perception of success. The advent of certain reality tv shows, such as Big Brother or Idol has ingrained a perception that success, fame, and instantaneity is intertwined. Fame and success in the modern perception comes from being picked to star on a show - working hard doesn't enter the equation, and would merely direct energies away from becoming the instant pop star.

Too often this idea of instant success (and concurrently, instant awareness of failure) would prevent people from really working hard to achieve their dreams - the presence of a barrier makes the possibility seem insurmountable, regardless of the nature of the barrier. Randy Pausch reflected on this in his "Last Lecture", given a few months before he died (18/9/2007 at Carnegie Mellon University)

"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people"

On Fortune

The concept of passive income enters many a discussion and seminar on business and entrepreneurship. The idea is creating an asset - not a negative geared or even cashflow neutral asset such as a house may be - but an asset that actively creates wealth for you. An example might be a royalty on a patent, or a business product that sells consistently with little marketing input or product updating. Or of course, the real killer, money lent by banks generating endless income.

We use money every day but rarely think of its origins - the notes and paper money (plastic in Australia) we take for granted aren't actually more than plastic and paper, but are symbolic of a "promise". In its original incarnation, money was a promise for goods - wheat, for example, in Ancient Egyptian systems, or gold in Classical Time Europe. A promise and a debt are basically the same thing - the guarantee of returning something of value. The promise of repayment plus interest is age old, but its perception today is very different.

"One thing to realise about our fractional reserve banking system is that, like  a child's game of musical chairs, as long as the music is playing, there are no losers.

- Andrew Gause, Monetary Historian

Nearly every religion at some stage saw lending money for interest, or usury, as immoral. It was condemned to make money off ones money without contributing to society. However today it happens all the time - think Maquarie Bank, Hedge Funds, Aussie Home Loans - all businesses that make money of money. Today the perception is that there is risk in lending money so interest is justified, but in doing so, what have bankers really done to contribute to society? They can amass huge amounts of wealth without building a single bridge, education or healing a single person, or improving anyone's life. It may be acceptable, but is it still Moral?

So the big philosophical question for my entrepreneurial years is this: is it moral to develop a passive income and create wealth without further work?

For now, my answer is: Only if a passive income allows you to contribute to society, environment etc . The business model of core business being separate from income (think Google - free email and searching doesn't generate income, but it's advertising does) is established, so perhaps it is reasonable for a persons income to be separate from their core activities. For me, the dream is a passive income so that the rest of life can be dedicated to family, friends and development. 

What do you think? I would love your comments.

Reuse

 The above is a stand at airport departure and arrival lounges - free newspapers! Upon disembarking from the plane is the same stand, but with a bin marked "please recycle your newspapers". Why not place it back on the stand for someone else to read?

My generation had 3 R's hammered into us from a young age - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. When is it ok to reuse, or not ok so recycling is preferred? A hire car is just fine when someone else has used it, even a washed plate in a restaurant, or a book from the library - is a newspaper such a precious thing that it must be opened new everytime?

It is interesting to note that according to William McDonough in "Cradle to Cradle" recycling is not an eternal cycle - paper fibres deteriorate with each reincarnation until you are left with a useless powder - not recycling, but downcycling. That newspaper will never again be a newspaper, let alone high quality office paper, but will become cardboard box, then toilet paper, then nothing.

Hack

The origin of the word "hack" is German, meaning a person who makes furniture with an axe, implying a lack of finesse in the final product. Today the most hacking people might do is changing the wallpaper on their iphone, 5 years ago it may have been buying a new cover for your nokia. At what point is it acceptable to actively engage in change of a product or design? Few designs ever account for fundamental changes the way the original PC's of the 80's did - these days you are expected to replace or upgrade rather than modify what you already have. There are some exceptions, and often these become real drivers of innovation.

Consider Artist HD41117, and his adaption of mobile phone cameras (above)

Photos taken by the phone at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hd41117/sets/72157594578302055

Or the classic Wii Hack, creating with $10 dollars of hardware what computer companies claim is prohibitively expensive in RnD.

www.ted.com/index/talks/johnny_lee_demos_wii_remote_hacks.html