Core MemoryCore memory enhanced the productivity of early computer operators. Not only does core memory store information but also does not need power to maintain memory. Wang & Woo created computer memory that would sit on tiny magnetic rings, strung together into cores. These were smaller than vacuum tubes and used less power. Furthermore, they did … Continue reading "Core Memory"
Floppy DiskFloppy disks allowed inexpensive, portable storage of digital information. Floppies were faster, more flexible, more convenient, and lower cost than tape drives. Floppy drives made computers simpler to use, more convenient and increased productivity for computer operators who did not have to load tapes. Noble invented the floppy disk as an IBM engineer. His first … Continue reading "Floppy Disk"
EmailRay Tomlinson would likely have lived in anonymity but for Shiva Ayyadurai, the man who claimed to invent email as a 14-year-old child. Ayyadurai is certainly bright, a Fulbright scholar who holds four degrees from MIT. He ran against Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the 2018 Senate race, attracting 91,710 votes. Ayyadurai’s claim as the inventor … Continue reading "Email"
Modern Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s)People have been genetically modifying plants and animals for eternity. Virtually every plant we eat is the result of genetic modification via selective breeding. Tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and countless others only exist due to genetic modifications. Furthermore, cows, pigs, chickens and arguably even all modern breeds of dogs are the result of genetic modification. … Continue reading "Modern Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s)"
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)MRI allows physicians to see and diagnose soft tissue without surgery. Background MRI is one of these cases where everybody argues somebody else invented it for patent priority. However, courts and historians find that physician Raymond Damadian was first to make an MRI that scans people (prior MRI’s would scan small pieces of organic material). … Continue reading "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)"
Console Gaming SystemsConsole game systems are specialized computers that play games. Ralph Baer came up with the idea of a video-game system that connects to televisions in 1966. Magnavox agreed to manufacture and distribute his seventh prototype, in 1971, branded the Odyssey. Magnavox sold about 350,000 units, at the then steep price of $100, before discontinuing it … Continue reading "Console Gaming Systems"
Paid Cable Television ChannelsBackground Charles Dolan was a cable TV pioneer who received a license to build a cable television system in lower Manhattan. Due to New York City restrictions, cables needed to run underground, vastly increasing the cost of the infrastructure. New Yorkers lacked enthusiasm. By 1971, Dolan only had 400 subscribers. To increase sales, Dolan eventually … Continue reading "Paid Cable Television Channels"
Float GlassBefore float glass (also called flat glass), each piece of glass was individually poured and polished. This was a time consuming and expensive process that left the contours of glass uneven. Pilkington invented a method of floating the glass in a bath or iron tin, leaving both sides of glass perfectly smooth. Float glass took … Continue reading "Float Glass"
Public-Key Cryptography (Public key encryption)Public Key Cryptography (PKC) dramatically lowers the risk of information intercept and also lowers the risk of impersonation. PKC vastly increases security. For example, Google allows people to send queries to them encrypted. But they cannot decrypt the queries sent by others with what they give you, only Google can. Besides encrypting and decrypting, public … Continue reading "Public-Key Cryptography (Public key encryption)"
Machine TranslationBackground In 1933, Soviet scientist Peter Troyanskii presented “the machine for the selection and printing of words when translating from one language to another” to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Soviet aparchnicks during the Stalin era declared the invention “useless” but allowed Troyanskii to continue his work. He died of natural causes in … Continue reading "Machine Translation"
Pneumatic Tires1845 Robert Thomson The wheel is a seminal invention, widely regarded as one of the most important in human history. However, early wooden and stone wheels were far less useful than their modern air-filled rubber counterparts, the pneumatic tire. Despite their ubiquity today, it’s amazing that the pneumatic (air-filled) tire initially went all but unnoticed. … Continue reading "Pneumatic Tires"
Matches1827 Friction matches are ordinary matches. Strike them against a flint or, for some types, any hard service and they start a fire. Friction Matches were invented by Englishman John Walker in 1827. While it seems hard to believe it took so long before the innovation of matches by Walker people would have to find … Continue reading "Matches"
Stock ExchangeLike insurance, regulated stock exchanges opened the door to high-quality stock offerings which allowed businesses to procure financing. That both lowered the cost of capital and also spread both the risk and returns of an investment to a wider group of people. The Antwerp, formed in 1531, traded what today is called of government debt … Continue reading "Stock Exchange"
Linotype MachineThe Linotype machine vastly reduced the cost and time needed to prepare printing plates, making newspapers and books faster and less expensive to print. Described as “the next Gutenberg,” Germany immigrant Ottmar Mergenthaler made typesetting vastly simpler. Whereas before his innovation typesetters would have to look for individual letters, arranging them together, his innovation did … Continue reading "Linotype Machine"
Computer GameBackground Early computers used punch cards to load programs and data into computers. The software was a stack of cards, each card one line of a program. Data input were cards on the top of the stack. Eventually, then the entire thing fed into a card reader. The reader read the stack, processed the data, … Continue reading "Computer Game"