It sounds shocking and disappointing, but are there any major innovative companies that have been leading their fields since the 1890s? Most companies that lasted that long seem to be retail, or small-scale, catering to niche markets. Today, Amazon is apparently making a loss, and lots of household names seem to be in trouble.
A more worrying question is whether we in Europe and the UK are continuing to develop small new companies. If innovation all goes to China and India, we will be in trouble.
Now, where's that little gadget that will heat my home and all that hot water, once we give up on fossil fuels...
Indeed, a sad story. As a child, I was given a Philips "Electronics Experimenter" kit. Looking around the house now, I have one of the first CFL lamps - made by Philips. Unlike the more recent versions it used a conventional (and heavy!) wire wound ballast. Well over 20 years old but it lights up. In front of me is a 1983 vintage Philips reel-to-reel tape deck, which got considerable use recording the North Sea "pirates", and programmes like the Beeb's "Friday Rock Show" with Tommy Vance. It still works (just) thanks to a 3D printed replacement gear from a German eBay seller. A Philips CD207 top loader was my first CD player, and I've dozens of "Compact Cassette" tapes in vinyl covered storage boxes. Although the first players & recording decks were pretty dire, huge strides in performance were made over the years, but by Japanese manufacturers like Aiwa & Technics, who took Philip's patent and developed it into a genuine HiFi medium. According to today's paper, cassettes are making a comeback, yet (unlike me) many buyers don't have anything to play them on! I never encountered the Philips Video 2000 system, but it seemed (like Sony's Betamax) to be a superior design. JVC just did a better marketing job with VHS, and the rest is history...
My contention is that the EU (and its prior incarnations) was built to protect its (big) businesses and small French farmers from overseas competition.
One can only draw the conclusion that the bureaucracy failed. It's taken years to degrade the big businesses but the political machine soldiers on, even if it wobbles a bit more every year.
I'm still glad we are 'out' although the UK (plus or minus Scotland) needs to step up, not keep in step.
After ejection from the ink jet industry in 2008, I had an interview at Philips and was surprised to be told that they saw their future as a health care company.
Their story is common. One thinks of Wang, Kodak, IBM, ICI, Citroen, Foden and my father's late company, RHM. It's as though entropy applies to companies too.
Sam - yes, the loss is the loss of innovation. Things are probably better than we imagine but we don't see much focus on it in the media apart from hype for politically approved innovation. The excitement of innovation seems to have subsided a great deal over a few decades.
Dave - my earliest Philips memory is my dad's Philishave which seemed to last for years because I don't recall him replacing it while I was still at home. I once came across a Philips Video 2000 system used for training, but don't remember much about it. Interesting how it was part of our lives.
DJ - I'm sure you are right, the EU was built to limit overseas competition. Because of that it is dominated by people who don't understand the value of innovation and competition and don't really like it.
Tammly - companies seem to decline when for one reason or another the people with enthusiasm and vision have gone. A safe pair of hands doesn't prevent the decline but merely slows it down.
5 comments:
It sounds shocking and disappointing, but are there any major innovative companies that have been leading their fields since the 1890s? Most companies that lasted that long seem to be retail, or small-scale, catering to niche markets. Today, Amazon is apparently making a loss, and lots of household names seem to be in trouble.
A more worrying question is whether we in Europe and the UK are continuing to develop small new companies. If innovation all goes to China and India, we will be in trouble.
Now, where's that little gadget that will heat my home and all that hot water, once we give up on fossil fuels...
Indeed, a sad story. As a child, I was given a Philips "Electronics Experimenter" kit. Looking around the house now, I have one of the first CFL lamps - made by Philips. Unlike the more recent versions it used a conventional (and heavy!) wire wound ballast. Well over 20 years old but it lights up. In front of me is a 1983 vintage Philips reel-to-reel tape deck, which got considerable use recording the North Sea "pirates", and programmes like the Beeb's "Friday Rock Show" with Tommy Vance. It still works (just) thanks to a 3D printed replacement gear from a German eBay seller. A Philips CD207 top loader was my first CD player, and I've dozens of "Compact Cassette" tapes in vinyl covered storage boxes. Although the first players & recording decks were pretty dire, huge strides in performance were made over the years, but by Japanese manufacturers like Aiwa & Technics, who took Philip's patent and developed it into a genuine HiFi medium. According to today's paper, cassettes are making a comeback, yet (unlike me) many buyers don't have anything to play them on! I never encountered the Philips Video 2000 system, but it seemed (like Sony's Betamax) to be a superior design. JVC just did a better marketing job with VHS, and the rest is history...
My contention is that the EU (and its prior incarnations) was built to protect its (big) businesses and small French farmers from overseas competition.
One can only draw the conclusion that the bureaucracy failed. It's taken years to degrade the big businesses but the political machine soldiers on, even if it wobbles a bit more every year.
I'm still glad we are 'out' although the UK (plus or minus Scotland) needs to step up, not keep in step.
After ejection from the ink jet industry in 2008, I had an interview at Philips and was surprised to be told that they saw their future as a health care company.
Their story is common. One thinks of Wang, Kodak, IBM, ICI, Citroen, Foden and my father's late company, RHM. It's as though entropy applies to companies too.
Sam - yes, the loss is the loss of innovation. Things are probably better than we imagine but we don't see much focus on it in the media apart from hype for politically approved innovation. The excitement of innovation seems to have subsided a great deal over a few decades.
Dave - my earliest Philips memory is my dad's Philishave which seemed to last for years because I don't recall him replacing it while I was still at home. I once came across a Philips Video 2000 system used for training, but don't remember much about it. Interesting how it was part of our lives.
DJ - I'm sure you are right, the EU was built to limit overseas competition. Because of that it is dominated by people who don't understand the value of innovation and competition and don't really like it.
Tammly - companies seem to decline when for one reason or another the people with enthusiasm and vision have gone. A safe pair of hands doesn't prevent the decline but merely slows it down.
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