Misjudgments of history - prominent inventions and their doubters

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Do you sometimes doubt your idea? Do you hear things like "What's the point of that" or "It will never catch on" ? Don't let that stop you from pursuing your development. It is correct: There are inventions that actually did not catch on. But history is also full of misjudgments by contemporaries who were quite knowledgeable about inventions that later became international successes.

Edison's light bulb was initially underestimated

For example, Thomas Alva Edison illuminated the Avenue de and the Place de with electric light for the first time at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1878. But what did Oxford professor Erasmus Wilson say about this? “When the Paris World Fair is over, the electric lights will go out and we will never hear about it again” . And when Edison applied for a patent for his variant of the lightbulb in the USA in late 1879, he had to read in the newspaper: "Anyone familiar with it will recognize that Mr. Edison's lightbulb is a clear failure".– by Henry Morton, of all people, himself a scientist and then President of the Stevens Institute of Technology, one of the oldest technical universities in the USA. But it was Edison's version that made mass production and the use of electric light in everyday life possible - after many had tried it before.

The automobile - a success with many forefathers

The invention of the automobile was by no means immediately recognized as a success by everyone. In 1903, for example, the president of the Michigan Savings Bank advised Henry Ford's attorney against investing in Ford's automobile company: "The horse will always exist. Cars are only a passing fad.” A similar quote is also attributed to Kaiser Wilhelm II, which is probably not true. The fact that even car pioneers could not imagine what would happen is shown by Gottlieb Daimler's statement from 1901 that the worldwide demand for motor vehicles would not exceed one million - "if only for lack of available drivers."

The history of the automobile would be would of course never have been possible without the invention of the wheel before. And this shows that an idea also needs the right environment in order to become a success. The wheel is said to have been known to ancient American peoples such as the Mayas and the Aztecs , but they did not use it as a means of transportation. This was probably due to the fact that there were no suitable draft animals. And the Persian-Arabic-Berber cultural area is said to have even given up the transport of goods on wheels . It was not necessary to maintain roads for camel transport. The car would also have been nothing without the internal combustion engine . As late as 1806, the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg ruled:

"Petroleum is a useless excretion of the earth - a sticky liquid that stinks and cannot be used in any way." petroleum processing applies.

Flying - impossible?

Many learned contemporaries were also skeptical about the airplane. William Thompson, the first Baron Kelvin and himself a physicist, did not believe heavier-than-air flying machines were possible. He is quoted as saying that he has not the slightest belief “in any other type of aviation than with the balloon. The Canadian-American mathematician Simon Newcomb was of the same opinion: "Flying through the air with machines is absolutely impossible" . They had to be taught otherwise by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright. They were not fooled by the respected scientists and applied for a patent for their flying machine in 1903 . The rest is history.

Talking actors unwanted?

The modern entertainment industry is also familiar with such misjudgments. The successful director DW Griffith, who founded United Artists with Charlie Chaplin and others, published an article in 1924 in which he outlined a vision of the cinematic art in 100 years. Speaking actors weren't one of them. And Harry Warner was certainly open to tape music rather than a live orchestra. This would save cinemas a lot of money. But "who wants to hear actors speak," he is said to have said. The Warner Brothers took a chance and invested in the new technology – they presented a film about a jazz singer who can then be heard singing. And Griffith later made talkies himself.

The calculator for the school bag

In times of smartphones, the format and performance of the first pocket calculator may seem a bit meager. But the integrated circuit on a semiconductor designed by the young physicist Jack Kilby in 1958 is considered the basis for the microchip. For a long time, his employer Texas Instruments didn't really know what to do with it. Together with colleagues, Kilby therefore designed the first pocket calculator and presented the "Cal Tech" to the director in 1967. It is said to have been the size of a dictionary and to have weighed a kilo, but it could be operated with batteries.

The Texas Instruments boss did not initially recognize the potential, but enabled series production at a Japanese company. It wasn't until 1972 that Texas Instruments launched their own pocket calculators . Today almost every school child probably remembers “his” model. And Kilby shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics with two others for developing the integrated circuit.

Incidentally, the physicist Robert Noyce came up with a similar idea almost at the same time as Jack Kilby. There were therefore legal and patent disputes. He later founded Intel with a partner. He was not considered for the Nobel Prize in 2000 because he had died in 1990.

Who needs a computer at home?

As is well known, the first computers were also much larger , but by no means as powerful as today's models, which severely limited their use. "I think that there is a world market for maybe five computers," Thomas Watson, head of IBM , is said to have said in 1943, even if this is not documented in writing. And his ambition was certainly greater - rightly so, as history shows. "There is no reason anyone should have a computer in their home", quotes Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment, in 1977. However, his employees already had plans for it. Another prominent misjudgment comes from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: The iPhone will not sell very well.

The dowel, the do-it-yourselfer's best friend

But it doesn't always have to be electronics. The Swabian Artur Fischer invented the expansion dowel in 1958 and had the model patented. Because no one believed him, he is said to have screwed a car to the wall . Today, any hobby craftsman with only minimal talent can use it to securely attach pictures, shelves or lamps to the wall. There is no Nobel Prize for something like this, but steady commercial success. Fischer marketed his inventions in his own company, and the small, cheap plastic part made him rich thanks to the volume sold.

So whatever you're working on, don't get discouraged. In the history of innovation, there have often been misjudgments and misjudgments – later prominent inventions had their doubters. However, history also shows that similar ideas often emerged at the same time . Applying for a patent was often an important step in order to later be able to benefit financially from the invention.

Getting ready to start your product concept development? Our product development company of experts is here to assist your process.

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