Four Inventors Who Didn't Get Rich From Their Creations - Page 21

C2 Proficiency · Multiple Matching · Ready for C2 Proficiency Workbook, Macmillan

You are going to read an article about inventors who didn't get rich from their inventions. For questions 1–10, choose from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than once.

Trevor Baylis

Trevor Baylis was inspired to create the wind-up radio after watching a television programme in 1991 about the inexorable spread of diseases. The programme said that a good way to tackle it was through educational radio programmes, but a lot of places lacked access to electricity, and batteries were prohibitively expensive. 'I had a prototype for the wind-up radio within half an hour,' he said. But his one-of-a-kind invention, which sold in the millions, wasn't lucrative for Baylis, who admitted to being 'totally broke' in 2013. Speaking of his London home, he said: 'I'm going to have to sell it or remortgage it. I'm living in poverty here.' Despite the success of his wind-up radio and several follow-up products employing similar technology, including a torch, a mobile phone charger and an MP3 player, he claimed to have received almost none of the profits. Due to the quirks of patent law, the company he went into business with to manufacture his radios was able to tweak his original design, which caused him to lose control over the product.

Elizabeth Magie

In 1904, Lizzie Magie obtained a patent for a board game she had invented, The Landlord's Game. The game was novel in that players followed a circular path, with no clear finish point. Another innovation was that players could 'own' places on the board – and make other players pay a penalty for landing on them. As a passionate advocate of social justice, Magie sought to highlight the system whereby property owners grew richer by accumulating monopolies to extract higher rents from poor tenants. The game was available in two versions: Monopoly, where players succeeded by selfishly destroying the wealth of other players, and Prosperity, where they worked together for their mutual benefit. As the game grew in popularity, another inventor, Charles Darrow, became aware of it and claimed it as his own invention. He took out his own patent in 1933, and even published it with Parker Brothers (who had rejected Magie's original several times on the grounds of it being too political). Monopoly went on to become one of the greatest boardgames of all time, but while Darrow and Parker Brothers reaped the benefits, Magie received a mere $500 in exchange for her patent.

Daisuke Inoue

Daisuke Inoue, a Japanese businessman and occasional band drummer and keyboardist, invented the karaoke machine after being asked by a client to accompany him on a work trip where Inoue would play the keyboard alongside his vocals. Inoue couldn't attend, however, and instead gave the client a recording of instrumental backing music for him. This sparked an idea to build a machine equipped with a microphone and amplifier that played music recorded on tapes. The machines were well-received at bars and clubs, but Inoue, who had not patented his invention, failed to make any money from it. Years later, a Filipino entrepreneur called Roberto del Rosario took Inoue's idea and made his own karaoke machine system – which was patented.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

English engineer and computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web in 1990, could potentially have become as rich and powerful as Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Instead, he determined that his creation should be free for everyone to use and opted against patenting it. In a 2008 interview, he said he tends not to dwell on what he might have done with the billions of pounds he could have earned if people had been prepared to hand over royalties. He said, 'It would be nice to be in Bill Gates's position, where you could donate huge sums to tackling world health problems. We all ask ourselves what we would do if we had loads and loads of money. I would buy huge tracts of coastline in the UK and donate it to the National Trust. I'd also buy ugly buildings and knock them down.' A reserved and modest man, Berners-Lee has long shunned the limelight, preferring instead to closet himself in academia – lecturing and working with research students.

failed to strike a deal with an eventual beneficiary?

spurned a lucrative opportunity based on a belief in egalitarianism?

designed something to help people who couldn't afford the alternative?

took inspiration from an inability to support somebody in need?

regretted not having been able to do more to fight disease?

suffered exploitation at the hands of a former partner?

had another person claim credit for the invention owing to a lack of any legal protection?

intended their invention to raise awareness of an unfair process?

seems to have been averse to being the centre of attention?

struggled financially despite their creation having reaped substantial commercial rewards?

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