1. Inventions & Innovations

4. What’s the Difference? In its purest sense, “invention“ can be defined as the creation of a product or introduction of a process for the first time.invention “Innovation,” on the other hand, occurs if someone improves on or makes a significant contribution to an existing product, process or service.Innovation

5. An Example… The Microprocessor Consider the microprocessor. Someone invented the microprocessor. But by itself, the microprocessor was nothing more than another piece on the circuit board. It’s what was done with that piece — the hundreds of thousands of products, processes and services that evolved from the invention of the microprocessor — that required innovation. One or more microprocessors are now used in everything from the smallest embedded systems and handheld devices to the largest mainframes and supercomputers. The first use of the term "microprocessor" is attributed to Viatron Computer Systems describing the custom integrated circuit used in their System 21 small computer system announced in 1968.Viatron Computer Systems

6. Important Distinctions While they tend to be lumped together, “invention” and “innovation” are not the same thing. There are distinctions between them, and those distinctions are important. So how do you know if you are inventing or innovating? Consider this analogy: If invention is a pebble tossed in the pond, innovation is the rippling effect that pebble causes. Someone has to toss the pebble. That’s the inventor. Someone has to recognize the ripple will eventually become a wave. That’s the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs don’t stop at the water’s edge. They watch the ripples and spot the next big wave before it happens. And it’s the act of anticipating and riding that “next big wave” that drives the innovative nature in every entrepreneur. Inventors invent. Entrepreneurs innovate.

7. Example 2: Gloves No one really knows who invented gloves as perhaps their inception came about through several inventors at the same time. We can never be sure of this of course, but necessity probably was the 'mother of invention' and it can be assumed that they were in use in one form or another by several early people groups as the need arose. As gloves were most likely a very early development in the history of clothing, the early forms of gloves would have most likely have been a 'mitten like' design made from animal skins. The fact that the word glove comes from Old Norse is likely to be because gloves were used by Vikings. To quote one source, "Gloves were used when possible since they were scarce and hard to produce. Subsequently, Vikings would sometimes fight each other for clothes as they were very expensive.“ http://medieval-castles.org/index.php?cat=42 The Braille Glove Inventor: Ryan Patterson When high school student Ryan Patterson, 18, saw a deaf woman trying to order food at a Burger King, he had a eureka moment: Why not create a device that translates sign language into text? Armed with that idea and a leather golf glove, Patterson created a device that senses its wearer's hand movements and transmits them wirelessly to a tiny handheld monitor, where they appear as words. The device won Patterson a top prize at the Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition. http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article /0,28804,1934259_1934277,00.html

8. Example 3: Breath Freshener The first evidence of breath freshener dates back to about 1000 B.C. with the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans chewing on eucalyptus, peppermint, cinnamon and vanilla beans. By 500 B.C., these people as well as the Chinese were chewing on powdered charcoal and bark to freshen breath. The Chinese and Romans later added mint leaves. The Greeks also used goat and donkey milk as mouthwash. Breath Strips Inventor: Pfizer Tired of seeing its venerable Listerine mouthwash (first introduced in 1914) getting chewed up in the market by various lozenges, drops and gums, Pfizer this year introduced Cool Mint Listerine PocketPaks, tissue- thin strips that melt in your mouth and deliver a bracing, breath- freshening punch. They were an instant hit, with more than 100 million sold. http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,193 4259_1934672_1934708,00.html eucalyptus Vanilla beans peppermint cinnamon

9. Let’s Play… Name an Innovation! I’ll show you an invention. You name at least one innovation that has been developed. Let’s begin!

10. Who invented the automobile? An early Benz automobile. Photo courtesy of Vintage Web Classic Cars Picture Archive. This question does not have a straightforward answer. The history of the automobile is very rich and dates back to the 15th century when Leonardo da Vinci was creating designs and models for transport vehicles. There are many different types of automobiles - steam, electric, and gasoline - as well as countless styles. Exactly who invented the automobile is a matter of opinion. If we had to give credit to one inventor, it would probably be Karl Benz from Germany. Many suggest that he created the first true automobile in 1885/1886. 1. Name an innovation that has improved upon the basic automobile design.

11. Who invented the phonograph? Thomas Edison created many inventions, but his favorite was the phonograph. While working on improvements to the telegraph and the telephone, Edison figured out a way to record sound on tinfoil-coated cylinders. In 1877, he created a machine with two needles: one for recording and one for playback. When Edison spoke into the mouthpiece, the sound vibrations of his voice would be indented onto the cylinder by the recording needle. "Mary had a little lamb" were the first words that Edison recorded on the phonograph and he was amazed when he heard the machine play them back to him. In 1878, Edison established the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company to sell the new machine. Thomas Edison in an ad for the phonograph CREDIT: "Phonograph Catalog/Advertisement: 'I want a phonograph in every home...'." Edison Manufacturing Co. Inventing Entertainment: The Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies, Library of Congress. 2. Name an innovation that has improved upon the basic phonograph design.

12. Who invented the television? As with most inventions, television’s development depended upon previous inventions, and more than one individual contributed to the development of television, as we know it today. People started experimenting with television during the 19th century. When you ask the question--who invented television, you may get a few different answers. In England in 1878, John Loggie Baird, a Scottish amateur scientist, successfully transmitted the first TV picture, after years of work, in 1926, with his mechanical system. Baird’s system used a mechanical camera consisting of a large spinning disc, with a spiral of holes that Paul Nipkow had developed in 1884. This old mechanical technology was quickly replaced by superior electronic television. Philo Farnsworth successfully demonstrated electronic television in San Francisco, in 1927. Farnsworth, at the age of fifteen, began imagining ways that electronic television could work. One day while working in the fields among rows of vegetables, he was inspired. He realized that a picture could be dissected by a simple television camera into a series of lines of electricity. The lines would be transmitted so quickly that the eyes would merge the lines. Then, a cathode ray tube television receiver would change those lines back into a picture. Initially, television was available only in black and white, even though experiments with color began in the 1920s; however, you could not buy a color television until 1953. http://www.knowitall.org/kidswork/etv/history/televi sion_inv/ The first known photograph of a moving image produced by Baird's "televisor", circa 1926 (The subject is Baird's business partner Oliver Hutchinson) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of _television 3. Name an innovation that has improved upon the basic television design.

13. Your Turn! Name and sketch an invention and at least one innovation that has developed. InventionInnovation