Move Over, Bob Vila

Peter Gardell

14 years ago

The screwdriver: It's an indispensable tool for the person trying to do anything around the house. Putting batteries in toys, fixing toys thrown around because the batteries weren't changed in time, fixing loose things around the house or building something new. The old-fashioned straight screwdriver did its job in a predictable way, but its design had certain limitations that limited its ability to allow us to become more efficient.

The invention of the Phillips tip opened the door to automatic screwdriver. These were a big improvement but were still human-powered. It allowed manufacturers to make quantum leaps in efficiency but we were still hindered by the capabilities of the wrists and forearms of the operator; not everyone can be built like Popeye.

Air-powered, then battery-powered allowed another huge leap in efficiency that one couldn't have imagined a few short years ago. The weekend warrior now can knock out larger construction projects that previously would have taken large construction teams a lot longer to perform - decks, sheds, dog houses, home renovations, etc.

Kind of like the advancement of the CEREC system. Many evolutions have opened the door to great advancements for the CAD/CAM dentist.

The imaging advances that came with the Bluecam can now be utilized by the software to really make our days easier. Multiple simultaneous designs, multiple materials, all controlled in one master file by the CEREC dentist. We now have the Mack-daddy 24v hammer drill in our tool belts.

So move over, Bob Vila and Norm Abram, and get ready to watch the next episode of "This Old Mouth."