5.8. Lesson 40: Invent Systems
Edison's great iconic invention was, of course, the incandescent electric lamp. The inventor never regarded it, however, as a stand-alone invention. The electric light was conceived and developed as just one part of a system of electric power generation and application. By inventing practical indoor electric lighting, Thomas Edison was inventing the reason for an entire new utility industry, and work on the lamp proceeded simultaneously with work on generators, electric transmission and distribution systems, and metering systems. The light bulb satisfied a great human need for indoor lighting, but, in satisfying this need, it created a new one: the need for an electric power industry.
NOTE
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