Gadget Nation. FastPencil Premiere

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СКАЧАТЬ happened to drive a pickup at that time. What could be more perfect than to have a hoop made to go in the back of his truck? He could have a basketball court with him anywhere he went. He could play anytime anywhere he wanted. Sweet.

      Jason’s pickup truck was already three feet off the ground, so he just needed seven more feet to meet the regulation height of ten feet. He sketched something that resembled scaffolding in the back of a truck that had a backboard hanging on it, then passed the ball to his uncle, Jon VarnHagen. Uncle Jon was an automotive engineer for Chrysler Corporation. Jon, who also loved basketball, immediately saw the genius behind a mobile instant basketball court.

      Jon approached the situation from an engineer’s perspective, establishing design requirements up front. First, the backboard and goal must extend far enough away from the back of the truck to allow adequate baseline play. Second, the system must able to be set up or taken down by one person, without any tools, in under a minute—otherwise it might be considered too much trouble for most consumers. Third, the design would need to fit all truck sizes: short or long boxes, full-size or mini pickups, and 2- or 4-wheel drive. Fourth, the hoops would need to be easily removable from the truck when the truck bed was needed for uses other than basketball (like that would ever happen).

      The design that came to Jon was like a convertible top on a car—after all, he did work for Chrysler. The hoop system would need to fit neatly and compactly in the space available, which is the bed, then extend up and out, away from the back of the truck, in the play position. The resultant design achieved all the design requirements and then some. Rear overhang of the backboard extends about four feet from the truck’s tailgate. The hoop angle can be adjusted to compensate for parking on a sloped lot. What’s more, it can be set up in thirty seconds without tools and the whole system weighs less than 60 pounds.

      They named the product Pick Up Hoops and made a few prototypes. Jason brought it to work and his fellow co-workers loved it. He showed the Pick Up Hoops to everyone he saw playing basketball and they all loved it. One group that was especially excited about Pick Up Hoops was the Michigan Wheelchair Basketball Team. You see, most public basketball courts are a slab of asphalt with grass or dirt around the court. For basketball players in wheelchairs, rolling off the court onto the grass can be a real problem. But with Pick Up Hoops you can set up your court anywhere in the middle of a parking lot and play b-ball. In town parades, Jason drives his pickup truck down the parade route with the Michigan Wheelchair Basketball Team playing right behind. Cool, huh?

      As for Pick Up Hoops, Jason is not trying to sell individual units. He wants some large company to license the concept from him. He has knocked on every door he could think of trying to get some company interested, including Spalding and just about every backboard company. He’s talked to all the American car manufacturers and now he’s planning to hit on foreign carmakers. So far, nobody wants to play ball.

      “When I was growing up, the only way you had your own hoop was to have a garage. But now with our product, if you have a truck you have a truly portable hoop game.”

      Jason is quick to point out that there are other portable hoops, but says they all feel like toys. His hoop has a professional backboard of 54 inches, whereas most portables are only 42 inches. And, most importantly, his hoops can take a beating and even handle a dunk.

      Jason can’t see why he hasn’t found the right company to license his product. He says one out of every seven vehicles sold in the U.S. is a truck. Young men love trucks and basketball; it just makes sense.

      Jason’s not giving up. When it comes to basketball, he’s a competitor and this game is far from over.

      Sportbinox™

       Driven to Invent?

      Picture this. You’re at a football game in the nosebleed seats. The action on the field is far far away. So you grab your binoculars and hold them up to your eyes. Here’s the problem. How do you reach down to get your nachos and soda while holding the binoculars up to your eyes? It’s impossible.

      That’s the problem Tristram Himmele decided to tackle. Tristram is a 38-year-old who used to race cars in his twenties. As an avid sports fan, he knows firsthand that your hands aren’t free while holding binoculars.

      The search to solve this problem led the former racecar driver down a new road in life—the road to being an inventor. “I was tired of holding my binoculars and having to put down my Coke. So I thought, why don’t I mount the binoculars on my head?”

      Tristram’s invention, the Sportbinox, is a hands-free binocular set with built-in AM/FM radio. It allows fans in even the worst seats in the stadium to get a great view of the game while keeping their hands free.

      The road to developing this fan’s Sportbinox has been a long and bumpy one with many pitfalls, roadblocks, stops, and starts along the way. Reflecting on the path behind him, Tristram says, “I’ve grown a lot as a person.”

      First, the product went through several incarnations before the final version was created. In fact, an early version of the Sportbinox was mounted in a tray.

      Once the Sportbinox design was complete, Tristram wanted to hit the gas, but instead needed to slow down due to the numerous speed bumps on the road toward manufacturing the product. One turn went directly into a dead end when he traveled to Hong Kong to meet with a manufacturing company. This company ended up, as Tristram says, “taking advantage of me,” promising to develop the Sportbinox but then filing for a patent on its own.

      The process also cost a lot more than Tristram had ever imagined it would.

      “I’ve been able to finance it because of some good investments I’ve made in South Florida real estate.” But even so, he adds, “I’m quite far in debt.”

      Another hard lesson to learn was how difficult it can be for an independent inventor to get his product into stores. “Buyers for stores don’t want to take a risk with an independent.”

      Behind every great inventor there’s a lawyer. For Tristram, that lawyer happens to also be his girlfriend. Her unfailing support and the fact that she’s also a corporate attorney have been a big help.

      Tristram’s vision for the future of the Sportbinox is bright and clear. After all, as Tristram sees it, “Everyone has two eyes,” and therefore everyone can use a Sportbinox.

      Tristram also sees the potential in renting the Sportbinox at stadiums, allowing people to spend a lesser amount to use the product without laying out the full price to purchase one. Tristram’s plan for the road ahead is to use the public relations potential of the Sportbinox to get attention without spending dollars on advertising.

      “The Sportbinox is highly visible because it sits on top of your head.” So Tristram plans to wear the Sportbinox while sitting in high-profile seats at sporting events. By doing this, he hopes to attract attention and score interviews with reporters from large media outlets.

      Eight or nine years after conceiving the idea for the Sportbinox, Tristram is now somewhat of an expert on what it takes to succeed with an invention. “It’s been a learning process; I’ve learned so much СКАЧАТЬ