Where do you develop your ideas? Or, is Chris Myles all wet?

There are a number of examples of how a prototype product was developed to meet a specific need, and then it was subsequently discovered that the prototype may have more universal appeal. The Post-It Notes/church choir story comes to mind.

I recently ran across another story, in which someone developed a geolocation application that tied textual items to locations on a map. You can see it here. Mark Krynsky explained how this application came to be:

Chris Myles embarked on a sailing trip that lasted 5 1/2 years, spanning 32,800+ miles, where he visited 24 countries, and spent 160 nights at sea. He wanted a way to be able to share his adventure including maps, photos, videos, and blogging easier, so he decided to develop his own app. Blurbits is the result of his effort.

Interesting way to get an idea for an application. I mean, consider that Myles could have instead chosen to do this...