"Though no one doubts the vigor with which it addresses itself to travel within the United States, General Motors has little interest in travel through space."
- John Kenneth Galbraith, in a larger discussion of what sort of scientific research the market does and does not incentivize (The Affluent Society, 1958, pg. 354)
Sunday, February 12, 2012
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Though no one doubts the vigor with which The Spaceship Company (a joint venture of Scaled Composites and Virgin Gallactic) addresses itself to private travel into space, the Spaceship Company has little interest in building cars.
ReplyDeleteThough no one doubts the vigor with which Captain Ahab addressed himself to catching Moby Dick, he apparently had little interest in drilling for oil.
The simple fact is that many companies are "one industry" companies, and that many new industries are created by people formerly unknown for being in any other industry (e.g., Henry Ford, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs).
P.S. Another example: Though no one doubts the vigor with which it addressed itself to film, Kodak showed too little interest too late in digital cameras.