1. LEDs
When Nick Holonyak Jr invented the first
practically useful LED in 1962 he
predicted it would one day replace
Edison's lightbulb. Holonyak's colleagues
have said he should be given the Nobel
Prize but he humbly says: "It's ridiculous
to think that somebody owes you
something. We're lucky to be alive, when
it comes down to it."
2. Post-It Notes
3M sell billions of Post-It Notes each year
but its inventors describe themselves as
"comfortably off" not wealthy. They were
the co-creation of Dr Spencer Silver , who
in 1968 developed an adhesive that had a
"removability characteristic", and his
colleague Art Fry hit on the idea of a
bookmark that would stay in place in his
hymnbook.
3. AK-47
The Kalashnikov rifle, or AK-47, was
invented by Soviet Army soldier Mikhail
Kalashnikov while recovering in hospital
from injuries sustained in World War II.
Kalashnikov claimed his creation was for
the benefit of his country.
4. Sapphire stylus
Marie Killick invented a sapphire stylus
for a record player but could not license it
and despite years of litigation never made
any money. In 1958 she won a lawsuit
against Pye but went bankrupt the
following year.
5. Hovercraft
Sir Christopher Cockerell used a
vacuum cleaner and tin cans to test his
theories as he developed the hovercraft,
which first crossed between Calais and
Dover in 1959. Cockerell was knighted
but fought for years to get a lump sum
from the National Research Development
Corporation.
6. Tetris
Russian computer programmer Alexey
Pajitnov's game Tetris was developed
alongside colleagues at a Russian
government-funded research centre in
1985. He only started getting royalties 10
years later when he formed The Tetris
Company.
7. The Wind-Up Radio
Inventor Trevor Baylis recently said he
can no longer afford to live in his home in
Twickenham, London, because despite
millions of sales around the globe, the
company he went into business with were
able to tweak his design and he lost
control over the product and profits.
"Most of us don't do it for the money but
for the buzz," says Baylis. "I know that at
least I've left my mark with the radio,
the wind-up torch and other things I've
invented."
8. Karaoke machines
Japanese businessman Daisuke Inoue
made money from playing drums in a
backing band which let bar goers take the
mic and have a go at singing. One time
when he couldn't make a gig he put the
backing music on tape instead and later
made 11 Karaoke (empty orchestra)
machines which he leased out. He didn't
patent his invention and barely made a
yen.
9. MP3
The MP3 quickly became the standard for
transferring music over the internet.
German PhD student Karlheinz
Brandenburg started work on the project
in the 1980s but because there was no
money to distribute the software it was
marketed as shareware.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee earned billions, but
only in kudos
10. World Wide Web
And finally, no-one would have stumbled
across this list save for Sir Tim Berners-
Lee , who created the web to help
scientists working at the European
research lab at Cern. He says the secret
of the rapid success of his invention was
the fact he made it freely available.
Not all inventors are driven to make
money but some want to make a
contribution to the "common good", says
Dr Tilly Blyth, Keeper of Engineering and
Technology at the Science Museum.
"We tend to focus on the commercial
development but in fact its often public
and government research that has got it
to that stage," Dr Blyth says. "If you look
at the iPhone you think it's a great
invention from Steve Jobs and Apple but
look at the vital components like the
screen, the chip and the processor and
their origins were all in government-
funded research."
"A lot of the real cutting-edge research
comes from the pure and blue sky
thinking done in public research facilities
for the good of humanity rather than to
make money."

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23179103

I love the person that develops world wide web

[size=30pt]Mr. VIVIEN THOMAS[/size]
He perfected a surgical technique to treat a heart disease in dogs which was common in humans too. But because he was black American and was not a medical doctor,he had to teach his technique to a white doctor at John Hopkins University in USA, who took all the fame and riches for that invention.

Tolexander: wao! You did a nice job by making us know this.

But you forgot to add the men who invented Otapiapia and baba Ijebu. They too are inventors that aren't megarich from their invention.

Those chemicals were already created, but it's nice

Front Page

Guess they are not after money but humanity

There are still people launching stuffs and making it open-source. Not everyone is after money.

Tolexander: wao! You did a nice job by making us know this.

But you forgot to add the men who invented Otapiapia and baba Ijebu. They too are inventors that aren't megarich from their invention.

If I hear!!!!

Baba ijebu na millionaire oo, u think say hin no hammer?