Is there a reason we almost never hear of “great inventors” anymore, but rather the companies and the CEOs said inventions were made under?

Question

Is there a reason we almost never hear of “great inventors” anymore, but rather the companies and the CEOs said inventions were made under?

In: 5024

Answer 1

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Adler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Adler)

This man is an inventor in the way that a person can be an inventor today. Inventions are more about finding a niche, marketable product that can be made with the resources available to a individual.

Larger more impactful inventions require more resources, not available to individuals. In most cases in history, the leader of whatever group of people invented something was given credit. Edison didn’t invent half of the things he is credited to, but Edison labs did. I am willing to bet that if the great men of history model continues Steve Jobs will be credited with inventing the mp3 Player, the Smart Phone, and the computer tablet. If the great men theory is dissolved, we may stop teaching simple ideas like Edison invented the sonogram and the lightbulb.

For older inventions its hard to tell – we credit Alexander Graham Bell with inventing the telephone, despite the story being it was a race to the patent office with Elisha Gray. We say Newton invented Calculus, despite acknowledging that Leibniz also invented Calculus. There is more nuance – and typically the product that endures, rather than the first is given the “invention” credit. (though being first to market is a HUGE advantage)