I Wish ... Was Never Invented

[Koolau]

Yes, and if you were at "ground zero" you wouldn't feel a thing as your body will vaporize in a millisecond. Not pretty stuff to discuss and visualize.

I'm hoping to leave a shadow on the beach in front of the statue of Duke Kahanamoku or maybe on the concrete in front of the Pink Palace.

 

[thatguy]

The idea of intellectual property.

 

[Koolau]

The idea of intellectual property.

Details? You mean all ideas should be free to all?

 

[Gumby]

A temporary monopoly has been a great incentive to invent useful things.

 

[Koolau]

A temporary monopoly has been a great incentive to invent useful things.

Hear, hear.

Without some incentive, we would have stopped at fire and the wheel.

 

[COcheesehead]

The idea of intellectual property.

My wife a photographer would disagree. She has had photos stolen and used online and had to take the users to court to be compensated for her efforts.

 

[Koolau]

The idea of intellectual property.

I'm still kinda waiting for a little more detail on this.


It's true that some companies charge enormous amounts for (one example) drugs.

I recall a time when stomach surgery for ulcers was fairly common. My dad had to have such surgery. Essentially they go in and cut away affected ares and also sever a nerve that allows more acid to flow each time someone gets agitated or upset. It really w*rked for my dad but it was 1) expensive 2) very dangerous - lots of people used to die from this surgery 3) Caused issues with size of meal going forward. Lots of meals instead of just 3 per day became necessary.

What's this got to do with intellectual property? That surgery is now rare? Why? The lure of a big profit led some people to develop several kinds of acid reducers in the gastric system. I don't recall the prices, but it was expensive back when the various pills were made available. BUT they w*rked! and they w*rked well! Would you rather pay an enormous amount for pills or go under the knife for ulcers? Clearly, people wanted the pills.

BUT if the makers of the pills knew that any Tom, Dick or Harry generic company could copy their pill as soon as the inventor/developer introduced it, NO one would have invested in it and we wouldn't have had that medicine. NOW we do have generics and even over the counter. But we wouldn't unless the companies that invested knew they could make some money making the original pill.

 

[audreyh1]

I'm still kinda waiting for a little more detail on this.


It's true that some companies charge enormous amounts for (one example) drugs.

I recall a time when stomach surgery for ulcers was fairly common. My dad had to have such surgery. Essentially they go in and cut away affected ares and also sever a nerve that allows more acid to flow each time someone gets agitated or upset. It really w*rked for my dad but it was 1) expensive 2) very dangerous - lots of people used to die from this surgery 3) Caused issues with size of meal going forward. Lots of meals instead of just 3 per day became necessary.

What's this got to do with intellectual property? That surgery is now rare? Why? The lure of a big profit led some people to develop several kinds of acid reducers in the gastric system. I don't recall the prices, but it was expensive back when the various pills were made available. BUT they w*rked! and they w*rked well! Would you rather pay an enormous amount for pills or go under the knife for ulcers? Clearly, people wanted the pills.

BUT if the makers of the pills knew that any Tom, Dick or Harry generic company could copy their pill as soon as the inventor/developer introduced it, NO one would have invested in it and we wouldn't have had that medicine. NOW we do have generics and even over the counter. But we wouldn't unless the companies that invested knew they could make some money making the original pill.

The reason why ulcer surgery went away was because researchers discovered that ulcers are caused by a particular bacteria which could be treated by antibiotics. It took a long time for the medical community to accept this because so much was invested in traditional costlier treatments.

You just need to find a different example.

 

[Taco]

There is no love for leaf blowers here, but I've gotta say that I love my EGO, uh, um, power broom.

When I use it to [-]blow out[/-] power sweep the garage, it is way faster and does a way better job. A manual sweep leaves behind the fine dust and doesn't get behind things (like the sink) very well.

When I use the manual broom to sweep grass clippings off the sidewalk after mowing, the clippings tend to get pushed down a bit, and grabbed by the rough concrete, making it hard to get all the grass off the sidewalk. The power sweeper does not have this issue.

The patio and deck are also cleaned off much better and faster with the power sweeper.

It is so efficient, the power sweeper rarely runs for more than a few minutes.

Of course I would never sweep my grass - who does that? Anything on the grass gets mowed / mulched.

 

[Beststash]

Chain and big box stores....I much preferred the Mom and Pop businesses or small business that had people that worked there that knew the business. Since that is no longer a possibility - how about hiring and paying skilled people who work there.

When I go to the local big boxes and need help there is no one there or if I need help loading they scatter like a flock of chickens.

 

[Koolau]

The reason why ulcer surgery went away was because researchers discovered that ulcers are caused by a particular bacteria which could be treated by antibiotics. It took a long time for the medical community to accept this because so much was invested in traditional treatments.

You just need to find a different example.

You are correct that it took a long time for the medical community to realize that Helicobacter Pylori infection in the stomach was often the cause of ulcers. In the mean time gastritis, stomach ulcers and GERD were, indeed effectively treated with the acid reducers. In effect, the scientists found an effective treatment for a disease they did not understand. But the result was that cutting open stomachs for ulcer treatment became pretty much a thing of the past once an effective treatment was found.

Most of the H2 antagonists were discovered and marketed in the late 70s IIRC. Also, IIRC Tagamet was hailed as the end of ulcers. Of course it wasn't completely the end, but it made a huge difference, beginning around 1980 as best I recall. Following Tagamet there were half a dozen or so more "me too" drugs developed (with varying side effect profiles - making at least one of them suitable for almost everyone.) That was in the mid 80s. Then the proton pump inhibitors came along in mid 80s. There must have been half a dozen of them as well like Prilosec and Prevacid and Nexium. They were even more effective in treating whatever it was that caused gastritis, ulcers and GERD. Even fewer reasons to cut open stomachs.

I don't think H Pylori was discovered until about 1982 - long after the H2 antagonists were effectively used to treat gastritis, GERD and ulcers. The role of H Pylori and ulcers was established IIRC in the late 80s and treatments (often antibiotics WITH a proton pump inhibitor) were begun around 1990?

So, ulcers may well have been caused by H Pylori, but the successful treatment of ulcers was originally and for many years with H2 antagonists and then with even more successful proton pump inhibitors. It's been estimated that H Pylori infects up to half of all humans on earth, so eradicating it with antibiotics is unlikely. In certain cases, that probably makes sense to use antibiotics. BUT ulcers - no matter the cause can often be successfully treated with the stand by of H2 antagonists and proton pump inhibitors. No more cutting on stomachs for the most part.

I think my example stands but YMMV.

 

[Walt34]

Chain and big box stores....I much preferred the Mom and Pop businesses or small business that had people that worked there that knew the business. Since that is no longer a possibility - how about hiring and paying skilled people who work there.

Because skilled people justifiably cost more and that raises prices that people are unwilling to pay. An example: Back in late 1983 I bought a new-to-me house, and among other minor maintenance things it needed was a new mailbox. So I went up to the old-time established Mom 'n Pop hardware store and looked around for a mailbox and found what I was looking for, a simple mailbox that mounted next to the front door, and it cost $15.

Now, it so happened that a brand new Home Depot had just opened a few blocks away and of course I'd heard of the debate going on even then about the big box stores driving out the small stores and I decided to go have a look. And there on a shelf was the same, identical mailbox. For $7.00.

Can anyone tell me what I'd get (besides maybe a warm fuzzy) for my $8.00 if I'd bought the mailbox at the old-time hardware store? I didn't need or want a skilled tradesman to help me pick out a mailbox and I sure wasn't going to pay for him. And to make the decision even easier I was fresh out of a divorce and had spent just about my last dime on buying that house. I just needed a mailbox and could not afford the luxury of supporting old and inefficient business models because that was the way grandpa did it.

I get that Home Depot buys mailboxes by the trainload and can sell them cheaper than the local hardware store that buys them by the case. It doesn't take an MBA to see the economies of scale in that.

Not surprisingly the small hardware store was gone a month or two later. And so went a piece of local history, and I was $8 better off.

 

[Major Tom]

Not surprisingly the small hardware store was gone a month or two later. And so went a piece of local history, and I was $8 better off.

And therein lies the rub; most of us like the idea of having small mom n' pop businesses in our communities, but only some of us are willing to pay to support them. Maybe we frequent the mom n' pops occasionally to make us feel good about things, but we make the majority of our purchases at the big box stores, or from Amazon. I am guilty of this.

 

[Koolau]

Because skilled people justifiably cost more and that raises prices that people are unwilling to pay. An example: Back in late 1983 I bought a new-to-me house, and among other minor maintenance things it needed was a new mailbox. So I went up to the old-time established Mom 'n Pop hardware store and looked around for a mailbox and found what I was looking for, a simple mailbox that mounted next to the front door, and it cost $15.

Now, it so happened that a brand new Home Depot had just opened a few blocks away and of course I'd heard of the debate going on even then about the big box stores driving out the small stores and I decided to go have a look. And there on a shelf was the same, identical mailbox. For $7.00.

Can anyone tell me what I'd get (besides maybe a warm fuzzy) for my $8.00 if I'd bought the mailbox at the old-time hardware store? I didn't need or want a skilled tradesman to help me pick out a mailbox and I sure wasn't going to pay for him. And to make the decision even easier I was fresh out of a divorce and had spent just about my last dime on buying that house. I just needed a mailbox and could not afford the luxury of supporting old and inefficient business models because that was the way grandpa did it.

I get that Home Depot buys mailboxes by the trainload and can sell them cheaper than the local hardware store that buys them by the case. It doesn't take an MBA to see the economies of scale in that.

Not surprisingly the small hardware store was gone a month or two later. And so went a piece of local history, and I was $8 better off.

Years ago, I went to visit a friend in a smallish town. Across the street was a small mom&pop grocery store. My friend occasionally shopped at the little store because it was a lot closer than the city's super market.

My friend let me know that the owner had shared with him that he bought his canned goods from the super market - then jacked up the price. It turned out that delivery from the same supplier that supplied the supermarket charged him MORE than the supermarket sold their stuff. Volume, baby, volume.

 

[Walt34]

My friend let me know that the owner had shared with him that he bought his canned goods from the super market - then jacked up the price. It turned out that delivery from the same supplier that supplied the supermarket charged him MORE than the supermarket sold their stuff. Volume, baby, volume.

That, and better service. A friend of mine worked part time in a small grocery store in a wealthy area (this model doesn't work in poor neighborhoods). What they offered was better service. There were no lines at the cash registers. Ever. If someone was waiting they opened another register. The store was immaculate and nothing was ever out of stock. Their prices were higher, the customers knew it and also understood why, and were willing to pay for it.

What they did was save people time, and in that neighborhood the model worked.

 

[Koolau]

That, and better service. A friend of mine worked part time in a small grocery store in a wealthy area (this model doesn't work in poor neighborhoods). What they offered was better service. There were no lines at the cash registers. Ever. If someone was waiting they opened another register. The store was immaculate and nothing was ever out of stock. Their prices were higher, the customers knew it and also understood why, and were willing to pay for it.

What they did was save people time, and in that neighborhood the model worked.

Yeah, I would definitely go to such a store (if any still existed) to avoid driving to the supermarket for a can of beans and a pound of hamburger for making chili.

 

[Marita40]

Alexa and all the other stuff out there spying on us constantly.

 

[pjigar]

Nucs

 

[Deuce]

The debt ceiling.

We need a debt ceiling! Without a debt ceiling, life would soon be unbearable.

 

[cat4ever]

Lawns!

Just let it grow. Shrubs, grasses, trees, or else pave it over and be done with it.

 

[Skitso999]

It started with the Beeper...the need for people to be "connected" at all times.


cd : O)

I'd like to permanently get rid of my cell phone. I don't need that leash on my body full time, or anywhere close.

 

[meleana]

Motorcycles and jet skis.

 

[Maidensong]

No More Music?

I confess I was shocked when someone said they wished music hadn't been invented. As an old Music major, this was anathema to me. But then I started thinking about how many times I've been annoyed at the inappropriate music blasting in restaurants, shops and places of business. My life needs no sound track, especially not one where the vocals sound like someone is eviscerating a cat and the instrumentals are worst than a leaf blower at 5 AM!

Let me choose the music in my life and where and when to listen to it, thank you very much!

 

[Tracer]

1) Social media and any other type of website that allows people to be "influencers".

2) Smart phones.

Social media.... Yes! More bad than good. Brings out the worst in people. Bastion of disinformation, wackos and conspiracy theories. I have no use for it except to see some pictures that family posts.

Smart phones... Hell no! I don't know how I ever lived without them!

My vote is for the consumer version of military assault rifles.

 

[Major Tom]

I was going to flippantly say Twinkies but, as useless as they are at being food, I don't feel strongly about them. They are perhaps the best example I can think of, of a foodstuff that isn't actually food. A few years ago, I realized that I had been in the US for something like 30 years, and had yet to taste a Twinkie. So I did, and the absurdity of it was almost entertaining. Why would anyone eat something that not only is not food, but is not even pleasurable to eat? I decided then and there it would be both the first and last Twinkie I would ever eat.

There are several things I really wish hadn't been invented. My feelings are quite strong on them though, and I'm having too good a day today to be a Debbie Downer, so I chose to write about Twinkies instead In the meantime, when I want to snack on something, I reach for the big jar of kimchi in the fridge. My local Asian market has their own kimchi, which has spring onions that add a wonderfully dark spicy flavor. I have trouble controlling myself when there is a jar of this stuff in the fridge. Twinkies pale by comparison!