The smallest of ideas

April 30, 2013
ಕಿರಿದಾಗಿರ್ದೊಡೇನ್ ಉಪಾಯ ಪರನೋರ್ವಂ ಕೋಟಿಗೇಡಕ್ಕೂ !
ಹೆಮ್ಮರನಿರ್ದೇನ್ ಅದರಿಂದಲೆತ್ತಬಹುದೇ ಬಲಭಾರವಂ!
ಸನ್ನೆ ಸಾವಿರ ಕಾಲಾಳಿನ ಸತ್ವವೈ ! ಹರ ಹರ ಶ್ರೀ  ಚೆನ್ನ ಸೋಮೇಶ್ವರ! So what if an idea is small? Can it not benefit millions? Can you use a mighty tree to lift a huge weight? Is not a simple lever capable of achieving what would take the brute-force of the sinews of a thousand men? Praise be to Chenna Someshwara! -Puligeri Somanatha, 15th century BC AD.
Ideas don't need to be on a spectacularly large scale to be effective; They may be really small or even everyday in nature, but can still be extremely useful and effective. I list here three simple examples from my own observation.
Micro/Mini-Sim
In India, I'd only ever seen the mini sim card and I got to know via twitter that people who had phones which required micro sims had to jump through several hoops in order to get a micro sim card instead. What if the user wanted to switch to a phone which required the mini sim again?? Go through a whole load of trouble again. In Sweden, when I got my sim card, the rest thing I noticed was that it could be used in two form factors: the mini as well as the micro size formats. The sim was really a micro sim which was merely sitting inside the outer perforated frame of the mini sim which could be pressed to release the micro sim. Want to use it as a mini sim again? Simply slip it back in the frame and you are good to go!
Soap box v/s soap sponge
Just after coming to Sweden, I was chatting with aka Deepa. I casually mentioned to her that I needed to go shopping. When I told her that I wanted to buy a soap box, she asked me buy a sponge instead! I could place the soap on the sponge after use and it would soak up the water leaving the soap dry! Soap wastage is cut down and the surface where I put the sponge is going to stay clean too! Seeing how effective her tip was, I couldn't help but wish that I'd been able to think up something like that!
Remote that shuts off the TV completely
When you switch off a TV using a remote, the power remains in the circuit and causes wastage of electricity. That's not quite how a German made Grundig TV that I saw worked; When you pressed the 'on/off' button on the remote, it put the TV into the 'sleep' mode, much as any TV remote would do. A press of any channel/volume button brought the TV back to life. A second consecutive press of the 'on/off' button however caused the physical on/off button on the TV to spring out, switching off the TV completely. Is it something incredibly complex? Nope. Is it effective in cutting down wasted electricity? Yes. Even the smallest of ideas can make a big difference.