-Caveat Lector-
Hi Peat and list,
Your mention of Gilligan I believe is the correct reference to "Ginger"
as a codename for Dean Kamen's "It." I'm going to make my own prediction
(you are all witnesses) today ( 12 Jan 2001) as to what IT is.
First of all, Kamen talked about this mechanism last year and ruled out
its being a medical device (unlike the earlier items he invented). See
http://www.wirednews.com/wired/archive/8.09/kamen_pr.html
with a Kamen interview from August 2000 where he says that
"Another project, to be unveiled in the next year, will necessitate building
"the largest company in New Hampshire," Kamen says with characteristic
bravura. He's shy about details, except to say it involves a consumer device
unrelated to health care and will require $100 million in financing. Among
the investors: Kleiner Perkins. "
Here is the Kleiner Perkins website:
http://www.kpcb.com/news/kpcb.php. I've not had the chance to read all of
it, but what I've read shows that this firm has truly evolved ideas about
the financial support of rebel genius entrepreneurs. Their investments don't
appear at all to be corporate-driven; if anything the reverse. In fact, the
mechanism may well undermine the corporate structures that holds Americans
hostage to their archaic supplies of petroleum, natural gas, coal-driven
poluting power, etc. I believe THIS is why Kamen says that all Americans
will want it, but the goverment (read patsy of the corporate interests) may
try to prevent them from having it.
Second, Kamen's firm "DEKA" (go back to first website) has been planning, as
of Aug 2000 to build a "STIRLING ENGINE":
"Lately, Kamen has broadened his work beyond health care. He believes
technology and ingenuity can solve all kinds of social ills - like
pollution, limited access to electricity, and contaminated water in many
third-world countries, where bacteria from human feces in drinking water is
a leading cause of cholera. To help ameliorate the water problem, Deka's
team of 170 engineers is working on a nonpolluting engine - funded by
several million dollars of Kamen's own money - based on a concept first
floated in the early 1800s but never realized.
"The device is called the Stirling engine; Kamen hopes it can be developed
into an affordable, portable machine that will run a water purifier/power
generator that could zap contaminated H20 with a UV laser to make it safe
for drinking. "It can burn any fuel, and you can do all kinds of things with
it," he says. "It might be very valuable in emerging economies, giving them
access to electricity, even the Net."
IN OTHER WORDS, THE STIRLING ENGINE COULD BE USED BY THOSE STRANDED ON A
DESERT ISLAND TO MYSTERIOUSLY BRING THEM ALL THE GRACIOUS CONVENIENCES OF
CIVILIZATION, MUCH AS GINGER MYSTERIOUSLY HAS A PRISTINE DRYCLEANED EVENING
GOWN, FRESH HAIRDO, MAKEUP AND SEX APPEAL WITHOUT ANY ACCESS TO CONVENTIONAL
SOURCES OF THESE.
See this website for fuller explanation of the Stirling Engine:
http://me.mit.edu/2.670/Stirl/stirl.html
More from Kamen's website: "The development of a marketable Stirling device
has eluded the brightest engineering minds since Robert Stirling, a Scottish
minister, patented the first version in 1816. The basic principle of
Stirling's external combustion engine is simple: A chamber is filled with a
gas that expands as it is heated by a small heat source, such as a propane
flame, and contracts when cooled. The process operates a piston and drives
the engine. The advantage? Cheap, local fuels can be used to run the
engines, and Kamen has adapted his model to produce electricity instead of
mechanical power.
"But producing the thing is a more complex matter. While many have tried to
use Stirlings to power drive shafts for vehicles, they have proved too
expensive to manufacture on a mass scale, and they're not always efficient
enough. One low tech problem is designing seals that guard against waste as
the heat is transferred into a form that does useful work.
"Deka's version heats a chamber containing helium, under pressure, and Kamen
says it can run on gasoline, propane, fuel oil, diesel, alcohol, or even
solar power - with one-fifth the emissions of a gas stove. Deka's engineers
think they'll succeed where others have failed because they've ironed out
all the kinks. "We looked at the history of the Stirling - all the money and
time and expertise poured into it - and identified a half-dozen key goofs
that previous teams had made," says project leader Chris Langenfeld.
"Seventy percent of it was a materials challenge. We had to track down the
right composites to use as seals."
Kamen hopes that his family of Stirlings, five years in development, will
soon bring portable electricity to nations without a reliable power grid -
or any grid at all. He envisions briefcase-sized Stirlings powering cell
phones and cell towers, as well as purifying water. He aims to have them on
the market in the next two years, and is currently working on the marketing
issues - like how developing nations will be able to afford bulk purchases
of the engines, which are projected to cost $1,500 apiece. "
Note: the price is remarkably close to the $2000 quoted by Kamen in articles
of the last week.
I repeat: is there a website that records 'IT" predictions? Or is the only
way to win to invest before IT's identity is revealed?
Jenny Decker
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mulva Jenkins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 7:35 AM
Subject: Re: [CTRL] IT will change the world!
> -Caveat Lector-
>
> New member here...
>
>
> What is the it website URL?
> I'm working on a project called Gilligan. It will change the world too.
What
> a coincidence ;)
>
> peat
>
>
>
>
> >From: Jenny Decker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Reply-To: Conspiracy Theory Research List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >Subject: Re: [CTRL] IT will change the world!
> >Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 06:32:48 -0800
> >
> >-Caveat Lector-
> >
> >I finally got through to the "IT" website--everyone in the US must have
> >been
> >accessing it over the last 24 hours.
> > Does anyone know if there is a chat site that is recording guesses
as
> >to
> >what "IT" is? I have ideas, based upon the reference to "Ginger" . . .
> >Jenny Decker
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Kelly" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2001 8:19 PM
> >Subject: [CTRL] IT will change the world!
> >
> >
> > > -Caveat Lector-
> > >
> > > Tuesday, January 9, 2000
> > > >From The Inside,
> > > http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=20218&pod_id=8
> > >
> > > What Is 'IT'? Book Proposal Heightens Intrigue About Secret Invention
> > > Touted as Bigger Than the Internet or PC
> > >
> > > Steve Jobs quoted on accomplished scientist's new device: 'If enough
> > > people see the machine you won't have to convince them to architect
> > > cities around it. It'll just happen.' A venerable press pays $250,000
> > > for a book on project cloaked in unprecedented secrecy. EXCLUSIVE
> > >
> > > Got a clue? Post your guess as to what IT is.
> > > by PJ Mark
> > >
> > > Tuesday , January 09, 2001 01:43 p.m.
> > >
> > > Harvard Business School Press executive editor Hollis Heimbouch has
just
> > > paid $250,000 for a book about IT -- but neither the editor nor the
> > > agent, Dan Kois of The Sagalyn Literary Agency, knows what IT is.
> > > All they do know: IT, also code-named Ginger, is an invention
developed
> > > by 49-year-old scientist Dean Kamen, and the subject of a planned book
> > > by journalist Steve Kemper. According to Kemper's proposal, IT will
> > > change the world, and is so extraordinary that it has drawn the
> > > attention of technology visionaries Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs and the
> > > investment dollars of pre-eminent Silicon Valley venture capitalist
John
> > > Doerr, among others.
> > >
> > > Kemper -- who has been published in Smithsonian, National Geographic
and
> > > Outside among others -- has had exclusive access to Kamen and the
> > > engineers at his New Hampshire-based research and development company,
> > > DEKA, for the past year and a half. He tags the proposed book as Soul
of
> > > the New Machine meets The New New Thing and won over his agent and
> > > publisher with e-mails describing the project in carefully couched
> > > language. He also included an amusing narrative of a meeting between
> > > Bezos, Jobs, Doerr and Kamen.
> > >
> > > The invention itself is as interesting as the inventor. Kamen is 'a
true
> > > eccentric, cantankerous and opinionated, a great character,' the
> > > proposal says, with large gaps when it comes to pop culture.
> > >
> > > In the proposal, Doerr calls Kamen -- who was just awarded the
National
> > > Medal of Technology, the country's highest such award -- a combination
> > > of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. Doerr also says, a touch ominously,
> > > that he had been sure that he wouldn't see the development of anything
> > > in his lifetime as important as the World Wide Web -- until he saw IT.
> > > According to the proposal, another investor, Credit Suisse First
Boston,
> > > expects Kamen's invention to make more money in its first year than
any
> > > start-up in history, predicting Kamen will be worth more in five years
> > > than Bill Gates. Jobs told Kamen the invention would be as significant
> > > as the PC, the proposal says.
> > >
> > > And though there are no specifics in the proposal as to what the
> > > invention is, there are some tantalizing clues. Is IT an energy
source?
> > > Some sort of environmentally friendly personal transport device? One
> > > editor who saw the proposal went as far as to speculate -- jokingly
> > > (perhaps) -- that IT was a type of personal hovering craft.
> > >
> > > Consider the following items, culled from the proposal:
> > >
> > > IT is not a medical invention.
> > >
> > > In a private meeting with Bezos, Jobs and Doerr, Kamen assembled two
> > > Gingers -- or ITs -- in 10 minutes, using a screwdriver and hex
wrenches
> > > from components that fit into a couple of large duffel bags and some
> > > cardboard boxes.
> > >
> > > The invention has a fun element to it, because once a Ginger was
turned
> > > on, Bezos started laughing his ''loud, honking laugh.''
> > >
> > > There are possibly two Ginger models, named Metro and Pro -- and the
> > > Metro may possibly cost less than $2,000.
> > >
> > > Bezos is quoted as saying that IT ''is a product so revolutionary,
> > > you'll have no problem selling it. The question is, are people going
to
> > > be allowed to use it?''
> > >
> > > Jobs is quoted as saying: ''If enough people see the machine you won't
> > > have to convince them to architect cities around it. It'll just
> > > happen.''
> > >
> > > Kemper says the invention will ''sweep over the world and change
lives,
> > > cities, and ways of thinking.''
> > >
> > > The ''core technology and its implementations'' will, according to
> > > Kamen, ''have a big, broad impact not only on social institutions but
> > > some billion-dollar old-line companies.'' And the invention will
> > > ''profoundly affect our environment and the way people live worldwide.
> > > It will be an alternative to products that are dirty, expensive,
> > > sometimes dangerous and often frustrating, especially for people in
the
> > > cities.''
> > >
> > > IT will be a mass-market consumer product ''likely to run afoul of
> > > existing regulations and or inspire new ones,'' according to Kemper.
The
> > > invention will also likely require ''meeting with city planners,
> > > regulators, legislators, large commercial companies and university
> > > presidents about how cities, companies and campuses can be
retro-fitted
> > > for Ginger.'' The invention itself is as interesting as the inventor.
> > > Kamen -- ''a true eccentric, cantankerous and opinionated, a great
> > > character,'' according to the proposal -- dropped out of college in
his
> > > 20s, then invented the first drug infusion pump; he later created the
> > > first portable insulin pump and dialysis machine.
> > >
> > > Kamen, an avid aviator who commutes via a helicopter, is also the
> > > founder of FIRST -- For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and
> > > Technology -- a nonprofit organization that encourages young people to
> > > pursue studies and careers in math and science. He's a single man
> > > obsessed with his work and out of touch with popular culture.
According
> > > to the proposal, Kamen was seated at a White House dinner next to two
> > > people he'd never heard of: Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty.
> > >
> > > Kamen's most recent invention is the iBot, an off-road wheelchair that
> > > can climb stairs, cover sand and gravel and rise to balance on two
> > > wheels. A prototype iBot was showcased by wheelchair-bound journalist
> > > John Hockenberry at last year's TED conference in Monterrey, Calif.;
the
> > > demonstration was greeted by wild applause.
> > >
> > > IT/Ginger won't be revealed until 2002, the proposal says. No one has
> > > seen the project except Kamen, Kemper, the engineers and the investors
> > > -- which include Doerr, a partner in the venture capital firm of
Kleiner
> > > Perkins Caufield & Byers, which helped launch Netscape, Amazon,
Juniper
> > > Networks, Excite, and @Home, among others; and Michael Schmertzler,
> > > managing director of Credit Suisse First Boston. Others who have seen
> > > the invention and signed confidentiality agreements include minor
> > > investors Paul Allaire, CEO of Xerox; and Vern Loucks, recently
retired
> > > CEO of Baxter. Bezos, Jobs and writer/venture capitalist Randy Komisar
> > > sit on the advisory board. Kamen retains 85 percent of his new
company,
> > > according to the proposal.
> > >
> > > Why the secrecy? Kamen fears, as he states in a letter to Kemper that
is
> > > included in the proposal, that ''huge corporations'' might catch wind
of
> > > the invention and ''use their massive resources to erect obstacles
> > > against us or, worse, simply appropriate the technology by assigning
> > > hundreds of engineers to catch up to us, and thousands of employees to
> > > produce it in their plants.''
> > >
> > > But such secrecy may have been enough to turn publishers away. ''The
> > > Internet changed the world, too'' said one editor who considered the
> > > project, ''but books about it don't really sell.'' As for the
> > > quarter-million-dollar price tag for North American rights: on the one
> > > hand, it doesn't seem to be a lot for a book about an invention which
> > > has mesmerized such well-known technology moguls. On the other,
$250,000
> > > is a lot to pay for a story about a product that hasn't been seen,
> > > defined or named.
> > >
> > > ''We were well aware of Kamen,'' says book editor Heimbouch, who says
> > > she's been publishing in this technology circle for a long time.''
(The
> > > bestselling The Monk and the Riddle: The Education of a Silicon Valley
> > > Entrepreneur by Komisar is hers.) So jumping on board for the book
> > > wasn't such a dilemma. Besides, says Heimbouch, Harvard Business
School
> > > Press had intended to approach Kamen about doing a book anyway. ''He's
> > > an inventor of great technologies that make people's lives better,''
she
> > > says.
> > >
> > > Harvard Business School Press, a division of Harvard Business School
> > > Publishing, is a wholly owned, nonprofit subsidiary of Harvard
> > > University. The Sagalyn Agency retains all but North American rights
to
> > > the book.
> > >
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That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
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Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
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