Fender? Surely Gibson?

convert – Member
Sikorsky – the Helicopter.
from wiki…
(though Sikorsky did not invent the helicopter)

Ah, a Wiki warrior.

Semantics. Sikorsky invented the conventional helicopter layout with a single tail rotor for antitorque and also developed the first commercial helicopter. Without Sikorsky, there would be no helicopters.

If you want who invented it, then technically, that might be Leonardo DaVinci. Whilst helicopters are technically derivatives of autogyros, the FW is a closer by far to an AG than the VS300.

Massey Ferguson

massey OR ferguson, maybe. since it was a merger of 1 companies.

but then so many of those companies above are all now merely a brand owned by another holding co., or had so many restructures, mergers, demergers, etc. that the name and what it was known for is now attached to a totally different part of the business (eg Motorola).

I don’t think drawing a sketch of something that wouldn’t work constitutes ‘inventing’ something.

I agree with razorrazoo – IBM is a fascinating company – when you think about it, 100-odd years for a modern IT company is incredible.

And Watson is incredible, it makes Skynet from T2 seem plausible.

Teflon

Teflon

eh? That’s a trade name of DuPont.

Bahco – invented the plumbers wrench and adjustable spanner, now a part of Snap-On Europe.

Saunders – started by the inventor of the Saunders valve, now a part of the crane group.

Facebook didn’t invent anything.
Virgin didn’t invent anything.
iPad was just a refinement.
Kalashnikov didn’t start a company. Or really invent anything.

(My old employer) Napp Pharmaceuticals who invented a slow release tablet design, using lots of layers of active ingredient then wax over and over again. They used a strong analgesic (morphine sulphate) to make MST and it is still a leading treatment for oncological pain many years outside patent.

Rachel

Mr Dewalt invented the Radial Arm Saw

Mafell invented the first portable electric woodworking tool (no namby pamby drill drivers they went dove straight in with a chain morticer)

Didn’t know that about Suntour and their BEAST.

When was the Psion Organiser introduced? I think about similar time to that Apple Newton thing…

Henry Walker, a butcher in Leicester, invented the potato crisp in the 1940’s to cope with war time rationing. His name liveth on as Walkers Crisps… but now owned by part of the pepsi cola group.

Noah Ark, inventor of mass ship-borne transport.

Did ODI create the first lock on grip?

Zildjian…. 400 years and still going strong..

MARMITE!!!!!!!!

Marmite isn’t an invention, “it is just a by product of the brewing industry, like vomit and violence”

Heinz?

Dont think they’ve been mentioned..

Sony…

Xerox are probably indirectly responsible for most of the Personal Computer stuff IMHO – There parc people came up wiv mice/gui’s laser printers ethernet.

I amazed they aren’t as big a player in it as they should be.

What made the IBM Pc sucessfull was the DOS operating system ‘bought’ by Bill.
It was reverse engineering of the BIOS which allowed other companys to produce the clones. IBM thought the money was in Hardware (oops)

The Apple II had most of the features of the IBM PC – modular bus that you could stick cards in but no one ever got sacked for buying IBM.. They legitimised the pc market for corporate type 🙂

We’re mixing our drinks here. some of these examples are not inventions, but application of existing technologies to different situations – example Rockshox. Though they’ve been very innovative, they didn’t invent anything, they just applied existing tech to a different application. I’m sure they have created Intellectual Property along the way, but IP is not necessarily an invention. Again i’d argue that things like smartphones and PC’s are not inventions as such, but application of lots of different technologies, packaged up to create a novel product – the constituent elements of a PC had already been invented, IBM just packaged it up to create a Personal Computer as a product.

Yes. People are suggesting companies who’ve innovated.. but I wanted examples more along what Cougar suggested ie companies that were either formed to market a big invention, or companies/individuals that pioneered something big. Like Mr Dunlop invented the pneumatic tyre for example.

Struggling to think of any more.

Kleenex maybe.. for the Western invention of the tissue. Likewise the guy who invented cotton wool buds formed the company that makes q-tips.

Unfortunatly Dunlop are no longer a major player as a company, and although are very expensive tyre’s they are owned and mearly rebranded goodyears nowadays.

Mathmos… Must be a contender for the rules as set out my molgrips….

Yeah, that’s a good one 🙂

I suspected this one and had to google, but Tarmac probably counted – until recently, it got broken up but the name is still around it seems.

novo nordisk – insulin from pigs?

Kodak……..the digital camera. Oops they thought it had no future and are now bust.

Hurts too much to put down my former employer’s name 🙁

GWPharma – to market cannabinoid based medication like Sativex.

Alternately, created so that other companies could hide behind that company name in case such a market became a PR disaster area. Seems like a lot of effort when you could just stick it in yer pipe and smoke it 🙂

I suspected this one and had to google, but Tarmac probably counted – until recently, it got broken up but the name is still around it seems.

Sent to landfill? 🙂

Air Products springs to mind. Set up in the 1940s so sell oxygen generators, still doing the same kind of thing only on a massive scale. big company now, employ around 20000 folk.

renthal,1st mx/trials bars to be made of aluminium started by rosenthal and renshaw.

What about Durex then ?

Wasnt there that one guy who died recently and who had made his riches basically out of inventing for want of a better word, ferrero rocher and nutella, So I’m going to say Ferrero

^ Mr. Pietro Ferrero

Air Products sell us Nitrogen. At least it may be them or a sub-contract of BOC sub-sub-contracted by Air Liquide and sub-sub-sub-contracted by Air Products or however that incestuous industry works…

ninfan – Member
“Mavic are hardly a major player in electronic shifting though are they?”
nope, but they would be a valid entry for aluminium rims.

Not really. Sunbeam were using Roman brand aluminium rims in the early 1900s, and there also were Constrictor rims later .

Sturmey-Archer for hub gears. (There is some precedence there, but like IBM did with the PC they came to be seen as the originator).

JCB?