Dr. Paul Israel

Well, I think ultimately his most important innovation, and it influenced what came after

is the Industrial Research and Development Laboratory.

Edison created a model that others took and improved upon so that by the 19-teens, increasingly industrial research laboratories are emerging in many industries.

And by the end of the 1920s, almost every major industry has its

The companies in them have industrial research laboratories.

There are some leading ones like General Electric and Bell Labs, but many other industries have this kind of process for developing the technologies that they're using.

You know, if there's one central thing that's sort of most important about Edison's career, it's that.

And then I would say next would be the sound recording industry.

It's the one that he stayed with the longest.

And, you know, it clearly changed the way we think about sound, right, as instead of being something that disappears, it's something that can be captured.

And then finally, the electrical industry, because Edison designs the essential electrical system.

Most of the elements of it, even before AC, are part of Edison.

So those are the big three, if I were to say, what are the most important things that Edison worked on.

So I think there are some very definite parallels, right?

So Silicon Valley in its earlier years was very much a startup place.

And that's what happened with Edison and electric light and sound recording and movies.

All of those things were startups.

And lots of other companies emerge that compete.

And then what happens is what happens in the electrical industry.

In the 1890s, after the formation of General Electric, Westinghouse and General Electric decide that they're just going to cross-license each other and they drive every other company out of the business.