Shapes, sizes, and colors doth not necessarily an innovation make, however. I also don't consider changing the shape or color an 'innovation'. Edison used his innovations to appeal to different markets, most of which he created, as does Apple. A PC is still a PC, outside of the adolescents and few adults who are part of the gaming community (but then a lot of those guys don't even use Windows), regardless of shape, size, or color.
I love that you point out Victor claiming a patent for the door-as-volume-control (maybe someone should invent a panel to slide in front of a modern speaker so it'll sound like crap, too -- call it an acoustic volume control? Maybe that'd infringe Victor, come to think of it). Business is business. In the lovely Columbia compendium, Note The Notes, it is postulated that without the conniving machinations of Columbia, both Victor and Edison might've escaped the impetus to continually improve upon their products (though to different degrees). I could certainly see that. I consider it yet another parallel to the PC vs Mac situation. Without Windows having dominated the mass market, Apple would've had little reason to seek out the holes in the market and figure out such wonderfully creative ways to fill them, if indeed the holes would've even existed. And without Mac proliferating the professional recording studio 10 years ago (or more), they might not have been around to seek the holes. One-upmanship is always healthy in an industry where competing formats with at least similar applications can learn (steal) from each others' developments as time distinguishes the useful/reliable ones from the rest... ...which is yet another parallel, not only to Edison & Victor, but to all the industries Rich points out. I'm just thankful we've gotten to where we are. All things considered, this is a pretty exciting time to be alive. Best, Robert ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rich" <[email protected]> To: "Antique Phonograph List" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2006 11:32 AM Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Edison company post 1929 > While thanking, or thinking of Edison and his creations here is one to > chew on for a while. > > The Edison company developed the business model for the music and movie > production industry. > That business model is still in force today. Think of the RIAA, MPAA, and > the present state of > copyright law in the US. Then take a look at the garment industry. You > will find a tremendous > difference yet both generate revenue by the cubic yards. > > Victor went the "patent every idea" route which is also popular today. > Think of the doors on a > Victor machine being used as a volume control. Victor had a patent so > Edison had to stuff a sock > into the horn throat. Now, right after the very first door was installed > it was common knowledge > that closing the door reduced the level of sound that propagated through > it. Yet Victor received a > patent. > > A large quantity of this 'innovation" was forced by the necessity of > getting around the other > companies patents, without landing in court. > > As to the PC vs Apple item. You need to look further than Best Buy and > Dell and you will find > that the PC comes in many shapes, sizes and colors. > > Rich > > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > [email protected] > > Phono-L Archive > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org/archive/ > > Support Phono-L > http://www.cafepress.com/oldcrank >
