A Lost Opportunity

[Greynomad]

I coulda been a MILLIONAIRE!!!
Just unearthed this while hunting for something else in my workshop. (Isn’t that always the way?)
FORTY FIVE YEARS AGO I was renting a house with a powerpoint in the ‘wrong’ place, and needed more than one outlet...

B6B88398-A74A-4DEB-B562-FBE14A2751A1.jpeg

Never occurred to me that other people might need the same thing...
If only I’d patented it...........

[2foot6]

You may have been a millionaire or you might have been deep poo poo, there seems to be a green wire missing between the plug and outlet,,,just saying ....................Peter

[T1 Terry]

.... and no over current limiting device or circuit breaker, or an Australian approval number. Probably better you kept that as a "one off" custom production model, that way you still have your house etc

T1 Terry

[T1 Terry]

A patent related joke from another forum:

I went to the Patent office to register some of my camping inventions. I went to the main desk to sign in and the lady at the desk had a form that had to be filled out. She wrote down my personal info and then asked me what I had invented.
I said, "A folding bottle."
She said, "Okay, what do you call it?"
"A Fottle."
"What else do you have?"
"I have also invented a folding carton."
Again she said, "what do you call it?"
"A Farton."
She sniggered and said, "Those are silly names for products, and one of them sounds kind of crude."
I was so upset by her comment that I grabbed the form and left the office without even telling her about my folding bucket

T1 Terry

[Greynomad]

Well, Terry,
What did he call it

[Greynomad]

You may have been a millionaire or you might have been deep poo poo, there seems to be a green wire missing between the plug and outlet,,,just saying ....................Peter

That was V1.0.
You always think of ways to improve a prototype...

[2foot6]

You may have been a millionaire or you might have been deep poo poo, there seems to be a green wire missing between the plug and outlet,,,just saying ....................Peter

That was V1.0.
You always think of ways to improve a prototype... .........Peter.

Just as a matter of interest, what version are you up to now?

[Greynomad]

V7.4
Not too bad... Dyson produced 200+ prototypes before he was satisfied his vacuum cleaner was ready for manufacturing.
(We now have two. The V6 is now permanently stowed in Girt. The upgraded V7 is the house unit.)

[jon_d]

The guy with the bucket should have persisted.

They are sold as collapsible buckets.... so many of them.

https://www.google.com/search?q=folding+bucket&client

[T1 Terry]

ah, but a collapsing bucket wouldn't generate such a catchy name as a folding bucket
Aero-start had the market sewn up until a clever marketing person came up with a new name for basically the same product, "Start ya bastard" and at least in Australia, has carved out quite a slice for themselves.
"Phuket" plastered in big letters across the front of a T shirt with very small print under it, "I just don't care anymore" still makes me laugh when ever I see it, but it would have been a catchy name for his folding bucket eh

T1 Terry