Musings on Business

I have to tell you, the one company/entity that I am continually fascinated with, is Bell Labs. In reality, Bell Labs doesn't really exist anymore. At least not in the form that made it great. For those that do not know, back when AT&T was the only phone company in town, Bell Labs was their research subsidiary that invented so many things we now take for granted today.

Think of all of you that do blogs, sell products online, or even use a computer. All of these things can point back to Bell Labs. It is amazing how many things point back to Bell Labs. Here are a list of a few things that you would or would not think of that can point back to Bell Labs.

Operating Systems: Bell created UNIX, which is still used in many mainframes, and is the precursor to Linux, BSD, and Apples OSX.
Programming Languages: Created C, and then C++. Do you know how much is actually written in C++? Everything of importance!
LASIK Eye Surgery: LASIK? Really? Who do you think invented the laser?
Digital Camera: Guess who created the CCD, the thing that captures the electronic image? Yep, Bell Labs.
Silicon Valley: Who do you think created the first Integrated Circuit? yep! Bell Labs. In fact Fairchild Semiconductor was started by several Bell Labs engineers.

Unfortunately, witht he break up of Ma Bell, and Lucent being purchased by Alcatel of France, America's greatest research house is no longer owned by a US company. It is a shame really. If you want to read more about Bell Labs, this site has a ton of great information.

http://www.porticus.org/bell/bell.htm