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Despite technology changing at a blurring pace, business entrepreneur and inventor Robert Sexton is attracting attention for a product that could last for the next century.
In 1985 Sexton installed a home media center in his living room in Knoxville. When the project was done he was frustrated with the obtrusive round speaker wires that ran along the floor.
"When I got finished all I saw was big fat brown wire around my new media system," says Sexton.
His experience made him wonder why wire needed to be round. After doing research, Sexton believed there was no compelling reason why electrical wire needed to be round. He created an alternative flat wire - then waited for ten years.
Sexton waited until he had enough of his own money to patent his idea, thus eliminating the need for numerous venture capital firms. He declined an exact figure for his personal investment, but says $1 million is a round figure.
Sexton had patents approved for his FlatWire technology in the 1990s, and launched DeCorp Americas Inc. in 2001.
The FlatWire product
DeCorp Americas' FlatWire technology will be used for electrical, voice data and sound/video. The product will be the equivalent of a 75 ohm round cable used for television, but eight-one-thousandths of an inch thick thinner than a business card.
"We're designing it as if it is...