4 ms·
The fibula and the safety pin
- ovi256 19y agoYeah, except it's morally questionable, and it does not benefit anyone else but YOU. But hey, this is capitalism. Who are we to stand in the way of profit.
- JacobAldridge 19y agoWithout the motivation for profit, what inventions that benefit many may not have been discovered? Safety pin is a glib example; big pharma may be too far the other way; but why would I invest my time and money to build a better mouse trap just to give it away?
- ovi256 19y agoI am afraid I did not make myself clear enough. I was criticizing only the safety pin patent, which obviously is superfluous, given the existence of fibulas. The general case, building better (but really better, not pharma-style better) mousetraps still warrants recognition.