Gadget Nation: A Journey Through the Eccentric World of Invention

by Steve Greenberg

Gadget geeks, design buffs, hobbyists, and anyone interested in how things this is required reading! Featuring more than 100 quirky innovations from “garage inventors” across the nation, this visual showcase captures America’s can-do spirit and creative energy. All the clever amateur creators profiled here brought their ideas to life right in their own homes; the fruits of their imagination range from the useful (a “Finger Shield” for when you’re chopping food) to the offbeat (a diaper for your pet bird).There are items for people on the go, to help you look your best, and to make life easier at home—and electronics too. Get the background story on every invention, along with a statistics-filled sidebar, photos, illustrations, and diagrams to add to the fun!

Genres: Nonfiction

244 pages, Hardcover

First published May 6, 2008

Reviews

[Veronica F]

Not bad, but not super interesting. It's a lot of "we spent a lot of money" and "made a little" or "made nothing." A lot of it is out of date now too.

[Am Y]

This was a very interesting read. Then again, I'm not from America; I'm from Asia where the culture is predominantly "study hard and get a degree and become a doctor/lawyer/engineer". There is absolutely no push to be creative in such a society, so reading this book and learning how some people actually spent their entire retirement fund or inheritance money (up to US$250,000!) on seeing that their inventions became reality was very inspiring indeed.

I liked how (for most of the inventions) we are told how much was spent and how much was made, the inventors' age, profession, and location. I also really enjoyed the author's writing style, which was gently mocking for some of the more ludicrous inventions.

Some of the sillier inventions: a motorised ice-cream cone (for people too lazy to rotate the cone), a surfboard-shaped remote control (so the inventor could finally "channel-surf" for real), and a tilted toilet paper roll holder (so no more arguments would ensue over which side to put the roll)!

There's also some very useful information and tips provided by some inventors on patenting.

[Smellsofbikes]

One to two page reviews of various clever and somewhat odd inventions from the last 30 years, and discussions of their respective inventors, with a rating scale of cost-to-develop, cost-to-patent, and return-on-investment. It's extremely depressing if you were ever thinking about inventing something.

[McArthur Library]

Who dreams this stuff up? Find out about all kinds of strange and/or useful inventions—how much they cost to develop, how much profit they made, and more. Everything from lighted slippers to a plunger holder.

[Don Gubler]

Someone actually invented these things...on purpose?