LinuxLinux is a stable and secure operating system. The operating system is open-source and free. However, there are many companies that sell support for Linux, and maintenance is typically the source for most of the cost comes of maintaining an operating system. Background Limited to 16 concurrent users at his school’s computer, Linus wanted a … Continue reading "Linux"
Heavy-Duty DC Motor / Trolley / SubwayFaraday proved an electric motor was possible but, like his many inventions, neither scaled the idea up nor commercialized it. Voltaic piles at that time were the sole source of electricity. Because they produced little electricity high-power motors seemed pointless. Background The new field of electricity interested Sprague, a Navy officer. While serving in the … Continue reading "Heavy-Duty DC Motor / Trolley / Subway"
About MichaelInnowiki founding member Michael Olenick is currently an executive fellow at the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, on the Fontainebleau, France campus. Michael has worked closely with Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne since 2001, before the book Blue Ocean Strategy came out in 2005, when it was articles in Harvard Business Review. Michael learned about … Continue reading "About Michael"
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"
AirplaneWilbur and Orville Wright invented the airplane with their first flight in 1903. Urban myth describes an easy story where the bicycle mechanic brothers built an airplane from spare parts. In reality, the innovation was a long, slow, methodical, and extremely dangerous project. Background People had been building various forms of fixed-wing gliders for years. … Continue reading "Airplane"
SupertankersSupertanker ships transport enormous amounts of oil. They were invented by Ludvig and Robert Nobel, brothers of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite who founded and funded the Nobel Prize. “Dy-na-mite!” said Ludvig and Robert Nobel’s brother, Alfred, when they shared their invention, an enormous ship to move oil. OK, we’re 99.99% sure that didn’t … Continue reading "Supertankers"
Autonomous Vehicles (Self-Driving Cars)DARPA, the US government agency that invented the internet (among other things) created a contest to build a self-driving car. The first DARPA Grand Challenge, in 2004, was a 150 mile (240 km. route). The robot-car that drove the furthest before breaking down, built by Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU), lasted 11.78km. Undeterred, DARPA tried again. Subsequently, … Continue reading "Autonomous Vehicles (Self-Driving Cars)"
Steel ShipsWooden ships were limited in size and their hulls could be more easily penetrated than metal ships during war. Ironclad ships reduced the cost and risk of shipping by enabling larger ships that were more difficult to sink. The first known ironclad warship was The Nemesis, built for the East India Company, in 1839. Soon, … Continue reading "Steel Ships"
Fighter AircraftBackground In 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright invented the airplane. Other aircraft preceded theirs, lifted aloft by lighter-than-air elements, but the wright brothers smaller and faster airplane was a new breakthrough. People could fly like birds, except faster and higher. The Wright Brothers were furiously worried about their intellectual property being stolen. In hindsight, their … Continue reading "Fighter Aircraft"
Mass-Scale DesalinationReverse osmosis enables large-scale desalination of seawater, efficiently transforming it into drinking water. People have been trying to desalinate seawater into drinking water for millennia. Firstly, Aristotle and other ancient Greeks unsuccessfully attempted to desalinate seawater. Eventually, by the 16th century, ship-based evaporation desalination systems created potable water. In time, by 1955, the first multi-stage … Continue reading "Mass-Scale Desalination"
Ethernet NetworkingEthernet is a computer networking protocol. Before Ethernet, computers were connected using a hodgepodge of various systems, a digital Tower of Babel. Background Bob Metcalfe invented Ethernet at Xerox PARC. However, Xerox failed to commercialize the technology. Metcalfe left and worked on his own Digital (see minicomputers) and Intel to set Ethernet as a networking … Continue reading "Ethernet Networking"
Synthetic DyeAs the Industrial Revolution gained steam (OK – bad pun), England’s population became denser. Eventually, the resulting pools of water bred mosquitos that eventually became a malaria epidemic. Perkin, a 15-year-old student, ran crude experiments to create lower-cost quinine, a malaria medicine. One of his processes accidentally produced a strong purple liquid. Useless as a … Continue reading "Synthetic Dye"
CellucottonCellucotton is the raw material used to make bandages, tissues, sanitary napkins, and tampons. In 1886, Johnson & Johnson introduced predecessor product “Lister’s Towels,” the first disposable menstrual product, sold primarily in Europe. Eventually, Kimberly-Clark (“K-C”) invented “Cellucotton” ー a highly absorbent wood-pulp by-product ー as a bandage for WWI. No sooner did the WWI … Continue reading "Cellucotton"
Offshore Oil DrillOffshore Drilling Units allow drilling for oil underwater. History Early patents describe over-water drilling wells that never worked. Thomas Rowland filed an 1869 patent for a “submarine drilling apparatus.” There are limited records showing submerged oil wells in 1891, in Grand Lake in Ohio. However, it wasn’t until 1894 that offshore exploration started in earnest. … Continue reading "Offshore Oil Drill"
Health InsuranceBackground Germany has the oldest health insurance system, the Sickness Insurance Law of 1883. Employers paid one-third and employees two-thirds. The insurance covered both medical treatment and sick leave. In 1911, the UK created basic health insurance. Russia followed in 1912, nationalizing all healthcare after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Most countries rolled out some … Continue reading "Health Insurance"
