Patents meltdown

Saturday, June 09, 2007 by Dave Winer.

Fascinating article about patents in today's NY Times. 

Going to Europe was great for creativity. With much of the UserLand mess settled, I've been having thoughts about doing more products, but then things pop up that remind me that it's not as simple as just creating a product and marketing it, there are always people who show up wanting to take what you created for themselves. More so these days than ever before, likely because my track record for creating wealth for other people keeps getting better.  

It may be time to just write a book, and smell the roses. To the extent that I come up with product ideas that excite me, just describe them here so someone else can make them. There might be a limit to how much you can create in one career, because as the parasites become more clever, my energy declines, as does my ambition.  

But then articles like this one in the Times come along and make you wonder whether there's any hope for individuals and small companies, for anyone, not just a person like myself.