“If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?”

― Will Rogers

I believe Viagra and Silly Putty are two famous examples of that.

A friend told a story about visiting another out of state friend, and noticed he was propping up his garage door for ventilation with a Mac amp chassis. My friend asked if he could go to Home Depot, pick up a concrete block to replace the the Mac amp as a door prop and take the Mac amp off his hands.. The friend agreed. It was a win/win.

Without looking up the exact quote, I'll paraphrase something else that he said.

"I didn't invent anything. I discovered a lot of things that didn't work."

That's why I only order new gear from vendors that have 30 day return policies. It only becomes useless when it can't be returned.

Or maybe that the “something “ that didn’t do what you planned may do something else that’s still useful. 

I believe Edison's point was that failure is often a valuable lesson.

It is to the user. Doorstops or boat anchors don’t count.

ozzy payee of electric bills...