Blogger
For the past 75 years, the world has looked to America for the next great idea. Brilliant minds from around the globe flocked to our shores because this was where ambitious thinking became reality. But now, in 2014, it’s clear that America is no longer the place for game-changing innovation, at least when it comes to combs.
It wasn’t long ago when one would believe that all watershed innovations originated in the United States. But today, if you’re talking about toothed devices for styling hair, that is no longer true.
We have to ask ourselves, where’s the funding for development? Where’s the outreach? American corporate taxes are far too high to foster creativity, at least in regards to combs. And when you consider that Capitol Hill and special interest groups are choking the life out of experimentation, it’s no wonder that the best and brightest have gone abroad to look for better business climates, especially for innovations related to combs.
Last year, Chinese inventors and entrepreneurs filed just under 10,000 comb-related patents.
Today, we have to ask ourselves, what would happen if we all woke up in 10 years to find that the newest and most innovative combs are being made in China? I’m telling you now that if we don’t completely rethink the way we think in this country, we’re going to fall way behind in manufacturing, and, in particular, manufacturing combs. It’s as simple as that.
Electric combs? Combs with extra prongs? Combs made out of fiberglass? I don’t know what the future of combs holds, but that next big idea is being generated outside this country. And the jobs and money are sure to follow.
America used to be the place where the best and brightest comb minds came to realize their dreams. I’m not sure that’s the case anymore. Let’s not let what happened to toothbrush innovation in the ’90s happen to combs. The time for change is now.
