Ideas and projects pre-digital
These first files are the anastatic copy of my notes and in addition to the difficulty of having to interpret my handwriting, they present the defect of immaturity. These are still unripe ideas to be framed in the period from 1984 to 1989.
Here you find the index. Many items are just a title and don't expect much from the tabs there.
Some ideas, however, were absolutely ahead of their time and I then saw them implemented by others who had more courage and determination than the undersigned, such as the electronic city map (current navigators), condominium home assistance services (the social concierge) , e-cigarettes, etc.
Electronic city map
Unfortunately, no date is given on the manuscripts, but they are certainly documents prior to 1990 (after that year I only used the computer and I definitively abandoned pen and paper.
If you take into account that only in 1991 did USA they opened the service to the world with the name SPS (Standard Positioning System), with specifications differentiated from the military one called PPS (Precision Positioning System). In practice, the so-called Selective Availability (SA) was introduced which introduced intentional errors in satellite signals in order to reduce the accuracy of the detection, allowing accuracies only in the order of 100-150 m.
The GPS system replaced the Transit , when the USA , giving up Selective Availability, made the first as accurate as the second, supporting it with a network of 24 artificial satellites (source Wikipedia)
you can deduce that this study was definitely ahead of its time.
Condominium home assistance service
Also in this case, unfortunately, there is no date on the manuscripts, but they are certainly documents prior to 1990 (after that year I only used the computer and I definitively abandoned pen and paper.
According to this article , the first examples of Social Guardians of the Municipality of Milan date back to the early 2000s.
These notes appear to be 10 years ahead of the first Milanese experiments
No smoke (electronic cigarette)
The first notes, like all those in this section, can be dated between 1984 and 1989. I took up this idea again in the 1996 within the iLab project.
However, I also inserted that slide at the bottom of the notes by hand.
The first real patent dates back to 1965, filed by the American Herbert A. Gilbert. The first commercial product was marketed in Beijing in China in 2003 using ultrasound technology by Hon Lik, a Chinese pharmacist [5] . Marketed in China by the Golden Dragon (Holdings) Group, a Chinese pharmaceutical company in Hong Kong, the e-cigarettes have been patented as Ruyan, which means "almost like smoking". ( source Wikipedia )
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In any case, compared to the first commercial product, it was about twenty years early (sigh).
Pliers screwdriver
To be able to screw without having to hold the screw with the other hand during the initial invitation phase.
Probably surpassed by magnetic screwdrivers, even if in certain situations these do not have a sufficient grip that would instead be guaranteed by this tool.
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Remained in the drawer and rediscovered only in 2022.
Folding deckchair
Foldable and transformable things have always had and still have (I just bought this bicycle :-)) an irresistible charm and therefore could only stimulate my imagination.
Foldable suitcase
For the comment see the folding deckchair ...
Omnia
More than an idea / project, a requirement (easy, intelligent, relaxing, engaging, pleasant, transportable, elegant) at the time unattainable, but today perhaps yes
Glasses / visor for drivers
Also in this case we are very far from the project and at the time also from feasibility, but today thirty years later the technologists have taken amazing steps and for example the alarm in case of drowsiness is a reality
AGC (Automatic Gain Control) for televisions
Today, as then, I spend my evenings with the remote control in hand to promptly lower the volume during commercials, but also in the topical moments of the films.
My latest TVs featured this feature, but it never worked, so much so that I keep consuming the volume keys on the remote.
One would think that TV manufacturers do not want to go against the interests of the big television networks and the related advertising revenues.