Mysteries of Life!

It's always seemed to me that much of the world's innovation comes from people thinking "there must be a better way." See a need, then devise something to fill it.

Josephine Cochran, for example, got tired of servants breaking her china. So she invented the first automatic dishwasher.

Murray Spangler was looking for a way to sweep floors that wouldn't aggravate his allergies. So he combined a pillowcase, a box and an electric fan. He sold the design to Mr. Hoover and the rest is vacuum cleaner history.

Throughout history, inventors from Ford to Edison to Gates, Jobs and Wozniak have sought a better way to do things. If necessity is the mother of invention, then improvement is surely the father.

But there are some products on the market that don't seem to fit my tidy little theory.

Take the tea bag squeezer, for example. I didn't realize there was anything a small piece of plastic could do that a teaspoon against the side of a cup can't.

Or indoor wind chimes. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against wind chimes. I just never found it necessary to bring a small set inside and place it on my desk. Nor have I ever felt compelled to use "artificial wind" (as noted on the box), also known as a battery operated fan, to produce the soothing sound I can get for free outside my front door.

But my favorite solution to which there is no problem has to be the Grapple. (Pronounce it with a long A -- "Grape-L")

If my theory makes sense, it means someone, somewhere, looked at an apple, and thought "hmmm, what a lovely food product. Hand-held, portable, all natural, great tasting. But there's gotta be a better way."

So what did they do? The perfectly logical thing, of course. They infused it with natural and artificial flavor to make it taste like a grape! Mr. Spock would be so proud!

So would Dr. Spock, apparently. The company's marketing folks say the Grapple could improve children's eating habits and "introduce them to more produce." Such as what? The strawberry-flavored banana? The pineapple-flavored orange?

Hey, it could happen. After all, the apple doesn't fall far from the vine, right?