" That this should
happen all evidence that Edison's powers rapid
exploitation new technology had diminished. was partly responsible
for the end Edison's phonograph business and the decline of
the whole industry. The decline and fall the Edison phonograph is
a testament the failure innovation West Orange. After the boom years 1920, the output
of phonographs declined. But when it
occurred more than once the post-war period there are
. The gains the 1909-1919 period (a
520% increase) were followed 45% decline from 1919-1929.XIII-12
THE CHALLENGE RADIO.
The West Orange lab had been the starting point the
radio story but "the father electronics" had not exploited
his early work the "Edison Effect.
The introduction radio produced drastic changes in
musical tastes and signalled the end the phonograph's
dominant place home entertainment." When glowing history
of Lee DeForest's work radio arrived the West Orange
laboratory, Meadowcroft told Edison that the radio was "another
22
one your stunts gotten away from you. The 1920s provided a
stiff test the innovative powers the phonograph
manufacturers.
^ The phonograph industry became highly competitive business,
fighting off the technological challenge invention as
revolutionary Edison's electric light
