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from a friend’s beard, that Edison and his muckers finally settled in 1879
on carbonised bamboo. It also benefited from a left-brain commercial
decision. Working entirely separately, Edison and his British competitor
Joseph Swan had both identified that platinum represented the best
technological solution. Overturning Swan’s assumption that the best
technical solution was also the best commercial solution, however,
Edison demonstrated his left-brain acuity by rejecting platinum because
of its cost and the risk that continuity of supply could not be guaranteed.

Crucially, Edison realised that solving the issue of the bulb filament
was only a small part of a far bigger jigsaw puzzle – the real opportunity
lay in designing and delivering the electrical infrastructure to make the
lights operate in a practical, safe and economical fashion. Edison clearly
defined the opportunity when he stated that ‘Electricity is not power –
electricity is a method of transporting power.’

Edison combined what he had learned about electricity from his
telegraphy experience with what he knew about gas lighting to create an
electrical infrastructure. To achieve this, some seven system elements
had to be developed, including improved dynamos for generating the
necessary electric current; the underground conductor network; devices
for maintaining constant voltage; safety fuses and insulating materials;
and light sockets with an on-off switch.

Edison’s marketing skills put those of Joseph Swan into the shade.
While Swan demonstrated electric lighting in just one merchant’s house,
Edison’s Pearl Street power station in New York City’s financial district
sent electricity to lights in 25 buildings in September 1882. This was a
brilliant way to attract the attention, and the funding, of the Wall Street
bankers whose support would be needed for rolling out the project. And
while Edison realised that electricity was undoubtedly what would now
be termed a disruptive technology, he positioned the product in terms
which the consumer could understand, as an improved ‘mimic’ of the
existing gas-lighting system.

Edison’s left-brain business savvy extended to attacking Swan by suing
the Swan United Electric Light Company for infringement of the Edison
patents. Swan’s backers joined Edison and a merger created the
Ediswan Company which monopolised the British market until 1893.
Edison’s various electric companies were brought together into Edison
General Electric in 1889.