Technology and pragmatism

I'm not easily impressed with technology. Most of the time new "inventions" are crap - most are designed to be easily sellable, convince people to invest in them, or satisfy the bizarre or odd whim of the designer.

Today, however, I ran into one and used it - probably for the last time in my life - yet I was really impressed. In fact I liked this invention more than the (justifiably well reviewed) Treo 650 phone I got earlier this year and have yet to figure out enough to make it worth the cost.

Oh yeah - the invention was an "insulation blower", used for cellulose blow in insulation we just blasted into the playroom/office we've been remodelling for the past 300 years or so. The device is sort of a reverse vacuum that blows shredded bits of paper through a 50' hose that you swing around up in your attic. The cleverness is in how robust the blow fan was combined with twirling metal bars that chopped up the tightly packed insulation. I'd throw in chunks, break them up with my hand, and the machine would finish off the process and blow it up the hose.

It only took my wife and me about 3 hours to do over 500' of ceiling, the material cost far less than bat insulation and this was much easier than installing it, and now we've got a cozy playroom.

Kudos to pragmatic, effective technology!