Update on "SAW STOP" technology

[Otter]

I have found this thread most interesting.

I believe the any person should gain from there inventions, 8% is steep, but it is a starting point for negotiations. W.I.I.F.M. (What’s in it for me) is the first question you should be asking when trying to sell an idea. If you are not interested in money or fame, then so be it, but it is a personal choice, I can not judge a person, I can only judge myself.

“All’s fair in love and war” I believe that this applies here. He felt he had a good idea, it is. When companies and commissions did not want to play, he went to war. I would too, if I believed that I could make a point.

Overall, despite the personal motivations of an individual, and the deep feeling shown in this thread, we and manufactures are talking about improving safety and that is what matters.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[25]

From what I have heard about the 8% was fixed. It wasn't a starting point, it was the only point.

[onedash]

Maybe seat belts and airbags were not patened to someone who made a killing I don't know. But if you look at the automobile not to mention roads, highways, traffic lights signs etc... When did someone decide we had to have headlights and blinkers, or cement roads and stop lights.Everyone is getting a piece of that pie. And im sure alot of that pie is going overseas now but thats besides the fact. So should we be mad that we have to pay extra for a vehicle that gets bad milage? (gas guzzler tax) (govt incentive to get good milage)How long can he profit from a patent like this?
I have no idea. I know drugs are only for 7 years or something then you can buy generic because anyone can make it. Does the same thing apply here?
Here is a perfect example. In San Diego they changed all the green and red lights to LED's. They spent a lot of money and Im sure someone was pushing this to make $$$ but its going to reduce the citys operating costs and eventually pay for them...If it was me and I made the new lights and I was going to be able to sell a very large order of course I have a motive of profit but also reducing the consumption for the city...Sure that might not my priority but its a benefit that will help me sell my product right?
People who don't wear seat belts are retarded....It doesn't matter how good a driver you are...It just means when the bad driver finds you your gonna be messed up. Who cares who's fault it is...Its not gonna help you one bit to say its not your fault.

So of course this guy wants to make money....Who wouldn't??We all think we are good enough to not cut off our hands or we wouldn't be using it would we? Im sure all the people who chopped off their fingers thought the same thing.

If he can get the gov't to mandate something like this and make money along the way good on him....

But hey smokin and drinkin is still legal so who knows....

[Otter]

From what I have heard about the 8% was fixed. It wasn't a starting point, it was the only point.

I have a hard time with that, I have 3 lawyers in my family, 2 as close personal friends and one on retainer...every one, to the last of them, has a mantra

"Everything is negotiable"

Like I said, it is just my opinion, I could be wrong, just ask my wife.

[radhak]

OK guys, first of all as I recall the guy is/was a doctor, not a lawyer. Second, I'm not gonna defend his legal maneuvering, BUT we should applaud someone trying to invent something to make us safer ...
<snip>

The analogies are not accurate. WW is a hobby for a huge majority, while driving is a way of life. I could choose to not use the TS, but cannot survive unless I drive. A TS accident chops of my finger(s) but is unlikely to kill me (have not heard of anybody 'accidentally' putting their neck on the saw and coming up dead). But I could kill myself, and many others with my car. When WW-ers grow old, they sell or give away their TS, but they still need to drive, so maybe the safety measures are justified.

I am pretty injury-averse myself. I bought myself the gripper and all sorts of push-sticks even before I handled a TS without help. And while I am fairly confident that I could save my fingers for some time (no, not because I am so competent, but because I am so scared ), I am still jittery about the kickback. I wonder if somebody is gonna come up with something for that tomorrow, for his 8% share!

And at the same time, the original premise is itself flawed : allowing big brother into our personal life for the sake of 'your own safety' only serves to mollycoddle. I'd rather have an alert (and safety aware) driver behind the wheel than somebody who thinks s/he is safe behind the seat-belts, airbags, side-impact-bags, computer-chip-controlled-anti-skid-wheels and then promptly cell-talks his/her way onto incoming traffic or past a stop-sign. Then, you'd only grieve for the child in the backseat or the peope in the other car. The self-same old person I mentioned above might plough thru a market-full of people and come out unscathed himself - we all know that happened. Who can mandate commonsense?

And where would this lead to? I am in WW because it is still affordable (ok, LOML may not agree ). But make each and every TS costing a sizeable %age more (that 8% bloats by the time it reaches us), and many would really need to go basket-weaving. I am sure somebody could be as innovative with the bandsaw, the router, the miter-saw - and poof! There went a nice hobby.

And what do we do about bungy jumpers, skiers, sky-divers, et al? Aren't they a menace to themselves?

I don't have anything against this chap trying to profit from his cleverness. More power to him. I just don't want the govt in my workshop more than it already is.

[germdoc]

OK, he is a patent attorney AND a doctor--he holds a doctorate in physics. My mistake.

For a perspective on how he has been shut out by the major players in WWing, see this article:

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20050701...ptor-gass.html

[Russianwolf]

I could choose to not use the TS, but cannot survive unless I drive.

Don't know if I would go that far. Not driving would inconvenience me, but would not stop me from getting what I need to done.


And remember, you can lose both the ability and the privilege to drive.

My aunt is 83 years old. She's never driven. Not, hasn't driving for 10 years, but NEVER driven a car in her entire life. Driving is something most of us take for granted.

[radhak]

Don't know if I would go that far. Not driving would inconvenience me, but would not stop me from getting what I need to done.


And remember, you can lose both the ability and the privilege to drive.

My aunt is 83 years old. She's never driven. Not, hasn't driving for 10 years, but NEVER driven a car in her entire life. Driving is something most of us take for granted.

Agreed. Lived in NY city for 3 years, never had a car. Didn't even have a driver's license for a long time.

But here, have tried it without driving, did not get far. Last year, post Hurricane Wilma, had no gas to go to work (22 miles), so tried my bicycle. Well, did not try it the next day .

Am told by combining/transferring a couple of buses i could get very close to work, give or take an hour or two more than the driving time.

Like i said, not for me. But the TS, OTOH, is more an addiction than a compulsion.

[scorrpio]

The above linked article might as well have "ordered and paid for by Mr. Gass Ph.D" stamped on it. Really, if his primary movtives were public safety, he'd license the tech for a lot less. Sure this guy would just love to sit on the tropical beach while huge royalties from the saws others manufactured, marketed and sold just ticked into his bank account - not have to deal with all the minutae of actually running the manufacturing. And of course he does not want responsibility when someone gets hurt on a SawStop-equipped saw, "cause he would not be making the tool".

Instead of all the legal shenanigans, he should just shut up and ramp up his saw-making business. If commercial shops all start upgrading to his saw, other tool makers would come crawling, and then he can ream them for 20% or more and get it - all without running off crying to to government.

I know I will not buy this tech untill it's made less disruptive. As it stands now, I am exceedingly cautious with my table saw, but I see myself far more likely to forget to switch SawStop off before cutting a piece of aluminum (something I need to do fairly often) than to shove a finger into a spinning blade. And a false trip is a ~$100+ hit to my wallet. If I need to buy a new tablesaw and every one has a sawstop, I'll be turning it off and probably removing it.

[LinuxRandal]

As a patent attorney, he KNOWS the value of patents, and "Intellectual Property". While I Don't like his methods, I do understand them. He is playing the game, and AS an attorney, HE CAN READ THE RULE BOOK. No matter what, it's all about the money and everyone wants it.

He came up with an idea, and doesn't want it to go the way of, Philo T. Farnsworth, or the Tucker Torpedo (padded dash), or (don't remember the name) one vapor style carburator, that worked, BEFORE they added lead to the gas (remember they used to ADD lead, and raised the price of leaded gas, then they took it back out, and raised prices again). Philo had the idea for Television display (from planting his farm rows), and they waited till his patents expired, and implemented it.
Now besides who gets the money, what the table saw manufacturers said they were worried about, has come to pass. They are being sued as this wasn't implemented earlier. As far as I know, none has gone to trial yet.
Everyone is trying to protect their own interests, and it is us that suffers in the end.