This site contains HTML-versions of some original documents related to the early history of calculators.
For more information on the history of calculators, see Erez Kaplan's Calculating Machines, the pre-HP section of Dave Hicks' Museum of HP Calculators, James Redin's Vintage Calculators and Andrew Davie's Slide Rule Trading Post (and their lists of links).
If you are interested in the more recent history of computers, check out the document collections of Ed Thelen and the Computer History Museum.
Twain was also keenly aware, however, of the limitations of technology. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court shows technology improving communication, productivity, and personal hygiene. But it is unable to conquer what Twain considered the true problem: a society in which people do not think for themselves. Machines can be wonderful tools, Twain suggests, but they are only tools. The finest technology in all the realm does not excuse us from exercising our own judgment, a theme Twain would doubtless return to were he publishing today.
As we enter a new millennium, we take for granted much of what was new and marvelous to the people of Twain's era. Understanding the technological developments of Twain's lifetime (1835 - 1910) may provide greater appreciation of this novel, one of the first science fiction novels written in America.
A Little History of the World Wide Web
from 1945 to 1995
1945
Vannevar Bush writes an article in Atlantic Monthly about a photo-electrical-mechanical device called a Memex, for memory extension, which could make and follow links between documents on microfiche
1960s
Doug Engelbart prototypes an "oNLine System" (NLS) which does hypertext browsing editing, email, and so on. He invents the mouse for this purpose. See the Bootstrap Institute library.
Ted Nelson coins the word Hypertext in A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing, and the Indeterminate. 20th National Conference, New York, Association for Computing Machinery, 1965. See also: Literary Machines, a hypertext bibliography.
Andy van Dam and others build the Hypertext Editing System and FRESS in 1967.
The New England Wireless and Steam Museum is composed of five buildings as shown in the image below. The red building on the left houses the wireless collection. The next building to the right is the Massie Wireless System station, "PJ", built in 1907. It is the oldest surviving working wireless station in the world. It was moved to this site from Point Judith, RI.to avoid demolition. The building in the center houses the stationary steam engine collection. This collection includes the only surviving George H. Corliss engine running under steam today. The next building to the right is the Mayes building named in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Thorn L. Mayes, longtime supporters of the museum. The Mayes building houses the library and the collection of steam engine models. The building at the far right is a meeting house built in 1822. This building was also moved to this site to avoid demolition. The meeting house is available for meetings and weddings, etc.
The Dead Media Project consists of a database of field Notes written and researched by members of the Project's mailing list.
The Dead Media List consists of occasional email to that stout band of souls who have declared some willingness to engage in this recherche field of study.
This site has been set up as a service to all those dedicated people, who are endeavoring to ensure the history of the typewriter lives on for future generations to enjoy and learn from.
In a country like Australia so removed from the rest of the world this discussion forum hopefully will add to the store of information available.
Around the turn of the century, many machines found their way down under with the tremendous pressures of a developing vibrant economy, which rocketed Australia to a very high standard of living.
How come the writing machine with its rich fascinating history which so influenced commerce, the emancipation of women, is virtually unknown? 1000's of patents were filed during the 19th century covering 100's of the most intriguing designs and we just take the writing machine for granted! Around the turn of the century the typewriter was like the computer was ten years ago, the commercial pressures were tremendous with companies floating and going broke every day trying to gain market share and to devise the perfect writing machine. Who invented it ? Why? When? Where?
Everyone knows what an early Daimler was like but the first commercial typewriter ?
The Medieval Technology Pages are an attempt to provide accurate, referenced information on technological innovation and related subjects in western Europe during the Middle Ages. There are several ways to access this information. The most direct method is through the Subject Index which provides direct access to all the technology pages. Many of the articles are also present in a historical Timeline. And material can be found by examining the References which back-reference all articles through the sources used.
Hardy:The History of the Net
Master's Thesis
School of Communications
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI 49401
If we could look in on the future at say, the year 2000, would we see a unity, a federation, or a fragmentation? That is: would we see a single multi-purpose network encompassing all applications and serving everyone? Or a more or less coherent system of intercommunicating networks? Or an incoherent assortment of isolated noncommunicating networks... The middle alternative--the more or less coherent network of networks-- appears to have a fairly high probability and also to be desirable...
[Licklider and Vezza 1978, p. 1342]
A timeline history of the IBM Typewriter with old ads to show what the machines looked like. Click on the thumbnail to see an enlargement of that ad.
