

Whose Idea Was the Dry-Cleaning Bag Anyway? - ramit
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/business/11proto.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all
Good NYTimes story about someone who "stole" the idea of a dry-cleaning bag from another person.<p>Did he steal the idea? Does it matter? Interesting to see the "idea doesn't matter" meme in other areas besides tech.
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sthommes
Each side has its perspective and points. Each side points fingers: "Scum",
"incremental", "non-compete", "stole our idea", "couldn't breathe".

I'm not sure which side Amy Wallace falls out on, but both sides are right.
And both sides are wrong:

In this day and age, ideas _should not_ be owned. One-click by Amazon: obvious
and ridiculous. Reuseable garment bag: more obvious and more ridiculous. Ideas
are on a level playing field and competition - the only one that matters - is
for customers.

If anything, Mr. Siegel by way of offering to invest hundreds of thousands of
dollars offered to combine ideas and resources which may have created a more
effective competitor.

The idea of a non-compete after buying two of something at a tradeshow and
then a conversation over drinks at a Santa Monica hotel: ridiculous. It's just
like an entrepreneur in our industry asking an angel or VC to sign an NDA and
non-compete.

And for the record, the Eureka moment does not matter at all, either in
purpose, practice or philosophy.

