Getting started

Okay, so here I am, doing something that I never thought I'd be doing - writing a blog.

Full disclaimer first; I run a small business, Trippi oy, in Finland, with main specialization in trip meters - that is, devices that tell very accurately you how far you've driven. That doesn't sound very exciting, doesn't it? Well, there's more; friction measurement (that is, how slippery the road is - very important in icy Nordic winter for maintenance!), taximeters, accessories and so on.

Well, yes, still not exciting. Funny how it is, there are huge amount of businesses that do just one special thing that you - or I - will never even hear about. Until for some reason you need their services, only to be surprised that that small shop, the one just behind the corner with name that doesn't tell you anything actually does this. And you had never heard of them until now.

But this still hasn't explained why I'm writing this. Just bear with me a bit longer now...

Now, I am self-confessed geek. According to my father (he works with electronics too) I picked up soldering iron about the same time I stopped needing pacifier (well, there might some exaggeration there), and I if I recall correctly I've been programming since I was 10 or so. I do all the hardware and software design of devices we manufacture, and due to this I happen to follow technology news quite closely.

Which brings me to patents. The current situation (is US mainly, Europe is only slightly better) is disgusting. For small player, like me, it's a lose-lose situation. Big companies patent everything possible (there's apparently nothing "too obvious") and they are granted them with zero review. They sue and you're bankrupt. Or, if you have patent (no matter how good and valid), if you sue, they throw hordes of  lawyers on your way and you're again bankrupt. Lose-lose.

Did I mention obviousness? As an engineer, if I am given a specific problem, I often can figure out half a dozen solutions, some worse, some better. If same problem is given to ten other engineers worth their salary, they'll figure out very same solutions. This makes those solutions obvious. Yet big corporations will happily get patents for these. So it's actually lose-lose-lose.

So what can I do then? Well, this, for once. Publicly document the ideas for some random problem, no matter how obvious it seems, I happen to think of, with some solutions and dearly hope that in the long run this will ruin some litigious (sp?) lawyers' day and save my sorry behind.

In the meantime I'll just keep writing about stuff (I won't be limiting myself only to things mentioned above, there'll be other things too), which I hope someone will find interesting.