This should exist - and does

Today I thought of a service that might be useful - sending snail mail via email. So I searched around a bit to see if anyone was offering that, and they are, sort of. Along the way I found another web site that is cataloging ideas that people think should exist. Basically its another "unpatent database" except this time its called "Should Exist".

Low and behold the Should Exist site contains an entry for an "Ideas Wiki". It's funny that people use a service to suggest an idea for something that is basically exactly what they are using to suggest the idea. Even stranger is the Ideas Wiki entry actually referes to a Wiki that is implementing what is suggested, its called "Idiki" but so far only contains 18 ideas.

I'm wondering now how many more of this type of idea repository there are out there. Two, dozens, hundreds? I guess what we need now is some way to combine them all into some meta-database with fantastico searching capabilities and get some wide publicity for it. Alternatively the mighty (and mightily controversial) Wikipedia itself could introduce an encyclopedia of the future - inventions that have not yet come into existence.

Update: add to the list:

• Think Cycle
• Why Not?
• Lazy Web
• Halfbakery