Zhang Wuyi built a submarine. The Chinese farmer from the Hubei province in China has designed and hand-built seven submarines, some that he has sold to local businesses. According to the Rueters, his latest version has a dive depth of 96 feet, and is equipped with vacuum hoses for harvesting sea cucumbers.
I came across an fascinating article in a recent issue of Atlantic Monthly. It chronicles the burgeoning DIY culture of China, and profiles a number of innovative inventors and some of their projects. A few of these showcased include a homemade helicopter, DIY prosthetic limbs, robots, disaster survival pods and emergency fire escape slides. As a DIY enthusiast, I am fascinated by these inventions. Not only because of their innovative nature, but for the spirit of creativity and independence that they represent.
I don't know about you, but personally I have always been bothered by the label "Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China"that is affixed to every Apple product on the market. It has always seemed to underscore a basic assumption of the past 10 years. That is, the smart creative minds in Silicon Valley come up with clever ideas and then the Chinese spew forth the consumer products that the developed world demands. I don't disagree that China is a powerhouse, it currently produces about 20% of the world's goods, or that Apple products are not marvels of design. However, the idea that China is lacking in innovation is quickly losing ground.
The number of patents offered in China are skyrocketing. In 2012, the China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) granted 1.26 million patents, more than any patent office in the world. Furthermore, Chinese inventors ranked ninth among other nations in US patents offered, and had increased their applications by 41% in the past year. US Patent applications by Chinese inventors have increased more than 1000% in the last decade. Though China, which spends roughly 300 million a year on R&D lags behind the US in this category, its ability to convert R&D money to IP is nearly 4 times that of United States.
To be fair, many are suspicious of Chinese patents, the majority of which are Utility Model or UM varieties, a form that does not exist in the US, and which some claim are inferior to invention patents. Others claim that they are vehicle to steal IP from other countries, and are merely tweaking existing technology.
There is surely much truth in this accusation, whether or not they lack in quality or originality, the Chinese patents seem to surpass in quantity. It will be interesting to see what this invention trend means for innovation in the long haul. DIY culture, long thought to an indicator of innovation could be a harbinger of China's design future.
Many people do subscribe to the idea that there is little innovation coming out of China and they are merely the world's factory, producing products in assembly lines, products that were imagined by someone in the western world. In fact, I remember reading something similar where the author was trying to comfort Americans about jobs going overseas by telling them that only the low wage jobs will get outsourced and we will keep the high end jobs that require Intellectual horsepower. I believe that it is only a matter of time before we see more original design coming out of China. Samsung which is Korean, is a good example of someone who was copying (Apple) and now compete based on the design and features they offer through their Galaxy series of phones.
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