The title kind of says it all, but if you've ever thought that Thomas Edison invented _anything_, have a read.

You Cannot Always Invent Your Way to Innovation - - Braden Kelley - #mgmt #innovation #invention #value #nasa #tech

Let me float an alternative explanation: There has been no decline in innovation; there has just been a shift in its focus. We’re as creative as ever, but we’ve funneled our creativity into areas that produce smaller-scale, less far-reaching, less visible breakthroughs. And we’ve done that for entirely rational reasons. We’re getting precisely the kind of innovation that we desire - and that we deserve.

Correcting some egregious misconceptions about an Oatmeal comic regarding Tesla and Edison -- explaining some realities about invention, scientific progress, and the history of electricity. "I’d contend that nearly every invention in the engineering or sciences is an improvement on what has come before – such as Tesla’s improvements to alternating current. That’s what innovation is. It’s a social process that occurs in a social context. As Robert Heinlein once said, “When railroading time comes you can railroad -- but not before.” In other words, inventions are made in the context of scientific and engineering understanding. Individuals move things forward – some faster than others – but in the end, the most intelligent person in the world can’t invent the light bulb if the foundation isn’t there."

“As many bitter scientists have learned, history often credits innovations to the people who made them popular, rather than the people who actually dreamed them up. Gutenberg was no exception. He changed the world by manufacturing printing presses, not by inventing them.”

In December, 1877, a young man came into the office of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, and placed before the editors a small, simple machine about which very few preliminary remarks were offered. The visitor without any ceremony whatever turned the crank, and to the astonishment of all present the machine said : " Good morning. How do you do? How do you like the phonograph?" The machine thus spoke for itself, and made known the fact that it was the phonograph..."

Summary: why Tesla was awesome and Edison was a douchebag.
;-)

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The title kind of says it all, but if you've ever thought that Thomas Edison invented _anything_, have a read.

DOUG SAUNDERS
TETBURY HILL, ENGLAND— From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Mar. 09, 2012

xyzzy

Short articles on a range of items, including the can-opener (1858), pop-up toaster (1919), and sewing machine (1846).