I've been playing with Google's patent search engine. It's a nice alternative to the restrictive search provided by the US Patent and Trademark Office. As an added bonus, the main search page features "fun" patent drawings such as this one for the invention of the pocket protector - in 1903. Now that's ...
It was a hoot to read of Alec Saunders' shock when he first heard "Caller ID" referred to as "product". After all, caller ID is just a tiny packet of bits - how could this ever justify $5-10 a month? Perhaps the death of caller ID as a product foreshadows the death of ...
A few weeks ago, I worked with Decima Research to help with some focus groups. This critical primary research captured customers' opinions of innovative mobile technology. You may be familiar with Decima through their published political polls. But beyond politics, many technology companies rely on research specialists like Decima to conduct objective, ...
It always amazes me when Google tells me something about myself that I had long forgotten. Before becoming a product designer, I was going to be a doctor... not the Doogie Howser type, but more like Dr Phil - without Oprah. I studied with Carleton University's Pain Project in the psychology department. ...
Many of my software friends have expressed disinterest - or even distaste in anything having to do with patents. Maybe it's the RIM thing... or the Microsoft / Linux suspicion... whatever! I think they're missing the point. Even if you're not an entrepreneur, patents - and the patent process - can be valuable ...
I often get asked by startups on how to conduct user research. They all know they should do research, but the cost can be prohibitive. To make this challenge even more daunting, a global market warrants international user research. How do you do this on a tiny budget? By necessity I stumbled upon ...
Being a dog, I have a lot of time to kill in between naps. I like to cruise the trademarks database at the US Patent and Trademark Office to see what's up! That's where companies register new product names or slogans long before they're used publicly. Sometimes, they're not used at all. Last year Mac freaks ...
This latest BarCamp was awesome. Thanks to the organizers - Peter Childs & company (Ian, Ryan, Melany, Mark, among many others!) I had a great time. My favourites included Mike and Alec talking about founding agreements, and Austin Hill's many adventures in VC financing. I also appreciated the warm reception to ...
BarCampOttawa2 is tomorrow, and I'll be talking about three of my favourite Nortel projects - products that were failures despite awesome technology. Today, I want to introduce you to Venture (code named System 9000). I may look like an ordinary phone - but there's magic in it's capabilities. Robert Turnbull and I got ...
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