Buzz
Self-driving vehicles, selfie sticks, drones, touchscreen gadgets, e-cigarettes, jetpacks, and many other inventions appear to be quite modern. In fact, many of their so-called ‘inventors’ claim these innovations as new and even seek patents for them. But the truth is, these so-called ‘new’ inventions have been around for a long time. There were earlier versions that never went into production or had limited production for various reasons. Some even reached full production but were later recalled due to poor sales.
10 The History of Selfie Sticks
The first selfie stick was created long before the advent of the first handheld mobile phone. For example, this 1925 photo shows a couple possibly using a camera mounted on a stick. However, the modern selfie stick was actually invented in the 1980s by Hiroshi Ueda, a Japanese photographer working for Minolta. He came up with the idea after he and his wife struggled to take photos of themselves during a European trip. When he asked a young boy to snap a picture for them, the boy ran off with the camera.
Frustrated by his inability to take pictures of himself, he came up with a solution: he invented what he called the 'extender stick.' Since the iPhone hadn’t been created yet, a small camera was attached to one end of the stick, which also featured a small mirror at the front to help users frame their shot. He patented the 'extender stick' in 1983. Although mass production followed, the product failed commercially due to poor picture quality and societal views at the time—women were reportedly embarrassed by the idea of taking self-portraits. The selfie stick was later reintroduced by Wayne Fromm in 2000, three years before Hiroshi's patent expired. Fromm called his creation the 'quik pod' and considers himself the true inventor of the modern selfie stick, even taking legal action against other selfie stick manufacturers. When questioned about Hiroshi's version, Fromm dismissed it as 'prior art.'
9 Touchscreen Technology
In 2007, Apple introduced the first iPhone, a fully touchscreen device with its own virtual keypad. To many, this seemed like a groundbreaking innovation—Apple had supposedly created the very first touchscreen phone. However, this assumption was incorrect: Apple did not invent the first touchscreen phone, and the concept of touchscreen technology itself was far from new.
To begin with, LG introduced a fully touchscreen phone a year before the first iPhone hit the market. However, even that wasn’t the first touchscreen phone. The world’s first touchscreen phone was IBM’s Simon, released in 1992. In fact, touchscreen technology dates back even further. The first touchscreen device was a tablet designed by E.A. Johnson in 1965, used by air traffic controllers until 1995. In the early 1970s, Bent Stumpe and Frank Beck created the first capacitive touchscreen. Unlike Johnson’s tablet, it couldn’t be operated by fingers, requiring a stylus instead. In 1971, Samuel Hurst developed the first resistive touchscreen, called the “elograph,” which could respond to both fingers and a stylus. In 1985, HP launched the world’s first touchscreen computer, the HP-150. Apple also introduced its first touchscreen device in 1993, the Newton Personal Digital Assistant, though it failed commercially with disappointing sales.
8 Wheel Skates
Wheel skates resemble regular inline skates, but with much larger wheels—up to the size of bicycle tires. They are a blend of inline skates, skis, and bicycles. Recently, a company called Chariot Skates claimed to have developed a unique product: the Chariot wheel skates. According to the company, wheel skates are a “revolutionary new skating product.” Revolutionary? Sure, they spin. New? Definitely not. The first wheel skates were invented over 142 years ago.
The wheel skates were even featured in the March 19, 1870, issue of Scientific American magazine. Created by Thomas Luders from Olney, Illinois, these skates were called “pedespeed.” At the time, the wheels were much smaller, measuring about 36 centimeters (15 inches) in diameter. Luders claimed that anyone, regardless of their body type, could use the skates. He himself was a large, heavy man and said he could skate for two hours straight without tiring. Another version of wheel skates appeared in 1923, where the tires were placed on the inside of the foot rather than on the outside. (Apart from the wheel size, Chariot Skates’ primary improvement is the small tire added behind the larger one for added stability.)
7 Drones
The origin of the drone can be traced back to 1916, when British inventor Archibald Low (shown above) designed and flew the first unmanned radio-controlled vehicle. The drone was developed to counter German Zeppelin airships and was also used for ground attacks during World War I. Constructed from wood and tin, with wings taken from the lower wing of another biplane, the drone was ultimately unsuccessful due to the noise of its engine, which interfered with its radio. The Sopwith Aircraft Company also attempted to create a drone in 1916, positioning the radio equipment at the tail to avoid engine interference. However, their drone never flew as it was damaged in a ground accident. Low made another attempt in 1917, flying his drone in front of senior military officers. The drone was launched from a lorry and flew for a while before crashing due to engine failure, narrowly avoiding a disaster with the officers present.
6 Head-Mounted Computer Displays
In 2012, Google launched Google Glass (pictured on the right above), a wearable computer that fits on your face. With these glasses on, users can continue walking or performing daily activities while seeing overlays of their calendar, messages, and subway alerts. They can even make video calls and stream live videos to the internet while on the go, all without needing to use their hands. While Google Glass may seem innovative, new, and revolutionary, it was far from being the first wearable computer glasses.
The first pair of wearable computer glasses were created by Edward Thorp and Claude Shannon in 1961. In 1968, Ivan Sutherland developed the “Sword of Damocles,” the first head-mounted computer display, and an early variant of the wearable computer glasses we see today. In 1980, Steve Mann, now recognized as the father of wearable computing, introduced the “WearComp” (shown on the left in the photo above), a pair of glasses with wireless communication abilities to connect with other computers and share videos. Mann continued refining these glasses over the years, and by 1999, he developed a pair strikingly similar to Google Glass, or rather, the one that Google Glass was modeled after. He called them the “EyeTap.”
5 E-Cigarettes
E-cigarettes first started becoming popular in 2012. They work by heating a nicotine fluid to mimic a real cigarette. Their invention is usually credited to Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik, who reportedly created it after he dreamed that he was drowning in a cloud of vapor. His father had died of lung cancer caused by cigarettes. He himself was an unrepentant smoker who had unsuccessfully tried quitting by using a nicotine patch.
The fact is, Hon Lik is not the first person to invent the e-cigarette. Way back in 1963, Herbert Gilbert made the world’s first device that could be used to inhale tobacco-flavored air. In Gilbert’s original version, there was no form of combustion and it was free of nicotine. He later designed a prototype that used a battery to create heat. He also used different flavors of water to create steam. He presented his prototypes to different chemical, pharmaceutical, and tobacco companies, but they simply turned down his prototypes.
4. Autonomous Cars
Also known as autonomous cars, self-driving vehicles have been making headlines recently, with Google’s driverless cars leading the charge. Google’s cars have covered over 480,000 kilometers (300,000 miles) with just two accidents, both caused by human error. However, self-driving cars are far from a new concept. In fact, the idea dates back to the days of Leonardo da Vinci, who created a spring-powered cart with a programmable steering mechanism.
More recently, General Motors developed a self-driving car in 1958, which adjusted its steering based on alternating currents sent through wires embedded in the road. While it technically drove itself, it isn’t considered the first autonomous vehicle because it relied on ground-based wires. The first true autonomous vehicle was built by S. Tsugawa and his team at Japan’s Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Laboratory. Still, German engineer Ernst Dickinson is often credited as the pioneer of the self-driving car. In 1987, he developed the VaMoRs, which could reach speeds over 90 kilometers per hour (55 mph) for approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles). Seven years later, he introduced the VaMP, a car that could recognize road signs, stay in its lane, detect other vehicles, and even change lanes autonomously. A year after that, Dickinson’s team created another autonomous vehicle that traveled from Germany to Denmark, reaching a top speed of 180 kilometers per hour (111 mph) and was only manually controlled for about 5 percent of the trip.
3. Bladeless Fans
Bladeless fans, as the name suggests, are fans that don’t use traditional blades. They work by drawing in air from the base and releasing it through several holes in the ring. The invention is attributed to James Dyson, who named it the “Air Multiplier.” Similar to the flying jetpack, it was included in Time's list of notable inventions of 2009. However, Dyson’s fan wasn’t the first of its kind. A Japanese company, Tokyo Shiba Electric, patented the first bladeless fan in 1981. Although it was never produced, Dyson’s bladeless fan design was strikingly similar to Tokyo Shiba’s, prompting the patent office to initially reject Dyson’s application. Although Tokyo Shiba’s patent had expired, Dyson’s patent manager, Gill Smith, acknowledged the similarities but argued the difference lay in the technology behind the design.
2 Jetpacks
In 2010, the Martin Aircraft Company introduced a jetpack it called “the world’s first practical jetpack.” The device even earned a spot in Time‘s Top 50 Inventions of 2010. Although development had been ongoing since 1981, the first jetpack known to fly appeared in 1958. Created by Wendell Moore, a researcher at Bells Aerosystems, early prototypes of his jetpack could reach 5 meters (16 ft) in height and stay airborne for three minutes. This caught the attention of the US Army, which funded the project with $150,000. Several test flights were conducted for the Army, and even for JFK himself. However, the Army eventually halted funding for the project because the flight time and distance were not convincing enough. NASA also considered using the jetpack for the Apollo 11 mission as a backup in case the lunar module malfunctioned, but later opted for the lunar rover instead. After this setback, Bell discontinued further research on the jetpack.
1. Flying Bicycles
A few years ago, a flying bicycle called the “Paravelo” was invented, and it truly lives up to its name. This bicycle, with a large parachute attached, can actually fly. On land, it travels at about 25 kilometers per hour (15 mph), but it can reach 40 kilometers per hour (25 mph) in the air. It can also soar up to an impressive height of 1,200 meters (4,000 ft). And the best part? No pilot’s license is required. Though it’s been dubbed the world’s first flying bicycle, it’s important to note that it doesn’t actually hold that title.
The first flying bicycle in history took flight on November 9, 1961, when Derek Pigott of the University of Southampton piloted a bicycle with an airplane-like body. Known as the Southampton University Man Powered Aircraft (sumpac), Derek pedaled furiously to get the air-bike off the ground. It flew 1.8 meters (about 6 ft) above the ground, covering a distance of 64 meters (210 ft). Though the flight was brief and slow, it remains significant as the first bicycle to fly and, at the same time, the first human-powered flight.
