You wrote;
> But what was given away doesn't have to be the final, finished product
> or idea. It could be just the beginnings of it, so that others could
> prove for themselves that the idea is workable...<snip>
That is an excellent approach and one I and others had hoped Minato would
appreciated...hell yes, give everyone the plans for the self-running
bicycle wheel.....it would draw that much more attention to his power
generating units which are much more complex...so far no response...
The same question has been asked of a few inventors and posted in the
'shareware proposal'...asking that they consider giving up a VERY SIMPLE
version of their device for all to PROVE the concept...then they could
introduce the next step product, then the one after that, always having
'an edge'....it will, after all, be just a matter of time before all eyes
and research departments setup their own accelerated programs to try to
jump to the next level, for the sole purpose of introducing the next hot
product using that technology....that's life...it will happen even if you
have a patent....even proprietary technology can be reverse
engineered...Patrick Flanagan was amazed that the Neurophone circuit
which he so carefully scraped off the numbers on the chips, then potted
it, had been reverse engineered and the plans sold for $30...
A friend in LA sent that plan and I gave it to Terry Bastian who has it
posted at his website along with about 4 other Neurophone like plans with
parts lists, check him out at; http://home.dmv.com/~tbastian/
-- Jerry W. Decker / jdecker@keelynet.com http://keelynet.com / "From an Art to a Science" Voice : (214) 324-8741 / FAX : (214) 324-8741 KeelyNet - PO BOX 870716 - Mesquite - Republic of Texas - 75187