The Man Who Invented Scotch Tape

http://priceonomics.com/the-man-who-invented-scotch-tape/

107 27 12 years ago

kamaal• 12 years ago

>so he bought the machine in parts in a series ... then constructed it himself. When Drew’s boss later found out what Drew he’d been up to, he rewarded him

This is more or less impossible in any organization I know of today. There might be a few exceptions, but by and large 'Im going to prove them wrong' strategy will only attract enemies from the political cartels in middle management these days. You will be marked as some who frequently indulges in insubordination, kind of guy who generally unionizes and can become immediate threat to their own job.

Most managers these days will likely let the company go in loss than have some one below them look smarter to people above. I even seriously doubt if the 20% innovation initiatives in Internet companies work anymore.

>“He didn’t even know exactly what was needed, but he had the optimism of youth.”

This too is impossible in most places today, even start ups. Which won't hire you until you know some 100 math theorems by heart or have a degree from Ivy leagues.

jessekiddd• 12 years ago

That's why few companies who make differences make history and most are forgotten.

CurtMonash• 12 years ago

Oddly, one place where innovation unquestionably happens is in sales, especially in the early days of a company. A young company trots out its cute new puppy, and the field people (CEO or otherwise as the case may be) and the customers collaborate in making it into a wolf or plowhorse or cheetah or something else very different from what it started out to be.

See also the much-admired concept of "pivot".

arethuza3• 12 years ago

Actually, the need for sales to be flexible and innovative is one of the reasons customizability is so important for CRM systems.

unreal372• 12 years ago

I bet things haven't changed as much as you think. It was probably pretty rare back then to find the right person working for the right boss. And it's equally rare today.

And I would disagree with the second point. I've hired a few guys right out of school with no experience, but I recognized they had the right attitude. It's about 50% effective, but when it works out, it's great.

cpwright2• 12 years ago

This kind of stuff still happens.

When I was employed by a university; capital purchases had a lower overhead rate than regular expenses. We didn't buy 5 workstations, we bought a five system "cluster".

When I was employed at IBM, we were under expense controls, so anything over $250 needed to be approved by the Research division comptroller. Instead of purchasing a PC, PC parts were purchased and assembled.

arethuza3• 12 years ago

As a Scot I was interested as to why it was called Scotch tape:

The use of the term Scotch in the name was a pejorative meaning "stingy" in the 1920s and 1930s.

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

[NB In the UK the equivalent product is sellotape].

timthorn• 12 years ago

In the UK the equivalent product is sellotape

It's true that Sellotape has become the generic name for adhesive tape, but Scotch tape is a well established product in it's own right in the UK market.

arethuza3• 12 years ago

That's true - my favourite kind of sellotape is Scotch Tape! :-)

italophil• 12 years ago

Interesting. I always believed the name came from the 3M CEO at that time, William McKnight, who was of Scottish origin. There were other Scottish inspired product names as well. Today the 3M country club is still called Tartan Park.

clarkm• 12 years ago

Well, you're both right! From Wikipedia:

The bodyshop painter became frustrated with the sample masking tape and exclaimed, "Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!" The name was soon applied to the entire line of 3M tapes.

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

TillE• 12 years ago

I was just discussing this odd stereotype with a friend after discovering a German price comparison website called schottenland.de ("Scots land"). It's definitely not one that exists in modern American consciousness.

Someone• 12 years ago

No? Scrooge McDuck isn't Scottish for nothing.

xasos• 12 years ago

Sellotape in Australia also :)

legulere• 12 years ago

Competing company DuPont had just invented cellophane

This is not true. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellophane#History

johngd• 12 years ago

The author may have, mistakenly, attributed a quote as fact from one of the interviewees.

Interestingly enough, from the same link, Dupont appears to have invented/optimized a moisture-proof cellulose, which may have been what the author was referring to?

unreal372• 12 years ago

It's probably fair to say Dupont introduced it into widespread use in the United States given that they were the first to manufacture it there.

barking• 12 years ago

Sellotape isn't perfected yet

1: the new start point after every dispensing should be easier to get hold of

2: when the tape starts to tear at an angle it can be really difficult to get back to a full width strip

I wish the skunkworks would focus on these scourges :-)

r00fus• 12 years ago

Easily done:

Perforate on an a regular interval/length - e.g., like paper towel rolls. The perforation would help resolve both issues.

I assume we haven't seen exactly this because of the edge cases that it brings up.

lttlrck• 12 years ago

Perforation would most likely increase the chance of tearing very significantly.

The Man Who Invented Scotch Tape

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