PortaPocket Notebook
Why some ideas proliferate like rabbits
Having been on the planet for awhile now, I've been around the block enough times to see this phenomenon on more than one occasion. One big Q for many product developers is: Why do some ideas get embraced like wildfire, and others (even perhaps better ideas) never get their moment in the sun?
It's a strange, even bizarre conundrum that I don't know if anyone has the answer to, but boy don't we wish we knew!
A current example is the next bra-with-pockets offering that's about to hit abc's Shark Tank episode on Friday the 13th (perhaps that date's symbolic? ;)) Here's another iteration of the same idea we've seen for the last few years, with more companies excitedly jumping onto this band wagon. Of course no one can adequately explain why the concept of putting one's cell phone (and corresponding emissions) basically on top of one's heart and chest is a good thing to do. There've been concerns raised about this, and the suggestion that one can just turn off one's phone, but in the grand scheme I think both you and I know that people are simply not going to remember to do that.
Perhaps another reason this particular idea is being heralded is the notion that 'sex sells' and the folks in the Shark Tank episode are choosing to leverage this... otherwise why would there be something called 'B**byPack'? A bit disappointing to see society embrace these kinds of tactics, but seeing how long such strategies have been in use....what can you do. Now let's see if they sink or swim...! ;)
photo credit: Environmental Health Trust (ehtrust.org)
So... did you think you saw us on Shark Tank...?
Like so many others, we love the show. And watch it often. But when people ask us, "weren't you on that show...?" well... the answer is... that wasn't us. It was another company that overlaps a bit into the space of where we are...but not really.
And it's a company which pretty much has ceased business at this point. http://sharktanksuccess.blogspot.com/2012/12/partie-poche.html
We'd actually been called by producers for the show, and they liked PortaPocket a lot. So they asked us to apply, and then...
they said no.
And the next season, we tried out again.
And then...
they took on the other company.
And then we tried a third time and ...
no dice either.
All we got that last time was one of the ABC staff members running over to take a picture of THE LEG,
and of course a bunch of smiles / stares...
but that was it. ;/
*sigh*
Ah, well....what can you do. We're just going to keep going...
making solutions to the lack-of-usable-pockets-in-our-clothes problem,
and will continue to be here to help you...
help YOURSELF! ;)