The Videotelephone: From Invention to Successful Commercialization

Abstract

Technological innovation from the invention stage to the last stage of successful commercialization is not a smooth path. Some technologies become a stunning overnight success, while others take a long time or fail completely. One technology that took a long time and suffered many setbacks is the videophone and its related computer software. Even though the videophone was the most widely expected innovation during the late 1800s, right after the invention of the telephone, it did not become a regularly used technology until the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. The videophone’s long road from invention to successful commercialization is described in this research study according to five stages: invention, laboratory, demonstration, market formation, and successful commercialization. It took the videophone and video calls 142 years to become a success!