As a result of my work as president and CEO of Bell & Howell in
the early 1960s, I had come to know one of America’s great innovators
of the twentieth century, Dr. Edwin Land, founder of Polaroid.
Dr. Land and I had many wonderful meetings and encounters. I freely
confessed to him that I was a “technical idiot.” But I was passionate
about innovation. He seemed to appreciate my thoughts on how consumers
interacted with products, and on marketing, and sometimes
inventing or at least defining a consumer need (but never a technical
solution). He would frequently show me a new invention. I would
look at it in awe, but then point out some problem for the average
consumer in using it. He would then go back to his workshop, stay
up all night, and proudly show me something the next day that
solved my problem.