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  • The Rise and Fall of Dell, Inc

    There are very few consistent details between all of the companies that we’ve featured on Garage Greatness. Sometimes, the people responsible for these international powerhouse companies don’t pursue their passion until later in life. Sometimes, they spend years or decades toiling with their idea before finding worldwide success. Sometimes, these companies are momentary successes that then see their sales decline, dropping in popularity as time passes them by. None of these are true about the company we’ll be examining today, Dell Inc. Dell had a mercurial rise to success, going from an unknown name with $1,000 of startup money to being the 51st company in the Fortune 500 list in 2014. And just like the rest of the companies that we’ve covered, Dell got their start in a garage. The year was 1984, the place was Austin, Texas, and the mind behind the company, Michael Dell, wanted to fill an expanding niche in the consumer computers market.

  • Inventing the Cat Flap: Newton or Not?

    Hello readers! On this installment of Garage Greatness, we’re going to be exploring the dubious claim that Isaac Newton himself invented the cat door while in the garage! Although this claim is interesting and would certainly make for a good story, many people doubt that it is true, so we will also be discussing the other potential origins of the cat door. Having specialized doors for your pets is a very old idea, and tracking the exact origin is difficult, but we have done our best to verify the information we’re bringing you. We bring the same reliable and dependable service to our blog that we bring to our residential and commercial garage door installation and repair services.

  • Etch A Sketch: The Timeless Toy

    There are certain timeless toys that are universally associated with childhood – dolls, action figures, building blocks, and so on – but there is one common toy that very few users understand. The enigmatic Etch A Sketch has an elegant design and has remained mostly unchanged for over fifty years, but the simple secret behind its magical erasable screen is not the ultimate reason for the toy’s success. The real reason that the Etch A Sketch has remained an unchanging cultural icon for the better part of a century is that it appeals to children of every background, of every level of artistic aptitude. The Etch A Sketch is an icon, and like many other great icons that we’ve explored on Garage Greatness, it was first invented in a garage.

  • Richest Man Alive

    There are only a few names that are as synonymous with an industry as Microsoft is with personal use software. Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office are two of the most widely used pieces of software in the world, and for years Windows was the undisputed king of operating systems – Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, and other Office softwares are still the most widely-used solution in their respective fields, with consistent usage by school-aged children and business owners alike. But Microsoft, like many other great companies, comes from humble origins. Bill Gates, the single man most responsible for Microsoft’s success and the wealthiest person in the world, built Microsoft to capitalize upon the success of his early forays into software development. Today, Microsoft is a household name across the world, but at the beginning of this story, Microsoft’s founders were meeting in a California garage for the first meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club.

  • Dyson’s Innovative Vacuum Solution

    Dyson is a symbol of innovation around the world, but they got their humble start in a garage, just like so many other important companies of today. James Dyson, the inventor behind the company’s rise to fame and the continuing sole owner of the company, started working on a new way to vacuum after realizing that his Hoover Junior was losing suction over time, as the bag filled with dust and the mesh became clogged. Over 5000 prototypes later, Dyson implemented centripetal cyclones similar to those used in sawmills and build the G-Force, a revolution of a vacuum cleaner that propelled Dyson into the very lucrative vacuum cleaner industry. Now, Dyson sells to over 70 countries, produces vacuum cleaners, hand dryers, fans, and heaters, but the company continues to push the entrepreneurial inventor mindset that it was founded on. All of this, from Dyson’s early prototyping efforts in the coach house attached to his home in Cotswolds, England.

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    Fall DIY Crafts!

    It is the season for pumpkins and apple cider, scary story and monsters, and also the season for a whole bushel of simple craft projects! We’ve created a list of some of our favorites over on our pintrest page, and if you’re looking for a way to decorate your home on a budget or just a way to stretch your creative muscles with a little project, we’ve got something perfect for you!

  • Doggy Garage: How to Keep Your Pet Safe!

    For many homeowners, our pets are just as much a part of our family as any of the humans in our lives. Pets can always cheer up someone going through a hard time, or comfort someone who just needs to be loved. Most pet owners love and care for their animals, but unfortunately some are either uninformed or neglectful, and pets suffer because of their lack of care. One common way that dogs especially are mistreated is by being left locked up in the garage, and given our line of work this is a particularly concerning issue for all of us at A Plus. We love our pets and know that our readers do as well, so today we’re going to educate you about why you shouldn’t leave your dog in the garage if it can be avoided, and if you have to leave your dog in the garage, what you should do to protect them.

  • Harley-Davidson: American Excellence

    Garages are notoriously loud, since hobbyist mechanics and garage bands tend to use the garage specifically for making noise. With a private workshop sectioned off from the rest of the house, these backyard innovators had all the space (and muffling walls) they needed to practice their craft without disturbing their family. Of course, some garage inventors want to make noise, like the Davidson brothers and their friend William S. Harvey. These four inventors, all born before 1882, tinkered in a shed behind their friend’s property and ended up inventing a product that would revolutionize American roads and become one of the most iconic examples of any industry – The Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

  • Beautiful Brazilian Garage Doors

    These beautiful doors from São Paulo, a Brazilian city, show a high level of craftsmanship and an originality that really makes them stand out from the surroundings. The custom wood and metal work gives each door a distinctive feel to match the property, and the doors are a unique single-panel design that can be opened without an intrusive guide rail or large opener. Each door is made to a specific style, and although the holes through each door might make some consumers wary of this style, apparently the Brazilian’s don’t see any problems with it. According to one Brazilian commenter, thieves might examine a garage and see two normal cars inside, but the cultural standards of Brazilians mean that no valuable tools or equipment will be left out in plain view and thieves are usually discouraged by the heavy duty steel framing.

  • 10 Garage Sale Tips!

    Now is a great time of year to use your garage to make some extra money, and to declutter your house at the same time! A garage sale is a great way to get rid of your old and unwanted possessions, plus a good sale can make you a nice payday as well. We’re going to give you a quick rundown on how exactly to hold a successful garage sale, with ten basic tips!

  • Garage Greatness: Building Your Own Nest

    How often do you adjust your home thermostat? Many thermostats are outdated eyesores, installed by contractors who are more interested in getting the lowest possible bid than they are in the comfort of their home’s future inhabitants. Also, most homeowners use their thermostat in an inefficient way, and since home temperature control accounts for as much as 10% of total energy usage in the US, even just slightly wasteful habits can mean hundreds of dollars of cost for each household – hundreds of millions, across the country. Tony Fadell is the man behind Nest, the smart thermostat that is designed to solve these problems, and he is more qualified than anyone to create cutting edge technology: before he was prototyping a thermostat in a Palo Alto garage, he was creating the iPod and iPhone at his previous executive position with Apple.