In the 1960s, an ultra-strong glass was invented by Corning, but it contained no purpose. “Gorilla” glass was expected to be a huge hit unfortunately, it had no real purpose, according to the Associated Press.
We tried the automobile windshield market, but the glass was too strong for windshields,” said Kelli Hopp-Michlosky, an employee for Corning, “And we couldn’t find any other application at the time, not even the military. I think there were a lot of ideas, but nothing took hold, no market really developed for it.
Nearly a half a century later, Corning is expected to sell a multi-billion dollar product by installing the glass to the face of touch-screen tablets and plasma televisions.
The glass will be used in frameless flat-screen televisions because Gorilla glass is hard to break, dent or scratch. It is expected that Asian manufacturers will start using Gorilla glass in their televisions starting in 2011.
Photo by fonearena.com.