Another Simple One - Better KBB.com

They should pay me for this. Why doesn't KBB let you get to the car straightaway by putting in the VIN. It's so annoying to have to select one thing at a time.

Better Airconditioning

Why don't the companies come up with some robots that'll crawl into your ducts and keep them germ free all year round? That should help healthcare costs in this country and improve productivity shouldn't it? Everytime the AC kicks on, you hear someone sneeze.

Commemorative Supernovae

They say at some point, things will only be limited by the imagination. How about this one.. A company provides you a supernova to commemorate any event. You name the event, they'll look and find you a start that's going to self-destruct at that very event - or, the price will reflect the timing. You want it at 5 PM, that'll cost you $10k. 2 AM (red eye) will be cheaper:)

Renting Out Great Circles

Weightlessness could become a commodity. Certain manufacturing processes might benefit. What must you do? Travel at approximately 8 km/s. If you don't do this at the equator, you have to account for the rotation of the earth in some non-fun ways, but the way this would probably work is for a really long, continuous magnetic levitation track to be contructed along a longitude - probably one that runs across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. It would have to be tall enough to not be hindered by icebergs or ships. To get on, or off, you'd have to be travelling at 8 km/s. But, there could be a continuous train of carriages dedicated to different things - science, tourism, etc. Imagine the headlines 200 years from now - meteor brings great circle train to halt.

Intelli-Phone

Your cellphone comes with a laser pointer (maybe; or just a viewfinder display). When you see a number somewhere - say in a newspaper or on an advertisment billboard, you point and your cellphone sees that you're interested in a number and asks if you want to save that number - reads it out. You say yes, or dial, or something like that.

Outsourcing - More Bang for the Buck

That sounds nasty, but, I'm thinking simple things that I wonder why people haven't thought of them yet. How about remote watchmen? Go into a police station and you'll see people in rooms looking at closed circuit TVs. Why not outsource stuff like that? It's an idiot job.

Also, in the future, remote chauffeuring. Dual/triple redundant too. Works like this - say you're prepared to spend $200 a month on a chauffeur. That's a decent amount in the third world. Let's say you can hire 3 people for that money. Now, three of them get control of your car simultaneously - they don't know that they're working with two others. Hopefully, all three make the same (correct) decision during the drive. But, if one of them errs, the other two should still be able to carry you safely.

Surprised They Aren't Around Yet

Artificial hearts. Don't we already have the mechanical and control technology to create something to keep pumping continuously? Once in a while, the patient removes the used battery and puts in a new one - he always has two in his artifical heart - and both the charger and the heart will ensure the battery is okay. Acutally, the battery could be a smart battery that can decide for itself (has enough functionality embedded in it) if it is ready for the job or not.