There is no place like ether

Credit: Image Courtesy of the Herkimer County Historical Society

Christopher Latham Sholes was not thinking of women when he created his first typewriter, but late in life he was pleased that his invention had turned out to be “a blessing to mankind, and especially to womankind.” Perhaps more than any other invention, the typewriter allowed women entry into the office, a previously all-male, inner sanctum of business. In this book illustration from the early 1920s, the artist idealized the impact of Sholes invention on the lives of women.

via ExplorePAHistory.com – Image.

You gotta love portability. This might be why we call it “mobility” now.

IBM-5100.jpg (500×310).

All early writing machines printed slowly, and none was produced in large numbers or had an impact on the way work was done in offices. Nonetheless, the Writing Ball introduced in 1869 or 1870 by the Rev. Malling Hansen of Denmark was a commercial success on the European continent, where it won several awards during the 1870s.  The Writing Ball to the left may date from 1869 (MBHT).  The Writing Ball pictured to the right was sold by Auction Team Köln. For marvelous photographs of a second Writing Ball, click here.

A larger model of the Writing Ball powered by electricity was described in the January 15, 1876, issue of Harper’s Weekly. (See image lower left)  In 1909, Mares reported that Writing  Balls were still found in many offices on the European continent. (G. C. Mares, The History of the Typewriter, London, 1909, p. 230.) A number of original Writing Balls survive, although it appears that they have been reproduced as well.

via Typewriters.

http://www.paleofuture.com/

Motorola’s first commercial cell phone cost $3,995

What’s so interesting is that nobody — including Motorola — thought the cell phone would be of much use to anyone. Because it was so big. Motorola’s real motivation in prototyping the cell phone, it turns out, was to get the FCC to allot more spectrum for car phones, which they saw as a lucrative market for their equipment-making business. But this is a fascinating R&D story — nobody thought they could pull it off. Well worth a read. And the photos are funny, too.

via Cell Phones of the Future Past – The Boston Globe.