Fordlandia

With all the moaning and groaning about the Big Three's failure to innovate, it's easy to forget that attempts to innovate can go horribly, horribly awry. Case in point: Henry Ford's attempt to lock in a solid supply of rubber by setting up a model community and rubber plantation in the Brazilian jungle. What could go wrong, right? In a post about Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City by Greg Grandin, Mental Floss gives a few examples:

'Ford was legendarily contemptuous of experts, but he could have saved some serious dough if he’d just hired a consultant to tell him that the plantation wasn’t at all suitable for growing rubber....Fordlandia’s trees were no exception, and caterpillars and blight quickly decimated the fields."

and

"...while the indigenous workers weren’t crazy about having to eat American foods, they were livid about having to eat in a cafeteria setting rather than enjoying the homestyle meals to which they were accustomed. Eventually, the workers decided they’d had enough of the affront of cafeteria dining and rioted during a meal."

and the kicker:

"...Ford was that he disliked accountants so fiercely that he never had his company audited. By the end of his tenure, the Ford Motor Company allegedly had no idea exactly how much it cost to build a car."

Mental Floss: Fordlandia: Henry Ford’s Ill-Fated Foray Into the Brazilian Jungle

The real life Rocketeer

This could make commuting for my long distance relationship a lot more convenient, but my hair would be a nightmare when I got there.

NYT TierneyLab: Jet Man Crosses English Channel

River Gym

These boats would travel up and down the Hudson and East Rivers, powered by the kinetic energy of the users within. I can't decide whether I think this is awesome or ridiculous.


PSFK: River Gym, The Human Powered Excercise Boat

Pixily

Pixily, a start-up based in Waltham, Massachusets, uses a Netflix-like system of prepaid envelopes. But instead of receiving DVDs, customers send the company their documents in said envelopes to be digitized. The documents are then shredded onsite or mailed back to the customer. The resulting pdf documents are uploaded onto the site, where you can search and organize them. This is an interesting idea that would certainly be a huge convenience. But while the company addresses concerns about the risks of handing over sensitive documents, I might need to accumulate a few years' worth of paper before the hassle of scanning them myself seems worse than the potential security issues.

From Innovation Economy.