My father tells the story of his father, who used to tell a story about a great idea he had when he was young. Make buckets out of (hardened) rubber. At that time buckets were made of steel. They were noisy, easily dented, they rusted, they were easily corroded by the sort of chemicals you put in buckets, and they were difficult to sterilise.
So my grandfather told everyone about his great idea, but of course never did anything about it. And eventually, someone else started manufacturing rubber buckets, and made a fortune. (Presumably until someone else invented plastic buckets.)
I get these ideas regularly. A bit too regularly. They keep me awake at night. Inventions, business ideas, solutions to the world’s problems (those tend to come mostly after a few beers). I used to think I’d act on some of them. Then I thought I’d write them down, let them settle for a while, look back on them and select a good one, and act on it. Now I’ve basically given up. I don’t seem to be cut out for the actual carrying-out process. It’s the whole 99% perspiration that puts me off. I mean, for a start it’s unhygienic.
So I’m putting them out here - slowly and irregularly - for the world to do with as it pleases. If anyone takes one of these ideas and makes a success out of it - congratulations. It would be nice to be acknowledged, or given a free product, or failing that, a beer.
I came up with the idea of rubberbucket.com over three years ago. It’s taken me this long to write an explanation of what it’s about. But hey, it’s a start.
