It's a far-reaching interpretation in my opinion. The author is talking about product innovation, all the examples are on people who invented famous products.

It's a far-reaching interpretation in my opinion. The author is talking about product innovation, all the examples are on people who invented famous products. When he says : "Twenty years before Henry Ford convinced..". Well the congress's statement is from 1875, 20 years later the first cars appeared. Ford came 10 years later. The event he's referring to is clearly the car invention It's quite obvious that he's presenting Ford as the inventor of the car.