How many times you had a great idea that you believed will make you the next Mark Zuckerberg (or at least pay your mortgage)? And then you Google it, just to find that someone else somewhere in our small Universe already thought about it and implemented it (or “stole” your idea…)?
If it never happened to you then either you are a very boring person (no offense) or you are not searching good enough. It happened too many times to people around me lately.
But wait, there is an upside to it ! The fact that other people thought long time ago about what you think today means that anything you need, is already out there. As the saying goes – “Necessity is the mother of innovation”.
Want an example? I read a lot of material and many times I want to keep paragraphs, links or just scribble something related to what I read, so I can read it later with my notes. I used many tools – OneNote, bookmarks (online, local, copied URL to a notepad), ReadItLater service etc. All have their drawbacks and none really provided what I really needed. Armed with the insight mentioned above, I just Googled “online highlight collect web pages” and found Diigo, which is exactly what I needed (and even more) – their slogan is Annotate, Archive, Organize.
This is a prefect tool if you are researching, writing, comparing prices and specs of laptops, or doing anything that requires you to collect excerpts from various sources. And the basic version is free.
Their video is a bit too marketing but you can get the idea from it (or just start using it)
… and no, I do not work for them.
And they “stole” an idea I had long time ago…
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Watching The Wheels 
Before I admit I’m a very boring person, I’d like to mention one idea I had lately, that to my great surprise, was already taken… I thought of taking a long hard stick, but not too hard, bend it such that its edges touch one another. Then I spent hours of thinking about methods to connect the center of the shape I created to another stick… I didn’t quite know what to do with it, but I spent so many hours on that, willing for it to be a superb success, that I decided to name it “The Will” (if it ever matures to a business plan of course).
Then I googled it, and behold… I was not alone in the world.
Nir,
So you just proved you are not a boring person 🙂
I have a new use for your invention. Have you considered watching it? I guess you can call it Watching the Wills…
Arie
I guess I am one of those people around you, to which “this” happened… (finding that someone is developing “your” idea).
But I see another/different upside – if someone else is thinking about it, developing it, or even already selling it, then it means that:
1) You have a great mind, just becuae you came up with this idea (you can truly give yourself a pad on the shoulder)
2) There is probably a need, and maybe even a market for your idea (so it’s not just your imagination saying it’s a good idea).
3) In most cases, the implementation of the idea you just googled is not exactly as you intended. Maybe yours is better? Maybe yours is cheaper to produce? Maybe you thought of different and better marketing plans? etc.
Bottom line – there is plenty of place out there for more than one solution/product to a certain need, and not always the first-to-market is the most successful.
So if this happens to you, if you ever find that someone is working on your idea, give yourself not more than 60 seconds to grief, then get a grip of yourself and start to think rationally and not emotionally!
P.S. – If you decide not to persue your idea, refer back to bullt 1 in my comment. Keep thinking, keep inventing, keep emagining. Same way you came up with this great idea (that someone else is now working on) – you will come up with another even greater idea. It’s just a matter of time and belief.
Cheers 🙂
Amir,
yes, indeed you are by no doubt one of those people around me mentioned above 🙂
60 seconds of grief are enough, I agree. But there is something about thinking about something new, creative, innovative which makes it more fun when you do not have to compete or compare yourself to other implementations – bad or good as they are.
I guess it boils down to the distinction you made a few weeks ago between Entrepreneur and Inventor. I guess the inventor part of me is more dominant.
What happens when you google it and you don’t find it ? do you tell yourself “ah, there is probable no need for it” or something similar… if so, you are caught in a loose-loose situation….
We are not inventing anything…. we are just discovering what already exists…. 🙂
This does not mean there is no need, but it means that you are the first to think about it (so you are ahead of your time, which is good – this is what innovation is all about) or … you are not searching good enough 🙂
This is an interesting philosophy. Do you want to write a guest post for my site ?
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