Saturday, February 23, 2008

The Rubberband Utility Problem

A couple of days back I was watching a couple of videos on the Imagineit project, sponsored by the Stanford Business School. It was about using Post It , the stick pads from 3M.One of the videos actually caught my mind.

Lets take a a step back. What was the video about?

Go to www.imagineitproject.com and look into the video 1.08.


Some folks used Post It pads and went around the campus and asked people to jot down a music note, and collating that they used to software to produce a couple of sounds. Interesting , but not quite. It does not illustrate the use of Post It , the actual , subject of the video.


A little innovation from the same can give us really interesting and marketable stuff. here it is......

Look at the design of the PostIt Pads below. take one of them , stretch it a bit
a bit and blow through of the sheets. If you get it right , you will hear a very sharp whistle. How about that. More innovative than simulating sounds by moving around from people to people.

Take look at the Pic below :
I have observed that , PostIt should change their strategy. They should have a mix of small/medium and large combinations with the same wad of PostIts. Lets look at the advantages:

a. You can use different colors to denote priorities , for example if
something needs to be done urgently , I use a Red colored PostIt leaf. Plus a Bigger PostIt looks more important than a smaller Post It. With the Post it here it covers a good deal of your needs. I hope 3M is listening? I guess Staples might have an equivalent product like this.

Moreover , most PostIts are bought by the lady admin secretary. Dont you think it would be a good way for her to buy it, and give it to her busy Boss and remind him why the reason she bought it. The colours one should choose is Light Red, Light Green and Light Yellow. having the words like Important , Urgent , Immediate on PostIts can increase a lot of sales.


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Now for the use and utility of rubber bands. I think this is an amazing product , and people havent innovated it the way people have for paper. I guess the word "paper" feels important and a rubber band doesnt , plus the innovation of rubber bands have been primarily done on a household
basis among kids , housewives etc , which never caught peoples attention.

Heres a couple, to make Rubberbands a better commercial product.

This rubber band is not a thin rubber band, its a thin and a thick combined
together. And its a big one in thickness. I have created some pics with MSPaint , which ( are better than a Picasso ;))) ) are difficult to comprehend fully , but am confident , it will dawn upon you when you see all the Pics.


First , the utility of this rubber band would be for people having arthritic joints. If you have one you will understand how much one has to struggle to keep the joints from either not moving , or at least supported well. Fig A explains with a diagram.


Fig B shows how the band can be worn on the joint, snugly. It will have a thin rubber band,
and a thick one over it, glued together. The only important thing over here would be the portion of rubber which needs to be crimped at the middle to support the joint better and give it an elastic ability to lift the finger up, if someone bends it. I remember creating it by cutting a baloon and using it the way explained, and it really helps people with such a joint pain.

For a better design idea , do get in touch with me @ subhashish.acharya@gmail.com



Now for another utility with Rubber bands :
This ones really interesting for those who want to use it. I dont recommend it though!!!!!


Please see the diagram


This is an intricate system , but runs only with rubber bands( mostly).


Many of people , cannot memorize formulae/ equations etc , and thus do not perform well. this system helps people use the info written over a rolled sheet of paper, when ever they want to.

lets go through the system first and understand how to use it. On your hand would be a string , with which the paper( cheat paper) would be attached. This paper is rolled up on a hollow cardboard or a hard card over which you may put wax for better stability.

A rubber band runs through the cardboard roll and is rolled a number of times to make sure it provides a rolling effect. The rubber band is then attached to a pulley which in turn is attached to another rubberband tightly attached to you arm. This should be made in such a way that the whole system has stability. The whole thing can be mounted a plastic and can be strapped to your hand.

Now what happens is with your index finger , you pull the string, and lift up your hand a bit gently. This makes the paper roll out straight which is attached to the main roll( under tension). The whole figure is self explanatory.

Now if you have seen whats written on the roll of paper , simply release the
fine string from your index finger and you will see the paper coiling back to the main position. Isnt it interesting!!!!!

I can show you how to make one. :))))


Let me last show you a good thing that can be made out of rubber bands. Its used to hold pens and other writing instruments( like brushes etc).





Very simple , get the pringle chips containers. cut the tops to make them a bit short, and adjust according to pen or brush size.

Now take a bunch of good quality rubber bands. Bunch them up and then entwine them together. Then slide the pringle cylinders down them.

I know this was a boring example for the utility of a rubber band , but never the less......... :)

Will keep writing interesting ones when I have time.