Velcro and Apple Inc., Research Paper Example

Velcro is a fabric company, which produces the first commercially marketed hooks and loop fastener. The word Velcro comes from a portmanteau of two French words “velour” and “crochet”. Velour (velvet) is the soft side of Velcro that is made of small loops while crochet (hook) is the rougher part of Velcro, which has small hooks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velcro accessed November 15, 2012).

Velcro was invented in 1941 by George de Mestral a Swiss engineer. He was hiking and often had to remove burrs from his trousers. He also removed burrs from his dog’s coat and instead of seeing the burrs as a nuisance; he examined them under a microscope. He discovered several hooks, which caught everything with a loop such as hair, clothing or animal fur. This is when he brought the idea of a fastening system using hooks and loops. He patented Velcro in 1955, subsequently developing its manufacture until its commercial introduction in 1959 (http://www.velcro.com/~/link.aspx?_id=0A042D4F57484007ADEE5B7CE6DF406B&_z=z, accessed November 15, 2012).

George de Mestral’s patent came to expiry in 1978, but the word Velcro is still a registered trademark in several countries. The company does not sell any manufactured goods named “Velcro”, but the brand is an example of a trademark whose brand name has become the generic term in several languages.

Apple Inc.

Human beings tend to maintain silence when they get to an area where noises are banned, for example, meeting room, lecture hall, doctor’s office etc. This principle from nature influenced the Apple Company to enforce policies upon a wireless gadget.

It reveals a technique to change aspects of a mobile device based on certain surroundings or events. The “Quiet Time Universal System” turns the cell phone off automatically in selected areas such as hospitals, theaters, doctor’s offices, classrooms and business meeting rooms. The patented technology converts incoming calls to text messages and alerts the mobile phone owner. For example, the mobile phone automatically turns off its sounds and display the moment it senses it is in a movie theatre. The phone could also be prevented from communicating with other devices if it detects that it is in a classroom or an area where noises are banned. In this new innovation, Apple calls it a situational-awareness technology (http://www.innovationinpractice.com/innovation_in_practice/2012/09/innovation-sighting-apples-use-of-attribute-dependency-in-iphones.html, accessed November 15, 2012).

Works Cited

Wikipedia contributors. “Velcro.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free     Encyclopedia, 13 Nov. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. http://www.innovationinpractice.com/innovation_in_practice/2012/09/innovation-sighting-apples-use-of-attribute-dependency-in-iphones.html.