Windshield WiperWindshield wipers are a vital component of a car. Inclusion Criteria However, countless other components in cars are also important. Excluding the vast majority of auto components from innowiki is a purposeful decision. Undoubtedly, these components are oftentimes enormous markets. However, they do not teach us about anything especially important. They are components in a … Continue reading "Windshield Wiper"
Why not Wikipedia? Deletionists.There is a major problem with Wikipedia, deletionists. Deletionists, as the name suggests, get off on deleting things. They tear down rather than build up. Why would they want to do this? There are two primary reasons. First, it is an easy way to increase the number of Wikipedia edits which increases the visibility and … Continue reading "Why not Wikipedia? Deletionists."
TypewriterTypewriters vastly lower the cost of producing readable text. Before the typewriter people would have to either write carefully (slowly) or hire a calligrapher. Mill patented the first typewriter in 1714. Nothing more is known about him; he has disappeared into history. Christopher Sholes invented the QWERTY keyboard and typewriter ー the first commercially successful … Continue reading "Typewriter"
Binary TheoryIn 1935 theoretical mathematician Alan Turing proposed a machine that would use a series of on and off switches that could represent or compute anything. Turing joined the war effort to build mechanical computers that decrypted Enigma messages. Eventually, he helped with electronic computers. His theories underpin all modern computers. Subsequently, Turing envisaged reasonably sentient … Continue reading "Binary Theory"
X-Ray ImagingIn 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen noticed that electromagnetic radiation would expose bone structure under certain conditions. He invented the medical X-Ray machine. For his invention, Röntgen received the first Nobel Prize for Physics, in 1901, and several other illustrious awards. Due to WWI, companies were forbidden from paying the German royalties and his savings were destroyed … Continue reading "X-Ray Imaging"
Interchangeable Standardized Parts: the “American Manufacturing Method”Standardized parts allow parts of a machine to be swapped out, enabling factories to manufacture parts without worrying about the larger machine. Interchangeable parts vastly lowered manufacturing costs. Check out the video we created about interchangeable standardized parts: Today, everything from cars to computers, software and even food, is interchangeable. We’re annoyed that a USB … Continue reading "Interchangeable Standardized Parts: the “American Manufacturing Method”"
Transistor RadioDeveloped in 1947 but commercialized in 1954, transistor radios are small. Battery-operated portable radios that fit in a pocket. They rely on transistors rather than vacuum tubes. There were several attempts to build radios with transistors but none were optimal until 1954. Eventually, a Texas Instruments team invented the Regency TR-1, the first radio miniaturized … Continue reading "Transistor Radio"
JukeboxThe Jukebox is an automated coin-operated music player which plays individual songs. The differentiating factor of the Jukebox from a simple coin-operated record player is the ability of an automated machine to replace live music in a restaurant or bar. Background Louis Glass and William Arnold modified Edison’s record players to operate by coins. These … Continue reading "Jukebox"
Aspirin1899 Arthur EichengrünFelix Hoffman Aspirin is often referred to as a miracle drug. The inexpensive medicine relieves pain without addiction, reduces fever, and even helps prevent heart attack. There is some evidence Aspirin even prevents cancer. Aspirin is the distilled and purified version of medicine known since ancient times. Hippocrates, he of the Hippocratic Oath, … Continue reading "Aspirin"
PagerEnhanced productivity and reduced risk for high-risk decisions (most early users were physicians and technicians). Pagers predated mobile phones, unlimited email Blackberry’s, and smartphones as an always-connected solution. Early pagers merely sent a phone number for the recipient to call. Pagers enhanced productivity and reduced risk for high-risk decisions. Most early users were physicians and … Continue reading "Pager"
BarbieIn 1945, Harold “Matt” Matson and Elliot Handler created a garage-based manufacturing business. They named it by combining their first names, Mattel. First, they manufactured picture frames. Using the leftover pieces of wood, Elliot built dollhouses that sold well. Soon, Matson dropped out of the business leaving it solely owned by Handler and his wife, … Continue reading "Barbie"
Credit UnionLet it not be forgotten that a credit union is, above all else, an association of people, not dollars. Alphonse Desjardins Banks at the turn of the 20th century were for rich people. A.P. Giannini founded his Bank of Italy, later renamed Bank of America, in 1904 as a bank for everybody else. But it … Continue reading "Credit Union"
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"
Easy CreditBackground Cyrus McCormick’s mechanical reaper revolutionalized agriculture. McCormick’s reaper enabled one man to harvest the same amount of grain in one day as he could in two weeks by hand. Since grain goes bad when not timely harvested, the reaper enabled farmers to plant far larger crops with commensurate profits. Additionally, the reaper lowered the … Continue reading "Easy Credit"
Processed Foods with Statistical Quality ControlBy design, countless food products look and taste exactly the same. Nobody opens a name-brand candy bar and wonders if it will taste different than any other bar they may have chosen. Each can of Coca Cola, Pepsi, or Guinness Beer tastes exactly the same as any other. All major food companies can thank Guinness … Continue reading "Processed Foods with Statistical Quality Control"