Invention Isn't Everything

Consumer Design Rules

Phil Baker

The invention is often just 5% of all the factors for success.

I remember my first day at Polaroid in June 1967. I took the elevator to the third floor and then entered the secure area behind the frosted glass door with “Product Development” stenciled on it. Behind this door some of the world’s great consumer products were being invented and engineered, and I would now become a part of it. The legend of Edwin Land, Polaroid’s CEO, permeated the area. A modern-day Thomas Edison with hundreds of patents, Land had led Polaroid to become one of the great consumer product companies of all time with the invention of instant photography. I had always loved gadgets and consumer technology products, ...

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