Flat on his back during a long illness, a prominent representative of a certain literary genre came up with an idea for something that might make people in his situation feel more comfortable. He later described it in a few of his novels. In fact, these descriptions were so detailed that when someone else came up with a marketable version, he was unable to obtain a patent. Who was that well-known author, and what was his idea?

lanfranco

Time for a hint, I see. Though this really is not one of the stranger questions I've posted; I'm not trying to be harsh. The question includes a five-word phrase that, if googled in conjunction with one, fairly obvious synonym for another word the question contains, should provide the answer. Nov 05 06, 5:28 PM

wendypj

Robert A Heinlein described the waterbed in a number of his novels which resulted in Charles Hall, the creator of the modern waterbed, being unable to obtain a patent for his design. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterbed Nov 05 06, 7:45 PM

lanfranco

Excellent, wendy, you get the silver mace! I bought a second-hand copy of "Stranger in a Strange Land" yesterday, looked up Heinlein for a bit of background on the novel, and was taken aback by the waterbed information. So tell me: did the hints do it for you, or did you figure it out without them? Nov 05 06, 8:30 PM

wendypj

To be honest it was a bit of a guess after I had ruled out a bedpan, which strangely enough was the first thing that sprang to mind when thinking what would make me feel more comfortable if I were bed-bound! Nov 05 06, 8:58 PM