A better mousetrap?

For some reason, mousetraps are often invoked when the subject of product innovation is discussed. "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door."

I get the concept, but sometimes its application escapes me. Take dental floss. It's the one product I know where only a small bit gets used. You pull off a long string, wrap it around your fingers several times, and then use a little section for just a few seconds before throwing it away.

So how many types of dental floss does the world really need? A lot, apparently, as I found on my last trip down the dental-supply aisle. Once home, a quick search on Amazon returned 864 results for dental floss and flossers (for those who want to add another level of sophistication to the process).

It amazes me to find soooooooo many varieties of something I used to consider a commodity.

There's woven floss and waxed shred-resistant tape. Procter & Gamble's Crest brand sells Glide and a new, improved version -- Comfort Plus -- billed as "Twice as Soft as Glide Original!" Johnson & Johnson sells Reach, a brand that includes a "Gum Care" version embedded with fluoride and "Total Care Plus Whitening," which has "micro-grooves technology plus baking soda" to remove stains "like coffee, tea and wine." 

And let's not forget flavors: mint, cinnamon, even banana (from Monkey Floss, natch).

Talk about brand extensions. Geesh. I don't know if all this innovation has made the orally conscious beat a path to J&J's or P&G's doors, but my own medicine cabinet is messy with samples spilling off the shelves.

I can't believe one type of floss is that much better than another; still, it doesn't hurt to try.

Multilingual or lingua-phobic?

Learning a second language -- or even three or four -- can give you a clear advantage in a globally connected world. If you can converse with people in their native tongue, it's much easier to get around and to get along.

I've traveled to places overseas where key phrases and sign language were all I could muster, but as long as I made the effort, all was good. And in most tourist destinations, English was usually spoken or, at least, somewhat understood.

I wish we had the same appreciation for languages here in the U.S. In my own hometown of Philadelphia, there was the now infamous controversy over a sign at Gino's Steaks that read, "This is America: When ordering please 'SPEAK ENGLISH.'"

That was several years ago, but the incident came to mind after reading a business flyer that was stuck in my mailbox yesterday. One of the claims from this cleaning service is, "We speak ENGLISH."

To which I say: Pourquoi? I didn't know housecleaning required discourse.

I may be firmly rooted in the English language, but I aspire to appreciate, if not completely understand, other languages and cultures. I've even taken a first step to reacquaint myself with the little bit of French I learned in high school by buying the beginner Rosetta Stone course. The initial immersion lesson seemed effective; I've just got to make it a priority to complete Level 1.

Good thing there's plenty of time before my next trip to Paris.






 

Word to the wise

With only 26 letters in the alphabet, it's amazing how many new words -- and new style guidelines -- keep appearing.

• From Wordspy.com comes polyfidelty (faithfulness within a group of sexual partners, particularly the other members of a polygamous relationship)...and municide (the economic or political death of a city)...and other interesting words, phrases, and abbreviations (like BIY, from Buy-it-Yourself, where you buy the materials that a contractor will use for a project). Also found on Twitter @wordspy.
  
• From On Words and Upwards! comes airgonation (travel by hot-air balloon) and frescour (noun. coolness; adj. cool and crisp). On Twitter @onWords.
  
• From AP Stylebook, "don't ask, don't tell" is as you see it -- all lower case, with comma and quotes. And with the new airport screening procedures, it's pat-down and full-body scanner. If, like me, you don't have a Stylebook Web subscription, just follow on Twitter @APStylebook.

Maybe these and similar sites appeal to me because I'm a writer. But for anyone who communicates anything to anybody at any time, it never hurts to brush up on language skills.

Steroids: Bad drugs, good metaphor?

Steroids have been used -- abused, really -- to build muscle mass and improve athletic performance. By bodybuilders and weight lifters. By football and baseball players. And by both professional and wanna-be athletes.

For decades, steroids have ruined bodies, careers, and lives. You would think steroids is a topic best avoided. Even the word itself should be left alone. But it's not.

When describing an innovation -- the next hot new thing -- people can't resist describing it as being "on steroids."

• "Cloud computing is 'outsourcing on steroids,'" reports Jamie Yap, ZDNet Asia, quoting a CEO.
• "'Wi-fi on steroids' is a go. Now Google (or someone) just has to build it. Please do. Fast," writes MG Siegler for TechCrunch.
• "Rumor: Apple's tablet is an 'iPhone on steroids,'" was the headline for the then-new iPad as described on Gizmodo.com back in January 2010.

That's only a small sample of all the news stories and other media mentions of things being "on steroids." AS IF anything on steroids could be a good thing.

Being "on steroids" is just plain bad, both literally (it's a harmful drug) and figuratively (it's a cliche).

As someone who lifts a few weights and who writes for a living, I pledge to never use steroids, either as a muscle enhancer or a metaphor.