Cathode-ray Tube (CRT)Cathode ray tubes are a vacuum tube with an electron gun at the back. The gun shoots electrons through the vacuum onto a screen which creates images. Thick screens that predate flat-screen televisions and computer monitors are cathode ray technology. Background German scientists Julius Plücker and Johan Hittorf discovered cathode-ray tubes. Hittorf noticed a negative … Continue reading "Cathode-ray Tube (CRT)"
Management ConsultingIn 1886, Arthur D. Little, of MIT, founded the first management consulting company. Despite a 2002 bankruptcy, it still exists today. Little consulting tended to focus more on technology than management or strategy. Booz started his firm in 1914, focused on management. In 1933, Bower, a Harvard lawyer and MBA, went to work for McKinsey’s … Continue reading "Management Consulting"
Spinning JennySpinning Jenny’s are significantly more efficient spinning wheels, allowing wool to be produced at a much lower price. Each Jenny did the work of multiple spinners. The Jenny (slang for Engine in British English) was unwelcome in Hargreaves’ village because it caused yarn prices to decline. Chased by angry tradesmen, he fled from the spinning … Continue reading "Spinning Jenny"
Gas Extraction from Coal & Gas Powered LanternCombining gas extracted from coal into a lantern, then into lights, allowed for non-candle bright lights. This literally lit up the industrial era. Factories could function at night and people could stay awake longer. Gas lighting vastly increased productivity. In 1667, Thomas Shirley published a report describing flammable gas naturally seeping from coal. In 1684, … Continue reading "Gas Extraction from Coal & Gas Powered Lantern"
Stock Ticker / Ticker TapeBoth the ticker and ticker tape lowered the cost of transmitting stock prices by eliminating the need for a person to translate them to and from Morse Code. Subsequently, this innovation served as a bridge from specialists required to send and receive telegraph messages to plain-text transmissions. Edward Calahan saw people rushing from the floor … Continue reading "Stock Ticker / Ticker Tape"
ImmunotherapyIt’s common for meaningful inventions to take years or even decades to reach their commercial potential. At about 110 years from discovery to practical use, immunotherapy is the second longest invention we’ve found after the Suez Canal. Immunotherapy is the process of training the body’s natural immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells. The … Continue reading "Immunotherapy"
Inexpensive Postage & StampPenny postage refers to low-cost prepaid postage. Background By the early 1800s, postage was centuries old. But many postal carriers were essentially government couriers. They were extremely expensive. However, recipients could reject mail by refusing to pay. This made the entire system unpredictable and unstable. Furthermore, postal employees sometimes opened and read mail. Government censors … Continue reading "Inexpensive Postage & Stamp"
Grocery Store Chain / Mass RetailerThe Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) showed that relying on massive scale could push down prices while running a company profitably. Relying on low prices A&P expanded rapidly. Early A&P stores were full-service. Shoppers, who typically arrived on foot to the neighborhood stores, would tell grocers what they wanted, and the grocers would … Continue reading "Grocery Store Chain / Mass Retailer"
BakeliteBakelite enabled inexpensive mass production at very high tolerances where interchangeable parts matter (ex: telephones, radios, plugs, pens, wristbands, insulators, etc…). Also, it looked fun compared to organic materials in use before Bakelite. Baekeland’s Bakelite opened the “age of plastics.” It was moldable into any shape and, once molded, kept its shape. It did not … Continue reading "Bakelite"
Breach Loaded FirearmsFlintlock guns required the user to pour gunpowder into the barrel of the weapon, stamp it down, add a bullet, then carefully pick the whole thing up and fire it. By the time all that finished, soldiers could be chased down and stabbed with a knife. Breach-loading firearms opened the rifle near the back. They … Continue reading "Breach Loaded Firearms"
PhonographWe, the editors of innowiki, have reviewed thousands of inventions. We’ve read through countless idea, rejecting the vast majority not because they lacked merit but because they didn’t rock the world. Background Of the innovations we accept there are very few who have more than one invention. Granted, the raw number of innovations does not … Continue reading "Phonograph"
Steam TurbineIn much the same way that Watt’s condensing steam engine vastly increased the value of Newcomen’s engine, the steam turbine vastly improved the value of Edison’s electric factory. Steam turbines allow steam, generated by heating water, to efficiently turn generators, usually to make electricity. In addition to steam, water (ex: waterfalls) or wind (ex: windmills) … Continue reading "Steam Turbine"
Credit CardMerchants have always issued credit in one form or another directly to customers. But the idea that a bank would issue credit to purchase anything then, eventually, collect from their customer is newer. In 1946, after WWII, John C. Biggins invented the first universal credit card, called “Charg-It.” However, the card only worked at participating … Continue reading "Credit Card"
Water Frame Spinner / Modern FactoryRichard Arkwright’s Water Frame Spinner created factories that did not require highly skilled labor. Women and children, with no training, worked in factories that churned out low-cost good enough quality fabric at high volumes. This vastly lowered the cost of fabric. Arkwright was from a poor family: his father was a tailor. He improved on … Continue reading "Water Frame Spinner / Modern Factory"
Steam Engine (Newcomen)The Newcomen steam engine removed water from mines. It worked but was extremely inefficient. Steam was not recycled (re-condensed) so the Newcomen engine required an enormous amount of coal to continually boil water. When used at a coal mine, where scrap coal was essentially free, this cost less than having workers remove water by the … Continue reading "Steam Engine (Newcomen)"
