Erika's Innovation Blog

Polaroid is a company that made its impact with portable cameras that anyone could use.   They became ubiquitous and with that their legacy was born (Gaudet, 2020) .     They had done research on digital photography in the 1960s yet felt that the public would still want a hard copy of their photos.   They would want a backup of their photos over only a digital copy.   While they were making worthwhile research into the field of digital photography, they felt that their focus should be on perfecting their craft instead of innovating.   Polaroid released a home video system called Polavision.   It took decades to develop, but when it was released, there were many competitors available.   This resulted in a $15 million loss and caused Polaroid to fear releasing more innovative ideas.   They were afraid of another detrimental loss (Gaudet, 2020) . Drawing from the innovation Dr. Calongne told us regarding self-cleaning trousers, I thought that self-cleaning and maybe even disinfecting

  Provide an innovation example for discoveries that are achieved through the following: ·          Serendipity – The accidental discovery of Teflon comes to mind.   Roy J. Plunkett with DuPont was trying to find a better refrigerant and instead discovered a polymer that was chemically inert, had low surface friction and high heat resistance.   This became our favorite pan coating, Teflon (Science History Institute, 2021) . ·          Error – I think anesthesia is one of the best inventions ever.   I cannot even begin to imagine dental work or labor and delivery without it!   Some may think we are spoiled, but I see it as a way to limit our mental and physical trauma.   This discovery came from nitrous oxide.   It was discovered in 1772 and was used as a recreational drug.   People would inhale a little and it would make them laugh.   Inhaling a larger dose would knock you out.   A dentist named Horace Wells decided to use himself as a guinea pig and had another dentist give him a