Friday, December 05, 2003

 

So I was thinking about how I wish my iPod had a simple radio tuner in it. Right? I mean, how simple and obvious is that? I don't know, maybe it would give "the wrong image", or maybe there would be some interference or power issue . . . but I don't think so.

Anyway, aside from this, it occured to me that it seems like overkill for all the different cellular networks to have their own servers, and use phone bandwidth, to deliver the same simple data set to everyone with the limited "web" service that's just scores, weather, news headlines, and that kind of thing. It seems to me that a broadcast radio service could deliver the same information more cost-effectively; I mean, it does, in the form of news radio stations, but there's no reason that information can't be transmitted in a form such that it can be displayed as text on cell phone, PDA, or iPod screens.

Ah, I have so many million dollar ideas, and so little interest in putting any effort into them.

Another (maybe $100,000) idea is bluetooth-enabled vent-covers. Dumb idea, right? Well, my room never gets warm enough if the living room vent is open, because the thermostat's in the living room, and gets the best flow. Now, it's hard to rework the whole heating system in a building to ensure even flow to every vent, and totally impractical & inefficient to have independent heaters for each room. But it's now (relatively) cheap to put little chips in things, and temperature sensors are cheap, and motors strong enough to (essentially) turn some flaps are cheap, it seems like making a smart network to manage your heating system should be pretty doable.

Meanwhile, I have a second-year project proposal (that will make me $0, and hopefully ensure an additional three years of grad school & poverty wages) to write. Back to work!

posted by Miles 10:08 AM