Zillion Dollar Thinkers…Commitment

Thomas A. Edison

"He led no armies into battle, he conquered no countries, and he enslaved no peoples. Nonetheless, he exerted a degree of power the magnitude of which no warrior ever dreamed. His name still commands a respect as sweeping in scope and as world-wide as that of any other mortal. He had a devotion rooted deep in human gratitude and untainted by the bias that is often associated with race, color, politics, and religion."

"Thomas Edison was more responsible than any one else for creating the modern world. No one did more to shape the physical/cultural makeup of present day civilization. Accordingly, he was the most influential figure of the millennium"

Even with all the inventions and entrepreneurial successes, Edison demonstrated a living example of the road that few want to and are willing to travel. He had to endure many failures. Without resolute commitment, it is doubtful that he would have ever accomplished what he did.

Edison had 1,093 patents for different inventions. Many of them, like the light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, were brilliant creations that have a huge influence on our everyday life. However, not everything he created was a success; he also had a few failures.

One concept that never took off was Edison's interest in using cement to build things. He formed the Edison Portland Cement Co. in 1899, and made everything from cabinets (for phonographs) to pianos and houses. Unfortunately, at the time, concrete was too expensive and the idea was never accepted. Cement wasn't a total failure, though. His company was hired to build Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. What else do you think Edison tried to create?

From the beginning of the creation of motion pictures, many people tried to combine film and sound to make "talking" motion pictures. Here you can see an example of an early film attempting to combine sound with pictures made by Edison's assistant, W.K.L. Dickson. By 1895, Edison had created the Kinetophone--a Kinetoscope (peep-hole motion picture viewer) with a phonograph that played inside the cabinet. Sound could be heard through two ear tubes while the viewer watched the images. This creation never really took off, and by 1915 Edison abandoned the idea of sound motion pictures.

The greatest failure of Edison's career was his inability to create a practical way to mine iron ore. He worked on mining methods through the late 1880s and early 1890s to supply the Pennsylvania steel mills' demand for iron ore. In order to finance this work, he sold all his stock in General Electric, but was never able to create a separator that could extract iron from unusable, low-grade ores. Eventually, Edison gave up on the idea, but by then he had lost all the money he'd invested.

Edison defined commitment.

"Be courageous! Whatever setbacks America has encountered, it has always emerged as a stronger and more prosperous nation....Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith and go forward"

Thomas Alva Edison