My brother mentioned there’s really no new technology, everything new is a combination of old ideas. His statement started me thinking about new developments over the past ten years and nothing I could come up with contradicted his theory. Being the older brother I really wanted to be right and have some reason for him to be wrong.

His example was a solar powered cell phone charger sold by a large catalog retailer. Solar panels combined with some electronic wizardry and a USB jack essentially make up the wireless charger. Solar is nothing new and neither are the electronics, someone just had the fortitude to combine the two into a convenient product.

I felt I had worked my way into a corner when I brought up quadcopters, a technology I’ve been playing with for the last few months, and he immediately told me it’s repackaged old technology. At the core of the copter control board are many of the components that were developed for cell phones. Someone had the wherewithal to repurpose them and add some computer code.

Is innovation nonexistent or does combining old ideas still count as invention? My way of thinking is that a new technology can be derived from older ones, we just can’t reuse an old idea. Taking an existing product and using it in a new way or combining it with other things to make a new product is new technology.

Invention is defined as the “creation of something new” which leaves a lot of room for interpretation under the context of our discussion. My brother’s argument is there is nothing new, while I’m a believer that new ideas can be a complex assembly of old ideas. At what point does reusing someone else’s idea become wrong or immoral?

All the new gizmos and gadgets coming into the market really aren’t the product of invention, they’re innovations. Before I put pen to paper I did a lot of reading and concluded there’s a gray area between innovation and invention, but the general consensus is that innovation offers a new way of doing the same old thing.

Steam powered automobiles were invented in 1768 from several existing technologies. Wheels were nothing new, the first practical steam engine came around 1700 and steel had been around forever. Cugnot’s 1768 steam powered automobile was a piece of new technology built from the ground up of existing technologies.

I wonder if it’s at all possible for completely new technology to exist. Compact discs came up in our conversation. I pointed out that CD technology wouldn’t have been possible unless laser refraction hadn’t been created decades prior. Compact discs simply repackaged an existing technology and made it useful to people.

With all the repurposing and reuse of ideas it would seem patent attorneys would be in a frenzy of litigation arguing their client’s ideas have been taken. Cell phone companies would be suing toy drone manufacturers over the use of an accelerometer, a component found in both devices. Basically anyone could sue anyone.

Someday I’d like to win an argument against my brother and I’m not sure it’s going to happen anytime soon. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to come up with a recent invention that isn’t an innovation and haven’t come up with anything yet. Knowing that I can simply repurpose and repackage existing ideas gives me hope that I won’t have to create something completely new in order to call it original.

(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him at (978) 919-8059 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)