6 simple steps to sending your device ID!

Thank you for considering helping BasicIP on this project. Here are the 6 simple steps to send your iPhone or iPod Touch device ID:

To send your device ID to a Bill Meade (bill@basicip.com) for testing iCapture!:

1. Launch iTunes.
2. Connect your device to your computer.
3. Select the device in the Devices list.
4. In the Summary pane, click the Serial Number label. It changes to Identifier.
5. Choose Edit > Copy.
6. Email your device identifier to bill@basicip.com

Please include your device name in the email (ex., my iPhone is named BillPhone if you have an iPod Touch the name of that device will be different from your iPhone). After you've sent me your device ID, I'll build up a batch of IDs and email you back the program for you iPhone is about a week. That email will give you the 3 step instructions on how to get iCapture! on your iPhone so you can play with it.

 

FAQ

Q#1 Why do this?
A#1 Because inventors need a trusted system for their ideas. Once they have a trusted system to capture and send their ideas, they will have more ideas. I've been very affected by reading David Allen's Getting Things DONE. iCapture! is an application for allowing inventors to use "in-between" slices of time to invent. It also puts an emergency capture mechanism in the inventor's hands for those (inconvenient) moments when the brain invents and there is no laptop, paper, pen. Everyone always has a phone these days.

 

Q#2 Why should me, myself, and I, do this?
A#2 Because as a beta tester, you'll be able to tell us which blatantly obvious features are missing and get an application that you like.

 

Q#3 I see why that is good for you, why is this good for me?
A#3 Because it is possible to do a custom build (enterprise iPhone app) that controls who sees the invention disclosures. So, if we did a custom enterprise application for you, you could then engineer a bit to tap into the inventing process of your clients. For example, allowing you to see that an important inventor has started working on a disclosure, so you can then call the inventor to encourage them to finish or further generalize an invention. Or, you might want to economize on inventor time by having the inventors do pre-disclosures that you then authorize them to turn the pre-disclosure into a full-blown disclosure. Or, ...

The idea is to give patent geeks a spinal tap into inventors. If you've ever complained about your clients and inventors not disclosing enough, you owe it to yourself to help BasicIP give you a tool to fix the problem.

 

Q#4 I use a blackberry, when does that app come out?
A#4 Unknown. BasicIP is using the iPhone as the prototyping platform for iteratively discovering requirements. This is a high-uncertainty product, so we're going to need to lead, take a shot, then listen to our testers. Once we've got our hands on solid requirements, then we can begin to broaden across platforms.

 

Q#5 So you expect me to go buy an iPhone to use this app?
A#5 No, but ... you wont regret buying an iPhone! Buy the best, only cry once. And, think about it, you can easily visualize a custom version of an invention creation tool that you can give to your clients. You know that the innovative people already have iPhones. It is like a self selection mechanism to capture the most innovating invention disclosures! Not! Just kidding. But you get the idea.

 

Q#6 Will this application work on anything except the iPhone?
A#6 Yes, the iPod Touch will work as an invention capture tool as well as the iPhone.

 

Q#7 Bill! How can you not see that this will never work?
A#7 The above admonition is the precursor to every break through process that I come up with. Patent attorneys (best source for contrarian predictions) told me that invention workshops would not work, for example. So, when I have people who make me *feel the love* like this, it is like waving a bag of red rags in front of a bull. The bull says to itself, "This time I really will gore that patent attorney!" then it smells smoke and ends up working for the patent attorney. :-)

 

Q#8 Bill! How can you not see that this application is too simple? You should have gone much further, much faster. You should have included video, audio, speech to text, web pages, GPS, bluetooth data capture, etc.
A#8 In due time. We had the idea for an invention tricorder that would function as a digital on-ramp for the inventor to capture rich information about the need, the invention, the context, and the prior art. We think about this app as the iCorder and if the iCapture app moves the needle enough (i.e., break even) we'll try to develop a follow on product.

 

Q#9 Bill! How can you not see that this application is too complex? A disclosure on an iPhone is like trying to surf porn with only a character based interface. Get out of your ivory tower, you must simplify!
Q#9 True. This app is too complex. But that does not mean it won't work. Users if they have a real need, will find a way, or they will tell us how we can help them to find a way. But, we also have an idea for a 3rd application, enTitle. enTitle stands for "enabled titles". Inventions are encapsulated in enabled titles. BasicIP learned this will running large invention workshops where we had to enable for 90 minutes, and then disclose subsequently. We learned that if an inventor captures a title that includes both the "What" of the invention and the "How" of the invention, even at a very high level. There are sufficient memory traces in the brain that even days later, he inventor can remember what s/he was thinking and complete the disclosure. enTitle will capture nothing but enabled titles and send those in.

Email: bill@basicip.com