Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond

8.8. Lesson 72: The Two Masters

Those who would earn their bread by invention must be resigned to serving two masters, one technical, the other economic. More than once, Edison found that he had arrived at a technically feasible solution to a problem, only to discover that the solution did not address economic considerations. For example, he found that cadmium was an excellent substitute for lead as a battery electrode. It was much lighter than lead and was far less subject to corrosion and erosion. In economic terms, however, cadmium presented a serious drawback. Whereas lead could be had for 4 cents a pound, the cost of a pound of cadmium was $1.20. The obvious means of closing this gap, Edison believed, was to find a cheap source of cadmium, ...