The DOBlog

The quest of The Raiders of the Lost Wii draws to a close.

What was the best invention of 2007? Invention, rather than product development is how I think of this. The Nokia N95 might be a contender, but it is simply an evolution of existing things. Likewise the Iphone. Neither are particularly unique.

My friends’ kid the O-meister is new, novel and unique - even though he is based on features from two slightly obsolete models which have been cunningly combined.

Perhaps an invention could be an existing thing brought about in a new way? Like how we used to cook dinners on a stove, with pots and now we just bung something that looks vaguely like food in a microwave and get back something that tastes vaguely like the slimy residue of the Slugs of Evil in return. Yummy.

I’d have to go with Monkey cloning. Yes, cloning isn’t new. Technically we’ve been doing it the old fashioned way since the dawn of time. However there is something “Island of Dr. Moreau”-ish about cloning monkeys. However, I’m not citing this as the best invention of 2007 simply because of the possible benefits to medicine from being able to clone and ‘grow’ spare parts for the body or the range of treatments that it may make possible for illnesses such as MS (which a friend of mine struggles with) or Parkinson’s disease (which has probably robbed the world of a 4th Back to the Future movie). I’m not voting for it because it opens the possibility of cloning other higher mammals while we perfect the technology for use with humans. Animals such as whales, dolphins, lawyers and accountants. All coming close to humanity but not quite reaching it yet.

No, I’m voting for this because, at the current level of the technology, the process is inefficient. It took many thousands of monkey eggs to make the one viable clone embryo. This means that there is scope for a lot of exciting future developments in the field of biotechnology.

But that’s not the reason…

…no, the reason is that it gives me the chance to remind everyone that…

…
…
… “You can’t make a monkey without breaking a few eggs”.

Hmmm… perhaps I should have wished for that time machine after all. I keep missing deadlines for the Science Week thing.

Today’s question is “What invention has helpd you most with your working life”

As my job centres on computing and computery things many people would expect me to say “the computer” or “d’Internet”. But Babbage’s calculating engine and its descendants are just fripperies when compared to other inventions that I might mention.

Booze is another possiblity, given its ability to unlock creative thought processes so that complex problems fall away in a “moment of clarity”. But I suspect that , overall, it may have hindered me more than helped given the fuzzy headed hangovers and general making a tit of myself at Christmas Parties when I was a younger man (ie up to last Christmas).

However, when I think about the nature of my job and my working life since mid-way through college, I realise that the majority (if not all) of my career has dealt with clearly defining and structuring problems in a way that results in clearly defined and structured solutions becoming possible. Take away my computer and I can still do that. Take away my booze and I can still do that, but I’ll have a much more muted celebration afterwards (”yippee, mine’s a tea please”). Ultimately my career has been about structure and communication.

To that end I’d like to nominate a combination invention… the dry-wipe whiteboard and the non-permanent marker. With these I can

• do complex analysis of problems
• define project structures
• prioritise work plans for my team
• diagram for my Masters students the complex set of transactions that resulted in the collapse of enron
• Map root causes of process failures
• Draw funny faces
• Write project acronyms or codenames that will never see the light of day, but which everyone in the meeting finds hilarious
• and so many more…

And then when I’m done or when I find we’ve gone down a dead end I can just wipe the whole lot off. When I have a notes worth doing something with they can then be transcribed to Word, MSProject or PowerPoint and a fully formed idea can then be communicated to others.

Also, I must not forget the smell of the markers.

A close second place would be flipcharts and post-it notes, for similar but less ecologically friendly reasons.

Yes, there are lovely technologies out there that I could nominate. However most of them simply technologise the type of creative process that can be had with a humble whiteboard and marker.

Just for the LOVE of GOD and ALL THAT IS FRICKIN’ HOLY please don’t use permanent markers on the whiteboard. People who do should be shot, treated with the best medical care until they are able to stand up again and then be shot a second time.