[Closed] Companies that invented something and are still major players

Thomas Cook.

GE

Thomas Cook, good one.

What did GE invent?

breville (did have to google to double check they did actually [s]invent[/s] "commercialise" the sandwich toaster)

edited
are we having specialized for first [i]production[/i] mountain bike?

Dyson

Though I think your need to define if you are talking about invention in a radical or incremental sense.

microsoft, google, apple

UniLever
Monsanto
BASF
Bayer

GE - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison

Just googled that, did not know GE was formed by Edison.

Also - and I wasn't sure of this without googling - AT&T can be traced back to Alexander Graham Bell.

Oh and save my google fingers, tell us what the companies invented..?

What did those 3 invent? Made better versions of something that already existed maybe but pretty sure o/s / search engines and home computers existed before.

Yes - Microsoft didn't invent PC operating systems, Apple did not invent computers, and Google didn't invent search engines.

IBM invented PCs - and until relatively recently they still did, in the form of Thinkpads. They still make servers though but that's not the same thing.

Facebook
Virgin

IBM invented PCs

Henry Edward Roberts would have something to say about that (if he wasn't dead).

Hmm yes except that what we call 'PC' nowadays is actually still "IBM PC compatible".

What did Virgin invent?

Ford

What did Virgin invent?

Cola, maybe.

Also - and I wasn't sure of this without googling - AT&T can be traced back to Alexander Graham Bell.

Weren't they colloquially known as "Ma Bell" for a while?

Renishaw: the touch-trigger probe:

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3M - for innovation and as I understand it, the support for that innovation.

Don't forget Hewlett-Packard too, unbroken development from oscillators through to today's test equipment, under brand names Agilent and Keysight, HP name went with PC and peripherals businesses sometime around 2000.

Victorinox

Ooh, I know. ARM Holdings, formerly Acorn, of BBC Model B fame.

Invented RISC OS and the ARM architecture for the Archimedes, the successor of which is probably powering your smartphone.

Biro?

3M - for innovation

You can't have that - I'm talking about specific products - in the case of Intel they invented (or developed commercially) the microprocessor, and they are still clearly a big player. I don't think 3M invented innovation.

I believe Dyno-Nobel are still manufacturing and selling dynamite.

Sikorsky Aircraft and Otis Elevator Company, but then both are owned by United Technologies.

I didn't know that 'biro' was actually a company..

Just thought of another one - Sikorsky.

EDIT DAMMIT dragon

Gore invented Goretex

Wild country invented friends (Ray Jardine Mark Vallance)

good question

Threadless headset (Aheadset) - Cane Creek.

I don't think 3M invented innovation.

They (accidentally) invented crap glue for Post-Its, if memory serves?

I think you may need to rephrase the original question. Companies formed [i]on the back of an invention[/i] is a bigger ask than merely "companies that invented something."

Sellotape?

Honeywell

xerox
Philips
Lego

Sony / Philips for the CD player.

Martin-Baker ejection seats

Yeah that's a fair comment Cougar. But that would exclude say IBM from PCs. If they hadn't already sold their PC business.

Lego wasn't, it was actually a British guy who then he sold the rights, or something like that.

Bic ,Gillette ?

Bayer - Heroin and Zyklon B

Allen keys.

Reynolds tubing ?

Tetrapak

"companies that invented something."

I still think that needs defining - are we talking entirely new products which are not an iteration of a previous concept, or new products that are 'just' iconic game changers? If the former IBM looses out on all counts as theirs was just the development of something to a new standard that went on to be the benchmark.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_B%C3%ADr%C3%B3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage

Didn't Babbage invent the computer ? or at least the concept

Irn Bru

Schlumberger - well logging (possibly)..

Tetrapak

That is a good one, seem to remember them always being used as a case study in University.

Technics - direct drive turntable.

Didn't Babbage invent the computer ?

Well, lots of people invented various steps along the way, but the 'personal' computer ie one not installed in a room in an office, had to be invented. I admit IBM is a difficult one.

I still think that needs defining - are we talking entirely new products which are not an iteration of a previous concept, or new products that are 'just' iconic game changers?

I'm going to say entirely new products or concepts. Benz for example didn't invent the horseless carriage, but he invented the modern automobile, mostly, but as an aggregation of other technologies. Ford also didn't invent the car, but you could say he invented the popular automobile.

Motorola

Mackem - Member
Threadless headset (Aheadset) - Cane Creek.
POSTED 48 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

I was just about to say that Dia Compe 'invented' the aheadset. Turns out Dia Compe are now Cane Creek. Every day's a school day round here. 🙂

Oh and did Coke invent cola?

pfizer for viagra

For this thread to work I think people need to mention the products they are referring to, otherwise we are just randomly naming different companies.

My contribution:

Tunnocks - Teacakes (of course!! 😉 )

Did IBM 'invent' the PC or did they just write the spec for one?

Carrier air conditioning.

Xerox - photocopier (or xerox machine if you prefer)

I was watching a documentary yesterday and it had some archive footage- from the 1950s I think- and they were talking about 'IBM machines', referring to computers. I don't know if they invented them, but they were definitely the first to market- a bit like specialized and mountain bikes

IBM - the magnetic disk

hm, I wondered about Xerox but they bought the rights - not invenmted in house - and - I assume they still produce equipment but it's an assumption..

was thinking De La Rue for banknotes but not sure if they 'invented' any processes. Polaroid - not going in original format so I guess they're out.

kodak - film roll barely alive as in chapter 11

cheekymonkey888 - Member
pfizer for viagra
POSTED 11 MINUTES AGO #

Pfizer were massive for a long time before Viagra came out

I think IBM invented 'a' personal computer but the key think they did was license the design freely. This meant that any manufacturer could produce something cheaply, and they did. This meant that loads were sold, so economies of scale made them cheaper and cheaper, and well - here we all are.

Dunno about polaroid - but Kodak? Ok so they aren't major players but didn't they 'invent' the cheap portable camera and film process?

EDIT FFS stop ninja posting me

[quote=shermer75 ]

cheekymonkey888 - Member
pfizer for viagra
POSTED 11 MINUTES AGO #

razorrazoo - Member
Motorola
POSTED 18 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Mobile phones or walkie talkies? I'm pretty sure they did very well out of the latter before being the first to mass produce the former..

Pilkington.

Bic - the disposable safety razor.

Pilkington.

Glass making process, right? The molten glass gets laid out on to a liquid, or something like that?

Tullio Campagnolo - the quick release wheel in 1930 ish and the rear derailleur circa 1950 if I recall correctly.

shermer75 - Member

razorrazoo - Member
Motorola
POSTED 18 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Mobile phones or walkie talkies? I'm pretty sure they did very well out of the latter before being the first to mass produce the former..

Was in reference to mobile phones, theirs was the first commercially available mobile phone.

Walt Disney - feature length cartoons

Oh and something to bear in mind in terms of IBM's tendencies for inventiveness;

[i]In 2014, IBM broke an invention record: it became the first company to earn more than 7,000 patents in a single year (7,534 patents). This was the 22nd consecutive year IBM topped the annual list of U.S. patent recipients. IBM inventors earned an average of more than 20 patents per day last year.[/i]

Granted, each of these is not going to be groundbreaking, but it's a pretty impressive history of innovation.

Rockshox - suspension forks

Why haven't we done Hoover yet? Is there something I'm missing?!

Look - clipless pedals

(i think there may have been a few odds and sods before hand but nothing popular)

Mavic - electronic shifting.

Dolby for noise reduction

Glass making process, right? The molten glass gets laid out on to a liquid, or something like that?

Yes, they figured out how to make flat glass by floating it onto mercury.

Re Hoover - they didn't invent the vacuum cleaner.

I agree with razorrazoo - IBM is a fascinating company - when you think about it, 100-odd years for a modern IT company is incredible.

hoover didn't invent the vacuum cleaner, that was a chap named hubert booth!

Hoover is owned by Candy in Europe at least.

One for the Bake Off fans

Kenwood Chef mixer

Mavic - electronic shifting.

I did not know about that one!! 🙂

Am I right in thinking that Campagnolo invented both the quick release skewer and the sprung parallelogram derailleur?