Past ideas

Question: I think I have a great idea. How do I know if it is any good? How do I know if it will make me money?  How do I know if it will be of interest in The Tiger's Tower?

Answer: You can't be sure. What you may think is a 'brilliant' idea may prove to be unworkable. What you might think is an 'unworkable' idea may prove to be brilliant. Here are a few famous, and true, stories.

I give you briefly those stories and some responses. I think you know what happened.

The Personal Stereo - 'The thought of anybody walking around with plugs stuck in their ears trying to listen to music is just ridiculous'.

Post - it notes - 'Why would anybody want to write a note and stick it onto something like a fridge or a desk'?

The Hovercraft - 'A vehicle that means you can travel on land and water? Why would anybody want to? It doesn't have wings or wheels'  It cannot possibly work.

Rubix's cube - 'The most stupid toy we have ever seen, it will never sell'.

The Jet Engine - During World War II, The Air Ministry thought the idea had little or no value. It's inventor had to plead with them for £50 to renew his patent application.

The Works of Charles Dickens - The great writer often wandered the sreets of London in tears after his manuscripts were constantly rejected. Then he was given a  different idea. It changed his life, and the world of literature.
 
Supermarkets - The idea got off to a slow start because it was thought that women enjoyed going from shop to shop every day looking for fresh food.

Paperclips - The idea was never patented. It's inventor was told they had no use as long as glue existed.
 
The Steam Locomotive - 'A ludicrous idea. Anybody travelling at more than 8 miles per hour will be so starved of air they would surely die of suffucation'.

And, of course, the best known of them all ...

The Computer - A huge, multi - national electronics corporation initially rejected the idea, saying that they thought the total world market for computers was 'Probably about seven'.

Can you climb The Tiger's Tower?

Do you think you can make it?

Read this carefully - these are all true facts. Maybe you could join the 'International Hall of Fame'.

• Sir Richard Branson - one of Britain's richest men - started his phenominal business career simply by selling LP's by mail order.
• Penicillin was discovered by accident. Initially it cost nothing to produce, but it's patents have made countless millions of pounds - and it has saved countless millions of lives.
• Howard Hughes, one of the richest men in the world of his time, made his vast fortune by inventing a drill bit.
• Jilly Cooper, the hugely successful novelist, recieved a school report stating - ' She sets herself exceedingly low standards, which she repeatedly fails to achieve'.
• Microsoft was started by just two young graduates working in a garage.
• One of Sweden's richest men is dyslexic - he can't write or read his own name.
• The Beatles were turned down by at least six recording companies. They were told that they were 'just another boring band from Liverpool', and their music was 'not very good'.
• The comupter mouse's inventor was told that it had no practical use.
• Lady Margaret Thatcher is the daughter of a humble grocer from Lincolnshire.
• Albert Einstein, one of the world's greatest ever scientists, was told at school that he would never make anything of himself.
• One of the world's finest composers , Beethoven, wrote some of his best music when he was deaf.
• Sean Connery's first full time job was as a Milkman.
• The person who composed the four chord tune used frequently in TV's 'The Weakest Link', receives over £8,000 per week in royalties.