American Inventor - Good Inventions? Good Television? Or Neither?
Episode 3 Recap by Gayl Killough
June 21, 2007
This week on American Inventor we are treated to part one of two that will feature New York and Chicago, which host Nick Smith points out as the two northern audition cities. I don't think of New York and Chicago as being in the same region of the country at all, I guess it depends on the vantage point of where a person lives, but I do have to agree that they are both really northern for the United States. There are a few seconds of recaps from the previous two episodes and quick introductions of the judges.
New York is up first for an audition city. Up first from New York is Carlo Giansanti, 71, retired and a grandfather, born in Italy. In the past recaps, I have chosen not to repeat the ages of the contestants, but since age and occupation can sometimes be relevant to the audition and the information is given in writing on the screen, I have decided to go ahead and include the information in the recaps. Carlo has invested $10,000 in a copper mask invention. The idea is not to eat copper for health benefits, but to breathe copper. He claims that he is in much better health than a few years ago and that he no longer needs to wear glasses. Trying to keep an open mind, this idea may not be a crazy at it seems, but I need actual proof like research and a little science behind it before I can take it seriously. Even something like that it has been used for centuries would help, although at that point it might no longer be an invention. He gets all no's from the judges.
James Davis, 49, a swim coach is shown next. He is a major reason why I decided to list the occupations of the contestants. I could see how a swim coach would think that a dry swimming training device is needed. There are probably a few serious swimmers that might benefit from something like this, but it seems like the average swimmer would benefit more from training in an actual pool. He gets all no's from the judges. More proof that George can say no on many occasions too.
Tom Jermyn, 44, self-employed attorney came up with his idea because he had a friend that did not like to do laundry and had moldy towels. I do not wish to meet his friend. His invention is a body squeegee. I did not understand his idea at all. I would rather use towels and make sure that the towels are clean. It seems like it would be just as easy to take a towel with me as it would the squeegee. He gets 4 no's too.
Sophia Kandelaki, 32, unemployed has a 12-1 idea that includes a jewelry box. The editing is so quick on this idea that I could not follow what the idea actually did. This invention reminds me of reading essay contests where people try to guess what will exist in the future. Far too many people guess what will exist in the future by taking a bunch of stuff that already exists and simply combine them all in to one product. The future prediction is not forward thinking as much as it just combines present stuff into something else. In some ways, this idea might be like the gardening tool shown last week that did several things, but since she got the bad idea editing, I don't have a clue what to think about her product. I hope that it is better than the way it came across on the show for her sake. Although, I do feel bad for anyone that has a good idea, but gets ripped apart by editing that makes it look bad. Yet again, more no's from the judges.
John Lovinz, 64, security guard, is dressed up in a costume shaped like a bottle that has "safe sex in a bottle" printed on it. His idea is a key ring sized bottle that has a condom inside of it. I think this is not an invention, but gimmick packaging. He gets all no's from the judges.
Molly Balevre, 9, student, has invented musical sneakers. She gets no's from Pat and Peter, but George and Sara say yes. George gives her a hug after she starts to cry. I think it is only a matter of years before she has an invention on the market, but I agree with Peter and Pat on this one. With ipods and other musical items being portable and already purchased by the mass population, musical sneakers are just not needed and I think musical sneakers would be out competed by them.
From Chicago, up first is Elmer George, 78, a retired athletic director who is still trying to keep people in shape. He is another example of how people do not really retire from what they love to do. His invention is similar to paddle ball, but it uses 2 hands. Even though it seems similar to paddle ball, this might sell as an improved paddleball invention if the marketing is done right. Pat says no because it is too similar to paddle ball. However, Peter says yes at a time when Pat says no. He gets 3 yes all together and he is a finalist for the round within Chicago.
The next three are given very quick editing. I am assuming that they will be given more time later on in the show since they are all in the Chicago finals.
First of the three contestants that are moving on are Sandra Erickson, 34, communications manager, who has invented a peel away shower curtain. For some reason, I thought this already existed, but I don't see it anywhere I shop, so maybe it does not exist.
Christina Raitano, 37, a fitness instructor, has invented germ guards that fit over the handle while in use touching a shopping cart. I agree with Sara, I could see people buying this. This idea reminds me of the bathroom stall door clip from last year.
John and Henrietta Sparks, an assembly plant worker and housewife, and their cute dog are presented. Their invention is a dog ball that combines the stationary function of a stake combined with a leash. It allows owners to have their dogs nearby them on a leash without having to hold onto the leash. I wonder how heavy the dog ball is? Can it be carried around while walking the dog or it just meant to be kept stationary in one's own yard? I hope more is explained about the invention next week.
Howard Batterman, 43, a produce manager has an invention called "finger tunes". His invention is a glove or gloves that make musical sounds when the fingers make contact with something else. He gets all no's. He states that kids love music and would love the noises that the gloves make whenever they came into contact with something. This idea is all right, but it just reminds me too much of the mentality that currently exists in the toy market. There are far too many toys that make noise and that is really all that they are meant to do. They toy industry is in a rut with noise making toys. It is not fair to Batterman, but before I even watched the episode, I was already bored with noise for the sake of noise in the toy world. At least his idea is musical based, but it is still only all right for me. I do like his approach to inventing. He mentioned having other inventions and I would really have preferred to have seen them instead. There is a fine line that an inventor has to find in choosing which inventions to pursue seriously because they have to be similar enough to the current market in order to be marketable, but at the same time cannot be too much like what already exists. I have a hunch that he should have chosen to present one of his other inventions instead of this one. I feel for him though because it is hard for inventor to know which ideas are marketable without being too much like the current market.
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