Inventor Talk at St. Gerrard’s
Graeme Klass26 May 2009
I had the distinct pleasure of giving a talk to 100 or so kids about inventors and inventing. I had been trialling Zippeddy at this school and by luck, for this term, they were learning about inventions through the ages. I told them how I came up with the idea of Zippeddy and the process of creating such a product (along with the trials and tribulations). My observations:
- Kids are easily impressed with the smallest things (just a PCB circuit board with a few lights excites them) and like the fact that something made made “just for them” and looks cool.
- A sizable portion (about 30%) opened up electronic gadgets to see what was in them. I told to keep doing that
- One smart kid said”Are you going to make this in China, cos of the labour?” - I replied with the truth that the parts would be made in China but assembled here in Melbourne.
- Many (including the teachers) wanted to know how you come up with the idea. I replied by saying I wanted to make kids be physically active and I had the skills and knowledge in engineering to do this - thus the concept of a web enabled kids pedometer was born.
- One student asked how do I promote my product? I thought that this kid, not only understands inventing, but business as well.
- Many asked when it will be in shops. I replied that we are trying to get it into schools first, then into shops later.
Afterwards I stuck around and many more kids asked more questions. Some even pitched their ideas to me. Overall, I was impressed with their inquisitiveness and desire to create new things.
