"I was in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time . . ."
Talk about your déjà vu all over again. I saw an article in this morning's New York Times that gave me a great deal of gratification while at the same time giving me serious regrets.
I refer to the proposal by one Mr. Shai Agassi, former software mogul, to build a worldwide network of car battery-changing stations to accommodate the coming influx of electric cars. I had this idea at least as early as 1990, but I did not have the funds nor the fame to do anything with it, like register it, so once again, I make precisely zip for being ahead of the power curve.
Nonetheless, I am gratified that the feasibility of my idea has been recognized by someone who has the money and the connections to make it work. Mr. Agassi's company is called "Better Place," in tribute to his inspiration for the battery-changing stations. He came up with the idea after asking himself "What can I do to make the world a better place?"
He's already done some studies on what the start-up costs per station would be. He's also signed agreements in Canada and Denmark to being mapping out systems for those countries. He is also working with auto manufacturers to encourage standardization in battery size, power source, shape, and location within the car's engine. His concept is that his company would own the batteries and that people would buy a charge the same way they buy cell phone minutes now.
His vision for how the battery-changing operation would work is similar to that of an automated car wash--the car goes in one end, and is transported through each step of the changing process on a conveyor belt.
I think it's brilliant, and I am all for it. I wish him all the success in the world, for the sake of the world. I just wish I'd been smart enough to copyright the darned idea back when I first had it.
2 comments:
"I was in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time . . ." was by Dr John not Leon Russell.
Thank you for the correction. It was my bad. Despite my best efforts, neither I nor my memory is perfect. I have emended the title of this post accordingly.
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