"Frank Herbert, author of Dune, told how he had once been approached by a friend who claimed he (the friend) had a killer idea for an SF story, and offered to tell it to Herbert. In return, Herbert had to agree that if he used the idea in a story, he’d split the money from the story with this fellow. Herbert’s response was that ideas were a dime a dozen; he had more story ideas than he could ever write in a lifetime. The hard part was the writing, not the ideas."
Also:
'a desire to think something up without breaking a sweat, then let someone else’s hard work make you money. It’s an attitude that says, “I’m so smart that my ideas alone set me apart.” Sorry, it doesn’t work that way IRL.'
"Anyone who thinks they have a unique idea that they want to “own” & milk for money can do so—but first they have to track down & appropriately compensate all the people who made possible the [...], & so forth that put them in a position to have their brainstorm."
@alcinnz so true about tech ideas too. People having ideas is great, demanding a commission for the idea is BS.
@teleclimber Yup, Abrash followed that anecdote up saying "The early pioneers probably beat you to it", blaming the uptick in being offered new ideas on software patents.
"Virtually every idea I’ve encountered in 3-D graphics was invented decades ago. You think you have a clever graphics idea? Sutherland, Sproull, Schumacker, Catmull, Smith, Blinn, Glassner, Kajiya, Heckbert, or Teller probably thought of your idea years ago."
(1990s)