Ruining A Great Invention

The internet, as we know it, has been around since roughly 1990.  It was only for sending and receiving text at first, but by the mid-to-late 1990s, the World Wide Web became available.  This allowed us to electronically visit places (web sites) with pictures and later videos, which we would ultimately be able to pass along to others.

With that brief history of the internet in mind, I would compare it to any of mankind’s greatest inventions.  It may not be quite up there with the alphabet or the automobile, but it’s at least in the conversation with the printing press.

Unfortunately, that conversation would have to include whether the internet is now used as much for evil as it is for good, thanks in part to the proliferation of Facebook / Twitter / social media.  I don’t just mean terrorist type evil, either.  I mean the little bits of evil, things like trolling and bullying, and lies that get passed along as fact and influence behavior in a negative way.

I’m not the most internet-connected person, yet not a day goes by that I don’t see a false or questionable internet-sourced item that’s presented as fact.  (This is particularly true in national political election years like this one.)  It happened to me today, it happened to me yesterday, it will surely happen to me tomorrow.

I’m usually skeptical enough to figure it out on my own (sometimes with the help of snopes.com) but let’s face it, most people swallow whatever they’re sent as the truth.  That wouldn’t be so bad, but in our instant gratification world, those fake-truth-swallowers not only agree with what they see, they also have to affirm it, often by sending it along to other fake-truth-swallowers.

Using the internet in this way this isn’t good for civilization, but short of another evil called censorship, there are no rules of engagement to keep it from happening.  That’s a shame, really, for one of the greatest inventions of all-time.

Real Men of Genius

For almost 10 years now, Bud Light has run a series of mostly radio commercials called 'Real Men of Genius.' These ads sarcastically glorify an unsung hero for a particular invention, or occupation, or just something they do. These are the funniest radio ads ever, hands down. Even the titles are funny. (Check the Wikipedia entry for Real Men of Genius for more about the ads, a list of every ad, and a link to the audio for each.)

Included in these Bud Light ads are spots about unappreciated inventors/inventions, like books on tape, or jean shorts. (Some inventions are better than others.) I've been thinking about these ads over the past month, the result of conversations I've had with people about great inventions that 1) are not fully appreciated, and 2) should have been discovered long before they actually were.

For example, the wheeled cooler. A fantastic and simple labor-saving invention. But decades ago we had wheels, and we had coolers, so why did it take so long for somebody to come up with wheeled coolers? Here's another: In-line roller skates. Think how that would have revolutionized roller derby! And in the food catagory, kudos to the walking taco inventor. There will be no royalties, but the dude who invented that has immeasurably improved our lives.

If you're reading this, I'd love to hear your 'Real Men of Genius' nominees in the inventor catagory. In the meantime, you should listen to those ads on the internet, and get ready to laugh.