Over at Modern Mechanix we’re currently in the middle of series of posts about technologies that were invented earlier than you might have thought. We’ve already done fax machines, answering machines and televisions and have more coming later this week. (At right is a color fax machine from 1946)
We’ve also posted articles about a man who designed magic tricks for famous magicians, designs for floating airports, extremes in sexual behavior (of the time, pretty mild by today’s standards), a truck that walks on metal feet, the $125,000,000 (1931 dollars) mini-golf industry, how to disarm a gun toting attacker, self lighting cigarettes, a photographer who poses as a cactus, Wile Coyote style, a collection of strange bridges, one man helicopters, rocket planes that’ll get your from NYC to LA in 40 minutes, leg falsies, a nicotine remover for cigarettes, 3D-movies, camouflaged military pigeons, a self dialing directory driven phone and a look at where television stands today (today being 1931).
In the computer section we also looked at Byte magazine’s review of the original Macintosh, and their much more interesting interview with the design team (hint: even in 1984 Jobs was arrogant and irritatingly right), an ad for a 1983 “64-bit” computer, and in 1968 Look magazine asked the question “The Computer Data Bank, Will it Kill Your Freedom?“
From the review of the Macintosh:
“Because the Macintosh can control more disk-related parameters than the Apple II (the variable motor speed, for example), Macintosh owners will be treated to an even greater wealth of copy-protection schemes than Apple II owners enjoy.”
Hoo boy.