Wired Magazine presents this article written by Chris Anderson. A fascinating read, this article is pretty provocative on the benefits and economics of giving away things to customers. Chris Anderson, editor of Wired, also wrote The Long Tail, and this article will similarly become a book in 2009.
"At the age of 40, King Gillette was a frustrated inventor, a bitter anticapitalist, and a salesman of cork-lined bottle caps. It was 1895, and despite ideas, energy, and wealthy parents, he had little to show for his work. He blamed the evils of market competition. Indeed, the previous year he had published a book, The Human Drift, which argued that all industry should be taken over by a single corporation owned by the public and that millions of Americans should live in a giant city called Metropolis powered by Niagara Falls. His boss at the bottle cap company, meanwhile, had just one piece of advice: Invent something people use and throw away."
The Bis Key Chronicles 
It’s unbelievable the lengths that some will go through trying to make a business break. I wonder what sort of world we would live in if inventors didn’t keep at it over and over and over again. I suppose we owe them all a great big thank you for not giving up. :)
Gilette, the best a man can get…
love, daphne
Just out of curiosity, how can one be a bitter anti-capitalist and a salesman at the same time? : )How are you doing?
Patrick
Who sez I’m an anti-capitalist??? Wowser, where’d that come from? I feel like the victim of a drive-by slurring. Just because I find certain aspects of an article as interesting or even, shudder, educational doesn’t mean I agree or disagree with everything in the article. And this article is a history piece. The articles on your site tend to point out the worst in politicians that you don’t agree with.
Patrick, I don’t think you’ll find me making fun of Mr. Bush even though I don’t agree with your assessment of skills. (Go ahead, use the search my blog gadget on the main page.) And I’m not bashing McCain unfairly either. Can you say the same about your blog adn the stance you continue to take against Hillary and O’bama?