Buzz
Many innovations we label as 'modern' have actually existed for decades, centuries, or even millennia. These include technologies we often think of as groundbreaking. While their predecessors are largely forgotten, they too were regarded as revolutionary in their time.
10. Music Streaming
Today, we stream music online, but in 1906, our grandparents streamed it through the telephone. The device responsible for this was the now-extinct telharmonium (also known as the dymanophone), a colossal machine 18 meters (60 feet) long, weighing 200 tons, and occupying an entire floor. Interestingly, only two people were needed to operate it.
The telharmonium was created by Thaddeus Cahill, who completed the prototype in 1901 and began streaming music in 1906. Listeners would simply dial their telephone switchboard operator and request a connection to the telharmonium station. One of the first to enjoy it was the renowned author Mark Twain, who humorously remarked that he needed to postpone his death in order to enjoy the music from the telharmonium. He even made a trip to Manhattan to witness the marvelous device that produced such 'sweet music.'
Sadly, the telharmonium encountered several issues that led to its downfall in 1916. First, its signals were often so poor that the music was faint and distorted. Secondly, its cables were placed too close to telephone lines, causing the telharmonium’s sounds to interfere with phone calls. Lastly, investors became dissatisfied with the minimal returns from their investments in the telharmonium.
9. Robots
The world’s first robot was a wooden dove created by Archytas of Tarentum in 350 BC. This bird, sometimes hailed as the first drone, could fly for about 200 meters (650 feet). Hero of Alexandria later invented a similar bird that could sing. French inventor Jacques de Vaucanson designed a mechanical duck known as the 'clockwork canard.'
The clockwork canard (pictured above) was capable of quacking, standing, bowing, drinking, eating, and even defecating. However, it couldn't walk because it was fixed on a podium that housed the system of pulleys and cables controlling its movements.
The first humanoid robot is credited to Leonardo da Vinci, who created a 'robot knight' in 1495. The knight could stand, sit, walk, raise its arms, move its head, and open and close its mouth. Da Vinci's robot knight was so advanced that NASA is now using his designs to build a robot that may one day explore Mars and even operate on the International Space Station.
8. Smartwatches
The world's first smartwatch was the HP-01, created by Hewlett-Packard in 1977, 17 years before the first smartphone. Unlike modern smartwatches, the HP-01 couldn’t make calls, send messages, or connect to the Internet.
Instead, it featured a timer, stopwatch, calendar, reminder, alarm clock, calculator, and daily planner. It also lacked a touchscreen, and users interacted with it using 28 tiny buttons, which required a stylus to press.
The HP-01 was waterproof and ran on three batteries, six chips, and about 38,000 resistors—an impressive feat in an era when computers typically had only two kilobytes of RAM. After just two years, the HP-01 was discontinued due to low sales. Its high price—$650 for the stainless steel model and $750 for the gold-coated version—made it out of reach for many buyers.
7. Credit Cards
The modern credit cards we use today first emerged in the 1960s, roughly 100 years after the debut of the first credit cards in 1865. Those early cards, known as 'charge coins,' were made from a now-obsolete plastic called celluloid. The next iteration, called 'charge plates' (or 'Charga-Plates'), were crafted from materials like aluminum, steel, copper, and metal.
These cards came in various shapes and sizes, with many resembling dog tags. Issued by major companies such as oil companies, supermarkets, and hotels, these charge plates were primarily for use within their own businesses and, occasionally, at affiliated establishments.
The first bank-issued credit card was the Charg-It, introduced by Flatbush National Bank in 1946. This card allowed users to make purchases at participating merchants, who would then submit the sales slips to the bank for payment. However, it was restricted to local businesses, and cardholders had to maintain an account at the bank.
Charg-It was followed by the Diners Club Card, created by a man who couldn’t pay his restaurant bill because he had forgotten his wallet. With the Diners Club Card, members could dine at select restaurants without paying immediately. The Diners Club organization paid the bills upfront, and the cardholders reimbursed them later.
6. Video Games
In the 1950s, the construction of a nuclear lab on Long Island, New York, caused concern among the local residents. To address their worries, the scientists at the lab assured them it was safe and even organized a 'Visitors’ Day' to show the community around. However, the day turned out to be uneventful, with people seeing nothing but blinking lights, counters, electronic circuits, and machines—none of which made any sense to them.
To make Visitors’ Day more engaging, William Higinbotham, a nuclear scientist at the lab, created a game for the visitors to play. With assistance from Robert Dvorak, Higinbotham connected a CRT screen (an oscilloscope) to an old analog computer and added some basic controls and adjustments to create the game.
In just two weeks, he created the first-ever video game, which he named 'Tennis for Two.' Two players used controls to bounce a ball over a net. The game became an immediate hit on Visitors' Day, with hundreds of people waiting in line for hours just to play for a minute each.
Higinbotham did not pursue further development or patent the game, and after a few Visitors' Days, he dismantled it. The game was mostly forgotten until the 1970s when a video game manufacturer referenced it in a legal dispute with a competitor who claimed to have invented video games.
5. Gorilla Glass
Many modern smartphones are equipped with the highly durable Corning Gorilla Glass. Interestingly, the story of glass began long before smartphones. In 1952, Don Stokey, a chemist at Corning Glass Works, accidentally placed a glass into a malfunctioning furnace.
Instead of the damaged glass and furnace he anticipated, Stokey was left with a white glass that was unusually tough, lightweight, and strong. It also had the unique property of bouncing instead of breaking when dropped. Corning named it Pyroceram.
Pyroceram was a commercial success, and soon Corning developed an even harder glass called Chemcor. They attempted to market Chemcor for use in car windshields, but automobile manufacturers preferred laminated glass because it was more affordable and performed well. Moreover, in the event of an accident, a person’s head would likely break when hitting a Chemcor windshield, while the glass itself would remain intact.
Chemcor also found its way into safety glasses, but Corning had to recall them due to the violent way the glass could break. Eventually, Chemcor was discontinued in 1971 because of poor sales.
In 2005, Chemcor made a comeback when Corning began developing a thinner version for use in mobile phones and wristwatches. They named it Gorilla Glass.
When Steve Jobs from Apple approached Corning for a thin, durable glass for his first iPhone, Corning was unsure whether they could create glass just 1.3 millimeters (0.05 in) thick, considering Chemcor was initially 4 millimeters (0.15 in). However, Jobs encouraged them to keep working on it, and the rest, as they say, is history.
4. Beacons
Beacons are devices that transmit location data about a person or device to another person or device. Today, beacons are incredibly small, to the point where the CIA embeds them in clothing and paper, using them to direct drones to specific targets in Afghanistan.
The concept of the beacon was first introduced in 4 BC by a Greek military scientist named Aeneas Tacticus. It was essentially a clay jar filled with water. Inside the jar was a hole, sealed with a plug, and a rod marked with numbers. Prior to using the system, the two armies would agree on the meaning of each number.
To send a message, the signalman from one army would wave his torch until it was spotted by a signalman from the other army, who would wave back. Then both signalmen would remove the plugs from their jars and let the water flow out.
When the water level reached the agreed-upon number, the first signalman would raise his torch, while the second signalman would seal his jar again. This method allowed the second unit to understand the message being communicated by the first unit.
3. Digital Cameras
In 1975, Kodak engineer Steven Sasson created the first digital camera. It was large, with a resolution of just 0.01 megapixels, and used a digital cassette recorder instead of a memory card. The camera took 23 minutes to capture a single image, which could only be displayed on a television set via a special device.
Despite the promising nature of the technology, Kodak never advanced or marketed the digital camera, as it would threaten their film sales. However, they patented several innovations that continue to be a part of digital camera technology to this day.
In 2001, Kodak launched its first digital camera, and in 2005, it became the first company to offer Wi-Fi-enabled cameras. However, due to poor sales, Kodak pulled the Wi-Fi camera from the market shortly after.
At the same time, another company introduced Wi-Fi enabled SD cards for cameras. Kodak’s failure to fully embrace digital photography led to its bankruptcy filing in 2012. The company made a comeback in 2013, focusing on printing equipment and services instead.
2. Biodiesel And Biofuel
The way greenhouse activists discuss biofuels today might make us think they’re a modern innovation, but that’s not the case. The first diesel engines actually ran on biodiesel, which is derived from plant-based sources like soybean oil.
Rudolph Diesel, who invented the diesel engine in the 19th century, is the namesake of both biodiesel and petroleum diesel. His biodiesel engines were designed specifically for farmers in remote, underdeveloped areas where petroleum was not available.
Tragically, Rudolph Diesel's life was cut short when he mysteriously died in 1913. The exact cause of his death remains unknown, but many speculate that the German government was responsible, fearing that Britain might get access to the diesel engine.
Shortly after Diesel’s death, the development of fractional distillation allowed petroleum to be refined into gasoline, kerosene, diesel, and other fuels. As a result, diesel engines were adapted to run on the cheap and plentiful petroleum diesel, causing biodiesel’s popularity to decline.
1. Portable Computers
In April 1981, Adam Osborne of Osborne Computers introduced the Osborne 1, the first-ever portable computer and the precursor to modern laptops. This innovative device featured a detachable keyboard, two disk drives, and a 13-centimeter (5 in) monitor. Weighing 11 kilograms (24 lbs), it ran on 64 kilobytes of memory, lacked a built-in battery, and was priced at $1,795. Despite its limitations, it was an overwhelming success, selling over 125,000 units in under a year.
Trouble arose for Osborne Computers when they prematurely announced the Vixen, a new model. As a result, many customers canceled their orders for the Osborne 1, waiting instead for the upgraded version. However, the Vixen wouldn’t be ready for at least another year. The resulting drop in Osborne 1 sales led to serious financial difficulties, ultimately causing the company to go out of business.
The collapse of Osborne Computers led to the creation of the term ‘the Osborne effect,’ referring to the negative fallout from announcing a product too early. This phenomenon typically causes a sharp decline in sales, erosion of customer trust, delayed orders, and in extreme cases, the complete demise of the company.
Other companies, such as the renowned video game console maker Sega and North Star Computers, have also faced the consequences of the Osborne effect. In 1978, North Star nearly faced bankruptcy after prematurely unveiling a new floppy disk controller that boasted twice the storage capacity of its predecessor, yet was sold at the same price, prompting customers to hold off on buying the older version.
