VOA标准英语2014--Gadget Inventors Reach Customers Through TV Ads 小工具发明人通过电视广告售出产品

 

Gadget¹ Inventors Reach Customers Through TV Ads 小工具发明人通过电视广告售出产品

HOUSTON — Many of the most innovative² gadgets³ sold in America today are speciality items -- generally marketed through extravagant⁴ late-night TV commercials. These items also are sold through bulk mail advertisements that use the slogan “as seen on TV!” The business can generate big profits for those who come up with successful products.

TV ads offer U.S. viewers all kinds of unconventional products like the Bacon Bowl -- a device that molds fried bacon into an edible⁵ container.

It is probably safe to say that nobody really needs a Bacon Bowl or any of the other products advertised like this, but they do offer a level of convenience that appeals to a lot of people.

Another simple product is aimed at parents of small children who tend to spill things.

The Eggie

There is the Eggie -- which addresses the plight⁶ of those who hate to peel the shells off hard-boiled eggs -- and apparently⁷, there are a lot of them. Six million boxes of this product have been sold, much to the delight of Betsy Kaufman, who came up with the idea at her home in Houston.

"You just crack an egg, like that, and then you put it into the Eggie," she said. After being boiled, the eggs are easy to extract, cut and combine with other food items.

But Kaufman did not develop the Eggie as it appears today, nor did she create a prototype, do a patent search, find a manufacturer or develop a marketing⁸ plan.

"A creative idea hit my brain and I followed through and submitted it, that is all I did," she said.

Kaufman submitted her basic idea along with a simple sketch⁹ and a $25 fee to North Carolina-based EdisonNation, a company that helps develop and market such products.

EdisonNation assists

The company takes a good portion of the product earnings¹⁰ as its fee. Kaufman said this is a better option for inventors, however, than trying to go it alone.

"They are bleeding money, getting a patent and a patent attorney, and that process can take years," she said.

There are a number of online forums¹¹ for inventors that offer many of the same services, but Kaufman said EdisonNation suited her, and her success has created the urge to come up with another idea.

"Then the bug¹² hits you, you are driving down the street and you are thinking, 'Oh, this would be a good idea, I had this luck with Eggies, so sure.' But then you get a big X mark through it -- it is not chosen. My brain may have only one Eggies in it," she said.

 

Based on market research, Kaufman has helped to create an Eggies 2, with a simpler design, and all she has to do now is wait to see how much profit it will generate.

1 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

2 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

3 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

4 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

5 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

6 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

9 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

10 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

11 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。

12 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。