American Inventor

If your into inventing and a bit of entertainment, then check out abc’s new reality show “American Inventor”. The show is produced by the infamous judge Simon Cowell from American Idol, and takes on the same format as the Idol show. The winner wins 1 million dollars and a chance to market their invention to millions of people. The show airs Thursday nights on ABC. So far, there have been mixed reviews, but plenty of entertainment and some inspiration.

AMERICAN INVENTOR on ABC

BrandVerbs

I’ve always been facinated how certain brands replace product names, such as Coke=soda, Kleenex=tissue paper, sharpie=permanent marker, ipod=mp3 player, etc. I’ve noticed in todays tech world that powerful brands also replace our everyday verbs. When a brand replaces a noun or verb in our mindsets, then it becomes a brand Sneezer(a brand that spreads fast and becomes ridiculously powerful!)
Here’s my short list of brands that have replaced a few of my everyday verbs!
Google= search/find
Tivo= record
Xerox= copy
Ebay= sell(maybe buy or advertise)
Fedex= mail (with quality)
Kazaa= download

?= shop (maybe amazon someday)
?= email (maybe gmail soon)

Carpet Poofs

“Royal College of Art grads Michael Cross and Julie Mathias joined together as London-based design studio Wok Media in 2004. Wok Media’s Sprinkle Carpet consists of hundreds of individual “poofs” that congregate to form a larger mass, with the shape and size left to the user’s discretion. Each part is weighted with silicone disc bases, providing a non-slip walking surface. The Sprinkle Carpet pieces are conveniently machine washable and can be easily gathered for compact storage.”Wokmedia
via core77

The MS ipod video

“Microsoft spokesman Tom Pilla on Tuesday confirmed with iPod Observer that his company initiated the creation of the iPod packaging parody video that was first reported last month. “It was an internal-only video clip commissioned by our packaging [team] to humorously highlight the challenges we have faced RE: packaging and to educate marketers here about the pitfalls of packaging/branding,” he said via e-mail.”
This is a great video with a bit of humor to it. I’m glad the big giant has finally poked fun at itself about their ugly and distracting packaging.Google Video of it (a must watch!)
via ipod observer
via Seth Godin

Buggy RollingBuggyRollin is a suit of armor with a bunch of wheels! This suit keeps rollin, no matter how ya fall! Lay down, stand on two feet, sit on your side, roll on your knees…. no matter what, you seem to keep rolling. I’m not sure how safe this is but it seems crazy fun! Check out their site..they have some pictures, videos, and info on purchasing the suit.

Buggy Rollin (a bit hard to navigate..drag and drop the disks into the main box)

Can you count basketballs

This video is mind-provoking!…. There are 6 people tossing around 2 basketballs. 3 people in white shirts, and 3 people in black shirts. They only toss the ball to like shirts. Can you count how many times the people in “white” shirts pass the ball to each other in less than a minute?? Here are the rules:
1. Watch the video once only! No cheating…
2. Count how many times the people with “white” shirts pass the basketball to each other.
3. Focus!Let me know if you figure out why this video is mind-provoking. It makes me think about ‘marketing’ in some sense once you figure it out. If your stumped still read this for the answer.

Watch it!