Trials and Errors Issue #51: Where is American Pride? Let's Celebrate Mahlon Loomis

Hi Don, thanks for the comment. I'm sure that all countries, and not just the USA, are full of almost inventors. But I think they are still cause to celebrate. They didn't have to build something of success in the marketplace, as they built up a pile of data that other (innovators) could use to build that commercial product. Take one of the greatest of all time, Michael Faraday. He wasn't even a PhD, but he was a whiz at developing concepts, proving theories, and setting up innovators to take that information and run with it to the commercial product stage. Dave, W7DGJ

 

Hi Dave,

It is only right to celebrate the innovators of the past. For me, personally, Lee DeForest is a particular icon for developing the Audion. American Pride is still there in some sectors, but I see a pattern of it declining over the years (and that is not just in the United States). I think that this may be that curiosity is waning in technical fields. I could be wrong, but my impression is that most do not want to invent or even try to repair their equipment or want to have at least a basic understanding on how it works, they just want something new and shiny out of the box and when it fails, out it goes into the rubbish and time for something new. No thinking involved there.

Invention and the passion to innovate grows out of either curiosity or necessity, or both. I highly respect those of the past that did so. Now, it seems that all many want to do is have an AI programme do the thinking for them. There is no invention there. It is almost a type of blindness. When we lose curiosity, we lose our ability to invent. I tip my hat to those in the past that made what we have now possible (well, except for the one that invented mobile phones that make our children mindless, but I digress).

Excellent article as always, Dave.
73
Tony AA7FR