Living on Someone Else's Bright Ideas

Up until now I've been talking about creativity and what it takes to truly be creative with the technologies that are at our fingertips and now I want to look at creativity from the other side of the spectrum.  How does other peoples' creativity affect the general public?  Take Apple for example; Mac has revolutionized the way computers are used, viewed, and marketed.  With the invention of the iphone, ipod, ipad, and tons of other cool gadgets that people can't fathom living without, it's easy to see how much a little creativity can do to influence the population.

http://kproductions.deviantart.com/art/iPod-Evolution-through-2010-178826619

I myself, have a MacBook Pro, an iPhone, an iPod Shuffle, and an iPod Classic.  (I don't use the latter all that much anymore but I like to think its a way to save my phone battery when traveling to have the iPod with all my music on it.)  My roommate has a MacBook, an iPad, an iPhone, and and iPod Nano.  That's not counting the THOUSANDS of students that have just as many if not more Apple products that live on and off campus.  It's wild to think that one company could in just a few years take the world by storm with its products.  I'll be the first to admit that its scary sometimes how much I depend on my phone or my computer.  Everything important to me is saved on my computer; contacts, music, files, pictures, school work, receipts, even goofy videos that my friends and I have made.  A day without my phone is a day of seclusion and confusion.  I could never fathom designing something as small as an iPod and watching it explode onto the market, knowing it was my creation, my idea that opened so many doors to change the way we think about communication and the accessibly of technology.  Apple is the root of so many innovations.  Since the launch of the iPod and iTunes its easier than ever for artists to showcase their creativity and everything from videos to music to movies is all right on one place easily searched and purchased in one application.  

Computers and gadgets aren't the only types of creativity that touch the lives of millions of people.  This past summer I interned at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) in the Houston Medical Center.  I was exposed to so many types of technology from high tech machines to life saving drugs.  Almost everything about TIRR was complicated and advanced.  With all the tools there to use and help in the recovery of patients I was intrigued by the methods of the physical therapists. A lot of the tools they used were things you could find in an average home.  Duct tape was used to hold together absolutely everything, broomsticks and foam were used to make obstacle courses and balance aids, and as the patients' abilities changed with the progress of their recovery little tweaks were made to challenge them on different levels.  I was floored by how little things like a stretch band or a full length mirror could be utilized so many different ways to make such a momentous impact on the quality of each patients' life.  I came into the hospital looking at patients who couldn't even stand and left at the end of the summer watching them walk across the gym by themselves.  

I used to think that creativity was something that left you with your mouth hanging on the floor from astonishment, but I've seen first hand that from iPods to duct tape, a little noodle work and elbow grease can have big effects on thousands of people and their day to day lives.