Retracing the steps of Invention...

Ever find yourself sitting around and just really thinking about something that interests you.. and suddenly realize just how everything works.. make a prototype and find out it works.. and then finding out someone else already invented your idea?

See, I'm not a very scienctific person. To be honest, my knowledge of science is quite poor.. but I indulge myself in the events and happenings around me. And when I see something I like, I instantly research it.. I build on the research and eventually come to some brilliant idea.. only to find out.. well.. its was a brilliant idea.. but someone else already beat me to it ;p

Like take for instance.. my green laser pointer.. just got it 2 days ago.. first one ever.. awesome toy..

I was sitting at my computer and watching TV.. playing with my lil laser.. when I got the great idea to stick the laser dot on my forehead...

Instead of blinding myself (I know thats what you were thinking) I noticed the tiny particles of dust.. millions of them.. passing through the laser bean. When I would breath, they'd speed up, and twist and twirl throughout the beam.. pretty neat.. try it sometime ;p (Point the laser behind you with the beam close to your eyes.. not on your forehead.. lol)

Anyhow, I start thinking.. what if I could shine this bad boy past a microscope to illuminate these thousands of particles of dust/water/whatever.. So.. I try it.. damn near blinding myself in the process (laser + microscope = hurt eyes) .. so I decide to do some research before risking my precise sight trying to find out if my thoughts are right.. and alas.. I find laser microscopes all over google.

CRUSHED!

It appears they use these laser scopes as a way of defining 3D microscopic images and viewing "invisible to the eye" materials...

One second I'm thinking.. damn.. this is gonna make me rich.. the next second.. BLAMO.. back to being a poor schmuck with a good imagination... sigh

Moral of the story? I'm sure other people have had these types of brilliant discoveries only to find out .. its been made already.. duhr! .. Tell me your stories ;p

And, if you have a story to tell, tell me what it was like after you realized it was already invented.. were you crushed, or were you estatic you taught yourself something without even having to research it from a 3rd party? And do you beleive that these types of "self teaching" is a part of life/mind/soul or do you think its pure coincidence?

Edit addition:

Don't stop there.. do you have an idea for an invention or theory that you feel the "science community" would laugh about? Is it provable? Can you replicate it if you had the funds but know no serious investor would touch the idea?

Just think about how many brilliant ideas may be getting ignored because they aren't plausible...

[edit on 2/12/2005 by QuietSoul]

lol.....better luck next time.....

seriously though a lot of inventions are stolen from there inventors in the development stage with no royalties being payed to the creator..(usually a normal guy or girl like ourselves who hits on a good idea and needs help with the marketing and production)

however there is a guy in the uk called 'Trevor Bayliss' he has a buisness helping inventors to ensure there products are always kept as the property of the original inventor and also provides a very helpfull guide to getting your invention from the drawing board to production and marketing phase.

dont know if that intrests you or helps but there you go anyway,
regards.

one thing that confuses me is, the car seems a big invention, but nothing as big as been invented like that recently. Is it just me? Cars haven't really changed that much, despite some new technology. Are people scared of reinventing the car, or they just don't want there baby to change? I go on epinions and search for reviews of the different makes and models, and i relize how many complaints they are.

[edit on 12-2-2005 by malakiem]