Nano-Febreeze Isn't Going to Cut It

When I was in fifth grade, we had to do this project about inventions. We were studying the age of invention and discussing the impact that innovations like the light bulb had on the world. We were then asked to survey our parents on what they thought the single most beneficial invention to mankind was. The next class we were going to compare survey results. My mom said that she thought the printing press was the most revolutionary invention ever.

I figured that other students would have similar results. I was WRONG. I will never forget, when the next day in class, someone raised their hand and reported that their mom believed Febreeze to be the most earth-shattering creation of all time.

Febreeze hasn't changed the world...yet. Maybe if doctors discover that drinking it cures cancer, it will, but the fact is, it hasn't helped the world in any really significant way. When you think about it, though, most modern inventions, although increasingly technological, haven't had impacts as great as older inventions, such as the telegram.

Watching commercials gives you an idea of what these new products are. Cell phones that double as cameras and MP3 players. MP3 Players that double as cameras and cell phones. iPods. Sleeker, (though still gasoline-powered) cars. Plasma TVs. All of these seem to be a big deal, as they improve on older models, but for the most part, thats all that they do. Alexander Graham Bell couldn't talk on the phone while taking pictures and listening to music, but he could talk to people from far away. Multi-function cell phones don't do anything new, they just do more than one old thing.

But why is that? Have we run out of useful things to invent? Is the only thing left an iPod micro-mini-nano-pico-really-quite-small? (Which I hear is under development; the idea is that you can listen to music while operating a Scanning Electron Microscope.) The answer, of course, is no. We have plenty of things to invent. We have things that we need to invent. But no one seems to be getting around to inventing them.

I don't think its a secret that oil is running out. I also don't think its a secret that just about everything we rely on relies on oil. Why aren't people working on newer resources? Sure, every once in a while a company will come out with an inefficient, expensive, but electric car...but why would anyone buy one? Especially when gasoline-powered cars are becoming sexier by the minute, because apparently sexy is a word that can describe machines, too.

On the other hand, maybe we are inventing important things without even noticing it. When the television was first invented, people doubted its usefulness, and over time, it proved itself. When Edison invented the light bulb, people probably didn't think much of it. Sure, it was an improvement on candles, but what huge impact did it have on people who had already lived the majority of their lives by candlelight? It may be retrospect that makes revolutionary innovations apparent. But the bottom line remains: there are some things we need to invent, and those things are not being invented in any sort of hurry. That said, I wonder if a car engine can run on Febreeze...