The History of the US Light Market Between Bulbs and Illumination
This chapter combines a historical case study with the ST-map which aims at describing the evolution of the main U.S. light systems over the last two centuries. The use of the ST-map helps to track the evolution of new technologies—and their networks of i
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The History of the US Light Market Between Bulbs and Illumination
Abstract This chapter combines a historical case study with the ST-map which aims at describing the evolution of the main U.S. light systems over the last two centuries. The use of the ST-map helps to track the evolution of new technologies— and their networks of innovators, and it helps to position such networks in respect to the relevant business models and the dominant political discourses. The analysis represents how the dominancy of specific light systems has been intertwined with the development of networks of innovators that could seize value from the value of new urban energy infrastructures first, and later from the growing importance of the energy/environmental question in the political discourse about light. The ST-map represents a simplified way to present the dynamics of dominant systems over long time, so it may be used to convey important dynamics—in a synthetic way— overcoming a limitation of typical historical descriptive case studies. This chapter also addresses the limitations encountered by the usage of ST-map in historical case studies, especially when the focus is on narrow socio-technical systems.
Keywords Lighting Socio-technical system Business model course Network of innovators Socio-technical map
Political dis-
The following case study presents the evolution of the U.S. indoor light market during the period 1880–2030. The analysis is based on a combination of existing sources (e.g., reports, papers) for the historical part and interviews with experts for the future-looking part.1 Five main periods are identified and an ST-map is presented for each period. The proposed ST-maps represent the most relevant networks of innovators and their dynamics along two dimensions: the political discourse and the business model. The case ends with some considerations about the usage of the ST-map as analytical tool.
1 For detailed references, see Franceschini and Pansera (2015) and Franceschini and Alkemade (2016).
© The Author(s) 2016 G. Marletto et al., Mapping Sustainability Transitions, SpringerBriefs in Business, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-42274-9_6
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6 The History of the US Light Market Between Bulbs and Illumination
The Pre-electrification Era (up to 1870s)
The development of the first illumination systems was deeply linked to the support of policy makers which saw light as a way to increase safety and security of urban areas. First examples of such policies date back in Europe at the laws of London (1417) and Paris (1524) where it was ordered that citizens must hang lamps with light at windows during the night so the people walking outside could see at night. In the 1870s, the first electric lamps (Edison and the arc-lamp) became available, but, up to that period, the provision of light was mainly fulfilled by the gas lamp and the oil lamp. The gas lamp was considered superior in respect to efficiency and cleanliness—essential elements for indoor application—but it was suffering for some safety issues connected
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