50 Best Business Ideas That Changed the World

333 Pages·2014·2.86 MB·English

by  Ian Wallis

5 0 B E S T

B U S I N E S S

I D E A S
THAT CHANGE D THE WORLD
E D I T E D B Y I A N WA L L I S
JAICO PUBLISHING HOUSE
Ahmedabad Bangalore Bhopal Bhubaneswar Chennai
Delhi Hyderabad Kolkata Lucknow Mumbai
Published by Jaico Publishing House
A-2 Jash Chambers, 7-A Sir Phirozshah Mehta Road
Fort, Mumbai - 400 001
[email protected]
www.jaicobooks.com
© Crimson Publishing
Original English language edition published by
Crimson Publishing
Westminster House, Kew Road
Richmond, Surrey, TW9 2ND, UK
All Rights Reserved.
To be sold only in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
50 BEST BUSINESS IDEAS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
ISBN 978-81-8495-284-1
First Jaico Impression: 2012
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1960s
1 The Pill
2 The disposable nappy
3 Contact lenses
4 Satellite television
5 Biometrics
6 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
7 The ring pull
8 Touch-tone phones
9 Equal Opportunities policy
10 Video conferencing
11 The fax machine
12 The plastic bag
13 The microwave oven
14 The smoke alarm
15 Kevlar
16 Aerosol deodorant
17 Computer-aided design (CAD)
18 The internet
1970s
19 The pocket calculator
20 Budget airlines
21 Email
22 The automated teller machine (ATM)
23 The computer game
24 Just-in-Time inventory management
25 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
26 VHS
27 The barcode
28 Electronic point-of-sale (EPOS) technology
29 The Global Positioning System (GPS)
30 Fibre optics
31 The electronic spreadsheet
32 The Walkman
1980s
33 The personal computer (PC)
34 Infrared remote controls
35 The Post-it note
36 The compact disc (CD)
37 The 20-70-10 rule
38 The digital camera
39 Remote keyless entry (RKE) systems
40 Dyson (Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaner)
41 Tablet computers
1990s
42 International overnight courier services
43 The smartphone
44 Search engines
45 Pay-per-click advertising
46 Pay-by-swipe technology
47 The hybrid car
48 The MP3 player
2000s
49 Google's 20% innovation time
50 The e-reader
Picture Credits
Acknowledgements
50 Best Business Ideas is certainly a collaborative effort. Conceived in 2010 by
David Lester, the book has only made it through to publication because of the
significant input of many people.
At the outset, David's initial brainstorm provided a skeleton list of ideas. This
was embellished by business school professors, investors and successful
entrepreneurs, as well as members of Crimson's business editorial team. I would
also like to extend particular gratitude to Kamal Ahmed, business editor at the
Sunday Telegraph for his valuable input.
Sara Rizk followed the initial brief to perfection to create a template chapter
on the modest Post-it note and, alongside me, commissioned some of the early
chapters. Others at Crimson, namely Stephanie Welstead, Gareth Platt and
Georgina-Kate Adams, worked tirelessly in the latter stages to elevate the stories
from a potted history to something of meaning and usefulness for lovers of
business and great ideas.
Many journalists contributed chapters, namely Gareth Platt (8), John
O'Hanlon (8), Ryan Platt (8), Jon Card (6), Emma Haslett (3), Georgina-Kate
Adams (2), Henrietta Walsh (2), Hannah Prevett (2), Nicole Farrell (2), Hugh
Jordan (2), Sara Rizk, Peter Crush, Carys Matthews, Trevor Clawson, Mark
Shaw and Martin James.
Picture research for 50 Best Business Ideas was co-ordinated by Beth Bishop
and Lucy Elizabeth Smith, with much of the time-consuming and determined
research carried out by Lucy, Abigail Van-West and Francesca Jaconelli.
Between them, they unearthed a treasure trove of incredible images dating back
to the very first products that made it to market, and their enthusiasm and effort
is worthy of thanks. Equally, Samantha Harper painstakingly fact-checked each
and every chapter.
I would also like to thank a number of others at Crimson who have helped to
ensure this book made it through the final stages, namely Lucy Smith, Gemma
Garner, Clare Blanchfield and especially Jonathan Young in marketing, and Jo
Jacomb and Dawn Wilkinson in production. Dawn's patience, in particular, is
worthy of extra appreciation here. Knowledgeable colleagues such as Hugh
Brune, Trudi Knight and Kevin Paul carried out some crucial sense-checking of
initial chapter drafts. And finally, I would like to thank my wife and three sons,
who were incredibly supportive throughout.