feeling listless

Science In 1707 a committee within the British Government held competition for someone to design a method of tracking longitude to aid ships in their navigation of the globe. The rewards was the not inconsiderable sum, even now, or £20,000. As anyone who has read Dava Sobel's book or saw the magnificent film knows, somes years later the clock maker John Harrison developed a clock and watch which used time to accurately measure the distances involved.

In 2002, Big Brother contestant Jon Tickle issues a challenge to toaster manufacturers: "What's the problem with toast from a toaster right now? You put two slices of toast in, they pop up, you whip one out and spready over the magarine. By the time you get to the second one though, the consistency has changed.. you never get that second slice quite as good as that first one. So why not have a time delay on the second one? You could have a second dial on the toaster and set it to twenty seconds or something so the second slice would pop up when you were done buttering the first." Kenwood took up the challenge and designed a toaster which would keep the toast warm for a further twenty seconds. Tickle wasn't happy. It wasn't what he wanted. So he told them to go back to the drawing board.

Moral: It can take big minds a long time to understand the simplest of things.