DescentBB

Hi guys, long time no post. I just wanted to share with you guys a website I've been working on a while that just reached time for beta testing. The purpose of the website is idea collaboration. Stealing from our about page:

\"Idea² is an idea collaboration site where users try to bring their ideas to reality. You can submit an idea, and other people, with the expertise needed to help take the idea to a reality, can join your group and work towards that goal. Alternatively, you can be one of those people who looks for ideas to use your expertise with.

As an Idea² user you unlock many useful collaborative tools for bring your ideas, and others ideas, to reality. As we continue to grow, we have plans for many new and innovative ways of collaborating with others via the internet.\"

Anyway, since it's beta some things are not completed and there may be bugs, but I wanted to share it with you guys and get your feedback. Also, I still haven't picked a final name for the site, and it seems anything good I can come up with is taken by domain squatters. Hope you guys like it.

http://www.weekno.com

/me senses hungry stares from countless patent lawyers...

You can't patent an idea.... you can patent the invention product, but you can't patent just an idea.

Yes, but this would be a great site for corporations to monitor, scoop up ideas, and bring products to market before the \"little guys\" at your site have the chance to get anywhere.

So what are the tools your site offers? So far I see asynchronous mechanisms such as file uploading and discussion boards. Maybe you could add synchronous collaborative tools, such as shared drawing programs or shared office applications. There are plenty of collaborative apps available on the web already...maybe you could mashup some of them.

What we are planning, and actually have already begun designing, is offering corporate accounts, so that they can sponsor ideas. We will also offer investor accounts for those who might wish to find ideas they are wanting to invest in. User's actually have the option of setting their idea to private and sharing it with only people they trust, and they will also have the option to have their private ideas viewed by investors and corporate accounts. Of course, part of the agreement will be they can't just steal the ideas.

As far as the tools, we have a few more in the works in addition to what you see, including text chat and possible voice chat. We are also working on an accurate system that will allow user's to communicate in various different languages in real-time. I do however think that our idea creation/group creation/calendar and forum are easy to use and get the job done for the purpose of the site, which is to collaborate on ideas.

I like your idea for a drawing board of sorts, and I am going to see if it is something we can implement decently into the site.

I appreciate the feedback, and I hope others will post their feedback, as this is exactly what I need to continue to build and improve the site into something that could build a successful community.

Just a thought...

Why not have an NDA page that has to be accepted actually come up before the pages that actually contain the details about the ideas. This along with the users actually having to create an account should at least deter theft. At least from those companies operated here in the US.

I do like the idea of a collaboration site to help inventors get started. But remember, an idea is not whats worth the money, it's the execution of the idea. Many great ideas never get made because they are cost prohibitive, and many others are not successful because the marketing or some other aspect wasn't enough to get the idea out there.

I myself have created several inventions when I was younger and went to \"Invention Submition Corp.\" in hopes that they could help me get my ideas to market. One of them was what I called \"Angle Level\" and it was basically an electronic level with a dial. At the time, the only levels on the market were the typical bubble levels. The other invention was what I called \"Dream Machine\" and was a unit that had goggles with LED's and sensors. When the user entered REM sleep, the sensors would detect the rapid eye movement and flash the LED's, which would show up in the users dream and help put them into a lucid dream.

Anywho, I was told that my ideas were great and that the company was working on finding investors and such. Well, after a conversation with the guy at ISC about how Home Depot was actually interested, the guy disappeared. After repeated phone calls with ISC, I came to find out that the guy quit. I went to pick up my inventions only to find out that they, and the paper work went missing along with the guy.

Now, that being said, I think that's a rare occurence, but it does highlight why people get so paranoid about their ideas and would make me want to know exactly how your website will be different and more protective.

Keep up the good work.

i like the idea (in theory and in a perfect world), it sounds like a professional version of www.halfbaked.com

but i have the same qualms as Ghengis & Supersheep. I know better than to just throw my ideas out there for them to get stolen.

I spend most of my time tinkering with ideas, i keep them all in a personal private wiki. I'd love to participate in a site like this but i really do have my doubts, ppl are real assholes and i've heard countless stories of inventors getting ripped off and spat out of their own projects by \"corporate types\".

Hey Roid thanks for the input. I know alot of people also share the same concerns and I'm working on ways to combat this. In the meantime however, we already have an option to post your ideas privately, and you can use the site to share your ideas with trusted sources, and still use our collaborate tools. Sign-up and check out the tools offered to collaborate on private ideas (more are coming) You might find something that you could benefit from and protect your ideas