Patenting everything, because you can
Interesting headlines the last few days about a new patent for Microsoft on what they refer to as pay-as-you-go computing (See: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/12/29/microsoft.metered.computing/index.html). The basic idea is that you rent time on an application such as Word, rather than having to spend much more money for the whole package. Sounds like a great idea when you just need it to get a particular job done and lack either the money or the inclination to buy the software.
On its face, this may sound like a good idea. Hey, you mean I can go to the library and do my work without needing a lot of expensive stuff?
I hate to tell you this but you probably don’t need the expensive software anyway. OpenOffice includes an excellent word processor, a fine spreadsheet and other goodies like the ones MS charges a lot of money for. If you don’t like that, try Google docs. Or even something else. This doesn’t apply just to office-type applications. There are lots of tools out there that can be used for free or very little.
But that’s not the big problem. If The Evil Empire (not my turn of phrase but I love using it!) wants to patent something no one wants or needs, that’s their business. It’s a common business, too. I currently work for a research center that could sometimes be thought of as a patent factory. Managers and projects are judged (in part) on the basis of how many patents were successfully filed based on their work.There’s a whole process to go through, including convincing a committee that the company can make money from this. As with any other system, there are people who are very good at playing the games and politics. There are also brilliant people who turn out some genuinely innovative ideas (the head of the project I work on being one of those).
Since starting this job I’ve learned a bit about patents, innovation and corporate bureaucracy. It’s been quite an interesting education. One thought that has occurred to me repeatedly is that pushing for patents, particularly ones related to making money, is a self-limiting way of judging ideas that may lead to a sort of “safe” innovation. People work to generate ideas they know they can sell to the bean counters and managers even though they may not have much real long term potential.
Of course, if you can’t sell your idea to the bean counters, your development budget is going to be very very small. Maybe there’s a lesson there. Maybe starving artists were on to something when they gave up everything for their art. Maybe the best ideas come from people who have the freedom to do what they want and the creativity and drive to do it without a lot of money.
Or maybe not. I’m not planning on quitting my job, after all.
LinkedIn
Technorati Favorites