reading response Dec. 6

Here's a story for you to read. Some of the most unlikely ideas come from out of the blue. And the fact you have confidence in yourself, to share, to persevere and/or to pursue a dream, gets you one step closer to your dreams.

Twittens deliver frostbite-free texting


Allison Cross
2010-12-06 12:09

Lincoln McCardle never planned on becoming an inventor.
But last winter, the part-time student from London, Ont., was growing tired of struggling to use his iPod while wearing winter gloves.
He didn’t want to wear fingerless gloves, but figured he needed a glove with a removable hood on the index finger.
McCardle’s friend, a BlackBerry user, insisted he’d need a hood on the thumb too, for texting and posting to Twitter.
McCardle, 38, contacted Canadian glove manufacturers with the idea, with the vague hope they might use the suggestion and send him a free pair of gloves. But just in case, he trademarked the invention’s name: Twittens. Eventually someone took the bait, and McCardle became an inventor.
He’s partnered up with Belleville manufacturer Impacto Protective Products Inc., who is rushing to fill nearly 1,000 orders for Twittens in time for Christmas.
“Obviously, I thought they were an awesome idea,” McCardle says. “I honestly assumed it was a lot more difficult than this to convince other people they were awesome.”
The gloves are made of fleece and come in extra-small, medium and large-extra large sizes. They’re available in black and cost $19.99.
If there’s enough interest, Impacto plans to make more sizes and colours for next season, says Eric Lehtinen, the company’s executive vice-president. “(McCardle) took me through the idea, and being addicted to my BlackBerry myself I thought this was kind of a neat idea,” Lehtinen says. “He had a raw kernel of an idea in terms of the design of the glove, so we made a prototype and sent it through to him.”
McCardle, who works full-time for Bell Canada, suggested a couple of changes: Impacto placed grip pads on the palm and some of fingers of the gloves to help users avoid dropping their phones in the snow.

“That’s been a nice synergy between him as inventor and us as manufacturer,” Lehtinen says. “It’s been a real success story. Now that work is done, we need to get the word out and get the product out the door.”

McCardle received the final prototype in October and wears the gloves constantly. “I’m wearing them all the time,” he says. “They’re absolutely perfect . . . I was convinced this was exactly what I wanted to begin with.”

Consumers are pre-ordering the gloves through the Twittens website, although they can also contact Impacto directly, McCardle says. “They’ve got guys on overtime right now. As a result of all the publicity, retail chains are calling and saying they want 100.”

Impacto aims to ship out the orders they’ve already received between Dec. 14 and 19.
Everyone in McCardle’s family is getting a pair of Twittens for Christmas. “I have already ordered give or take 60 or 70 pairs. It’s mostly friends or family,” he said.
But McCardle isn’t getting any special treatment. He has to wait for shipments from Impacto just like everyone else.

Retell: What is the main idea of this story?
 
Reflect: How can you use the example of this story to help you in your daily life?
 
Respond: What does this story remind you of?