Devices have changed a lot but many of the things we use today some sort of early form or similar but more basic invention can be contributed to its creation.
The power we have as human beings to create and recreate is absolutely extraordinary and it is probably one of our greatest strengths as a species.
Are you ready to take a trip down memory lane? Did you ever used to own a VCR? What about a BETAMAX? Were you ever confined to a typewriter to create documents? If you answered yes for any of those questions then this article should have something to peak your interest. It is true that most of the technologies that we have used in the past have been made obsolete by newer and more advanced technology that we use today.
Advances in their design went hand in hand with advances in technology in this digital era, with many large products being redesigned and miniaturized into amazingly smaller sizes.
While it seems incredibly funny that the technologies I intend to discuss in this article were considered extremely cutting-edge, we should not discount each of these technologies contribution towards all of the technology that wouldn’t exist today if they hadn't been invented and adopted to at least a certain extent.
So lets get started... But where to begin?
How about I discuss something really, really old. Possibly something you've never even seen before... I'm talking about the Phonograph.
But wait, whats a phonograph? Well this particular device is before my time but according to Wikipedia it has been described as :
A device for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound. In its later forms, it is also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910), or, since the 1940s, a record player. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physical deviations of a spiral groove engraved, etched, incised, or impressed into the surface of a rotating cylinder or disc, called a "record" or "vinyl".
For most that might not be enough to paint a clear picture... I don't blame you, words alone cannot describe the magnificence of the device I'm about to show you... So without further delay, I give you... The Phonograph aka the Gramophone.
It is true, if you had one of these in your house and pitched it to your friends as the ultimate musical device they'd probably laugh you out of the room. Thankfully we have better options when it comes to recording and replaying music in the modern day! But just imagine where we would be if this technology had never been invented in the first place!
Lets move on because there's just so much to talk about when it comes to the gadgets of the past. My mind brings me to the present moment...
Do you think the keyboard I'm punching out letters on right now in writing this article just came out of nowhere? No chance. In fact it has been a long time in the making, I know for a fact that the keyboard I'm using on my MacBook Pro is much different than one found on an early model typewriter but it performs the same function for the most part.
That proves my point that the typewriter was an amazing and incredible invention that still is being used today in the form of a modern computer keyboard. What an invention!
I'd believe that there is a slight possiblity a Millennial has never seen a typewriter. Why should they have? These ancient devices are collecting dust, rotting away in antique shops and generally being ignored by the futuristic kids of today.
What is a typewriter? Well most people know but if I must answer...
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for writing characters similar to those produced by printer's movable type. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and pressing one causes a different single character to be produced on the paper, by causing a ribbon with dried ink to be struck against the paper by a type element similar to the sorts used in movable type letterpress printing.
Typewriters began as purely mechanical devices built to serve a singular purpose in dropping letters on a page. Its how humanity was able to develop a wealth of classical fiction and distribute knowledge throughout the world following the precursor invention, the printing press.
What do you guys think about the typewriter? Did it serve its purpose perfectly? Do we not owe a lot to the fact that without it we may never have computer keyboards serving the same function in the modern day?
Another very mentionable and worthy device is something that you have in your pocket most likely. Of course the original models were far from being described as 'pocket ready' in fact they were big and clunky!
It is funny that for being such an epic invention, nobody knows to this day who it was that actually invented the original telephone. It seems to remain a highly debated topic to this day. One thing is not disputed and that is the fact that the first patent was awarded to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The telephone has come a long way and has evolved from rotary dial models to smart phones that we can use today to surf the internet!
In 1876, Scottish emigrant Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be granted a United States patent for a device that produced clearly intelligible replication of the human voice. This instrument was further developed by many others. The telephone was the first device in history that enabled people to talk directly with each other across large distances. Telephones rapidly became indispensable to businesses, government and households and are today some of the most widely used small appliances.
To think that something so basic has evolved into the Apple and Samsung smartphones we carry around in our pockets today! The technology has improved by leaps and bounds! We have major power in these small devices these days beyond the greatest supercomputers available in the past!
But lets be honest, a smartphone is sort of a cross between a phone, a computer and a digital communication device all wrapped into one. There's one device that many consider to be the first personal computer of sorts... It isn't as great as you'd like to think, in fact it was pretty much only good for doing one thing. And that thing that I'm talking about, its called math.
If we take a glimpse into the past we will see that Wang made the best calculators available in the seventies.
There's no doubt that Wang manufactured mini-computers that were a cut above your standard accounting computer, with exciting features like a FORTRAN IV compiler.
Wang Laboratories was a computer company founded in 1951, by An Wang and G. Y. Chu. The company was successively headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1954–1963), Tewksbury, Massachusetts (1963–1976), and finally in Lowell, Massachusetts (1976–1997). At its peak in the 1980s, Wang Laboratories had annual revenues of $3 billion and employed over 33,000 people. It was one of the leading companies during the time of the Massachusetts Miracle.
It is hard to believe that I had never even heard of a 'Wang Calculator' before attempting to take a stroll down techno memory lane...
But just look at it folks. Isn't it a thing of glory?!
Funny for such a big company to have pretty much been forgotten by the masses eh? Did you know anything about the Wang company before clicking on this article?
It could be said that without groundbreaking technologies from Wang and HP in the 60s and 70s the personal computer revolution in the 80s may never have happened!
If you need someone to thank for the technological greatness found in your smartphone. Thank Wang!
These are just a few of the many gadgets that have laid the way for the newer and more modern gadgets that we carry around and have sitting in our homes today.
Do you have any experiences using any of the devices discussed in this article? Do you find tech inventions of the past to be an interesting topic?
Thanks for reading.
In-text citations sources:
Wang Laboratories - Wikipedia
Phonograph - Wikipedia
Typewriter - Wikipedia
Image Sources:
Wikipedia
Pexels