Note: If you know much about economics, this article will probably not be of much interest beyond historical curiosity. To an economic ignoramus like me, it's fascinating.The man who founded the Gillette corporation, King Camp Gillette, had some surprising philosophical ideas.
In 1894, Gillette published a book arguing that "our present system of competition" breeds "extravagance, poverty, and crime".
He advocated a new system of "equality, virtue, and happiness", in which just one corporation - the United Company - would make all of life's necessities, as cost-effectively as possible.
Gillette's book called for everyone in North America to live in a single city, called Metropolis.
He imagined "mammoth apartment houses… upon a scale of magnificence such as no civilization has ever known", connected by artificial parks with "domes of coloured glass in beautiful designs".
It would be, he said, "an endless gallery of loveliness". His idea didn't take off.
But a year later, in 1895, King Camp Gillette had another brainwave that really did change the world. He invented the disposable razor blade.
It revolutionised more than shaving. Gillette's blade led to a business model that has become ubiquitous in the modern economy. That model is called two-part pricing.
If you have ever bought replacement cartridges for an inkjet printer, you may well have been annoyed to discover they cost almost as much as you paid for the printer itself.
That seems to make no sense.
More:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39132802
