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a couple minutes of superiority Wednesday, June 20 2007
Democratainment, is that a word? Okay, there are 221 hits for it in Google, so I guess the answer is yes. It's the word I'd use to describe American Idol, the nationwide talent hunt for a popular R&B singer. I'm not particularly interested in R&B singers, particularly popular ones, but I am interested in creativity and inventions, so I've been watching this season of American Inventor. I like the formula, which is exactly the same as that used in American Idol. We're treated to a series of people with terrible ideas and often social problems as well and we, along with the judges, are granted a couple minutes of superiority. Only rarely does a good idea rise to the surface, and I've been surprised by the slim pickings. Few people have put much effort into their ideas. Many show up with just a drawing, no prototype, and a misplaced messianic conviction that their pathetic idea will "change the world." I see this and think that if I was going through the bother of competing on an invention show, I think I'd at least spend a week in the shop hammering something together. Or, perhaps instead of drawing a sketch in crayon on construction paper, I'd fire up the old compu-turb and try to scratch something out in Microsoft Pain[t].
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