"Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." This famous (mis)quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson is used to describe the value in improving a basic product. His advice has also been taken literally. Since William Hooker of Abingdon, Ill. invented the spring-loaded mousetrap in 1894, more than 4,400 patents for new mousetraps have been filed in the U.S. But has anyone really improved on the spring trap? A recent protracted and methodical battle with a mouse in my apartment suggests they have not. Below I will detail four unsuccessful ... Read More