History is littered with examples of products created before their time, from Ford's Edsel to the Osborne PC years ahead of Apple, and Apple's own notorious flop with the Newton (the iPhone's ancestor).

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It is also a book by Teresa Amabile, the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration and a Director of Research at Harvard Business School.

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When Edsel, Ford's reasonable and likable son, commissioned an improved four-door version of the "T, " Henry paced around the new model and then grabbed hold of a door and ripped it off.

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In the mid 1930s, Henry Ford and his son, Edsel, set up the two-class structure as part of their estate planning: the charitable Ford Foundation received most of the shares, but they kept a small block of Class B shares that had voting rights, thus assuring family control.

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More than 6, 000 names were considered for the car before it was named after Henry Ford's son, Edsel.

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"The Edsel was oversold by Ford as the revolutionary car of the future, " said Matt Anderson, a curator at the Henry Ford, a museum in Dearborn, Mich.

WSJ: Edsel's Designer Took Flop in Stride

Mercedes head Ernst Lieb, Automotive News publisher Keith Crain, racing legend Stirling Moss and Edsel and young Henry Ford all feasted on roast quail and filet mignon, as did about 200 other VIP owners, dealers and journalists who packed the dining room overlooking the beach.

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Henry Ford was the car industry, until he named the Edsel after his grandson.

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" Mr. Brown, who proudly drove an Edsel Pacer for decades, liked to call it "Ford's most successful failure.

WSJ: Edsel's Designer Took Flop in Stride