Wire RopeWire rope is far stronger than natural-fiber rope. German mining engineer Wilhelm Albert invented wire rope about 1834. Wire rope is sometimes called Albert rope after the inventor. Early on, they were used to hoist stuff to and from silver mines in the Hartz Mountain. The first rope was three wrought-iron cables twisted around one … Continue reading "Wire Rope"
RefrigerationFor centuries ice boxes and ice houses kept food cold in warm weather. Businesses cut the ice into blocks in winter and stored it in underground caverns. Afterward, in warmer months, businesses delivered ice pieces to insulated boxes in homes, “ice boxes,” the original refrigerators. Early Systems William Cullen claimed to create the first artificial … Continue reading "Refrigeration"
Modern ArtBackground Towards the late 1800s, two new technologies radically changed the world of painting. The first photography. Images were primitive, expensive, and slow at first. However, by the late 1800s photography would eventually produce entirely realistic images in less time and at less cost than any painter could. Painting as a functional exercise, to preserve … Continue reading "Modern Art"
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"
Overnight MailFedEx is the first overnight mail delivery service. At the time, the idea was widely derided. Before FedEx, the only way to reliably deliver a package quickly was via overnight courier, an extremely expensive option. In 1965, Yale undergrad student Fred Smith wrote a paper describing the idea as an undergraduate in Yale. Smith reasoned … Continue reading "Overnight Mail"
RailroadRailroads vastly lowered the cost of moving people and goods over land. Richard Trevithick invented the locomotive engine. However, he never quite created a fully functioning railroad: Trevithick’s locomotive was a literal circus act, pulling children around a track at a circus. His core innovation was the idea of a high-pressure steam engine. Prior steam … Continue reading "Railroad"
Automatic Automobile TransmissionAutomatic transmissions lower the complexity of driving, removing a barrier of entry. They also allow drivers to focus on the road rather than worries about shifting gears. Automatics vastly simplify driving though, in many countries, drivers who take their test with an automatic transmission may only drive using automatic transmission. Thomas Sturtevant’s automatic transmission system, … Continue reading "Automatic Automobile Transmission"
Videotape RecorderCharles Ginsberg invented the videotape recorder, that put images onto tape, in 1951. Ampex sold their first video recorder, the VRX-1000, in 1956 to CBS for $50,000 ($462,000 in 2018). Ampex recorders were sold exclusively to television studios. Before videotape recordings, television broadcasts either played a movie in front of a TV camera or broadcast … Continue reading "Videotape Recorder"
Global Positioning System (GPS)GPS uses satellites to compute positioning in 3D space, allowing automatic mapping and advanced navigation. The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite on October 4, 1957. Sputnik did nothing but send out radio pings audible on radio receivers on earth. Conveniently, they launched the satellite to fly over then arch-enemy the United States. As scientists … Continue reading "Global Positioning System (GPS)"
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"
- Fourdrinier Paper Making Machine
Fourdrinier machines transform wood pulp into enormous rolls of paper. They vastly reduced the manufacturing cost and, subsequently, the price of paper. Even the smallest Fourdrinier machine is massive and requires an enormous amount of water. Frenchman Louis Roberts invented the papermaking machine. His friend and confidant, Sealy Fourdrinier, patented and commercialized the technology in … Continue reading "Fourdrinier Paper Making Machine"
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"
High Fidelity Sound Recording & PlaybackBackground German engineer Eduard Schüller created and patented the Magnetophon, a high-fidelity audio recording and playback machine. Working for German company AEG, he patented the invention in December 1933. AEG was a leading electrical company that had evolved from the Deutsche Edison Gesellschaft, the German Edison Company. Schüller perfected an earlier tape-recording device invented by … Continue reading "High Fidelity Sound Recording & Playback"
Milking MachineMilking machine safely and effectively milk cows. They vastly reduce the cost of milking a cow. Background Nobody likes milking cows by hand. It’s time consuming, laborious, and they poop. Early attempts at something better involved inserting catheters that would let the milk slide out. However, if not used perfectly these hurt the animal. Catheters … Continue reading "Milking Machine"
Electronic Cipher (Enigma)Enigma is a cipher, a machine that implements an algorithm to encrypt and decrypt messages. On Feb. 23, 1918, Scherbius applied for his first patent for what would become the most well-known cipher machine in history, the Enigma. Initially marketed for commercial purposes the German army modified a version for military encryption in 1926. Nazis … Continue reading "Electronic Cipher (Enigma)"