Last Friday night Joanne and I were playing Quiddler while eating dinner at Miller’s Grocery – one of our long time favorite relaxing spots. We enjoy the ambience, the live music and the great down-home cooking. Debbie, the owner stopped by to chat and in the conversation asked if we carried a dictionary with us to challenge questionable words. We told her we used to carry a dictionary but at this point we simply use our iPhones to check any word instantly. She then started listing the things the smart phones have made obsolete and Joanne and I continued thinking about that list on the way home. While we certainly think of our phones as primarily phones, it is interesting to note what we no longer use as a result of the many functions.
What about you? When was the last time you used a physical map? Or even bothered to pull your GPS out of the glovebox?
Our list started to expand with things we no longer use:
- Map
- GPS
- Flashlight
- Alarm Clock
- Wristwatch
- Calendar
- Dictionary
- Bible Commentaries
- Board Games
- Tape Recorder
- Newspaper
- CDs
- Land Line Phones
- Camera
- Yellow Pages
- Address book
- Catalogs
- Fax Machine
- Phone Booths
- Notepad
- iPod
- Calculator
- Level
- Cookbooks
So how do you respond to these changes? Are you discouraged because nothing new needs to be invented? Are you excited because everything seems to be a possibility? Do you have an idea that would make people’s lives easier? Do you think now may be the time to launch that service business you’ve been thinking about? (With all the fancy electronics we have there’s still plenty of opportunity for solid service businesses.)
Do you have an idea for a business or invention?
My suggestion: Keep an “idea log” for this year. Write down every idea you have. Experts tell us we all have 3-4 ideas a year that would make us millionaires – IF we acted on them. Don’t let your $1,000,000 idea slip by. In the next few days I’m going to be sharing some more tips for turning your ideas into reality.
