Paperwork: I was thinking there are no new ideas, but … found some

James C. is a thinker. And a talker. And a writer.

And a reader of this column … who reacts. He lands in my email box a lot with fun facts, observations, and he set me straight recently about ideas.

I love ideas involving anything, and he tossed me a thought about mentoring journalism students.

“Keep ‘em coming, but let me warn you: there are no original ideas,” I said.

“Don’t be such a Debbie Downer. There’s always new ideas,” he replied, and added, “I forget the details, but the guy in charge of the U.S. patent office wanted to close the doors in the late 1800s because he said everything has been invented already. Can you imagine?”

Then he sent me a Wikipedia item on Mr. Henry Ellsworth who was the Patent Office commissioner in 1843. In his report to Congress, Ellsworth wrote:

“The advancement of the arts, from year to year, taxes our credulity and seems to presage the arrival of that period when human improvement must end.”

OK, Mr. Ellsworth might have been suffering some work burnout and maybe a lack of faith in human ingenuity. But he was wrong. And James was right to correct me.

Actually my quip about no original ideas tended to reflect the world of writing and entertainment – such as writing a column about ideas. Still, even in the writing arena, it’s not a fair comment.

I did a shallow dive online into the world of patents and quickly found some fun facts.

According to U.S. Patent Statistics Reports in 2020 there were 34,877 design patents granted, 1,398 plant patents and 223,727 grants to foreign residents.

That’s a lot of new ideas in one year.

Then I spot this headline: “The Eight Coolest Inventions From the 2024 Consumer Electronics.” The list included a walking assist robot, targeted hearing devices, a need-to-pee predictor, a powerful solar generator for emergencies, and a desk bike to charge your phone.

Also Time magazine published what they called the “best inventions of 2024″ and listed 200 innovations that changed how we live. (https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2023/)

Examples include:

• A robotic toothbrush for people with mobility issues.
• A Hologram Zoo in Brisbane, Australia, that projects images such as polar bears and whales in action. No live animals in cages.
• A handheld laser that helps clear scars, rosacea and wrinkles in your skin.
• 3D-printed, customized shoes made of recyclable thermoplastic polyurethane.
• A virtual fireplace with holographic flames that can heat up to 167 degrees.
• An AI-powered smart cane that detects falls, tracks activities and has GPS location, a flashlight and emergency-calling features.
• Solar tiles that look like terracotta shingles that appear to be opaque clay but light passes through to solar cells.
• Tags that measure growth, keep track of water and light inputs, and monitor carbon capture in your trees.

It’s a long list, which, again, adds up to a lot of new ideas.

And now I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes from author Victor Hugo, which I will share along with a thanks to James for his reminder that new ideas do exist:

“Nothing else in the world … not all the armies … is so powerful as an idea whose time has come.”

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His PaperWork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail The Times, 110 W. Jefferson St., Ottawa, IL 61350.