The World Beyond BetterMost > Anything Goes
New inventions in our lifetime........
MaineWriter:
--- Quote from: David925 on October 21, 2006, 12:32:17 am ---Post It
Are they called Post It Notes? Post It Paper?
--- End quote ---
Post it notes were invented by accident. A scientist at 3M was trying to come up with a new type of adhesive. This particular one didn't stick...it released. At first they thought there was no good use for an adhesive that wasn't permanent. Now look at the post it products that are on the market.
Fortunately, the powers-that-be at 3M realized the potential market for Post Its. Here is one of the huge corporate goofs of all time: the first PC was invented in 1974 by research scientists at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), which was the research & design division of Xerox. The idea was brought to the board who refused to invest money in its further development, saying that the core mission of Xerox was copying, not computing. Frustrated, many of the scientists left PARC and went to work for a fledging computer company named Apple.
The rest, as they say, is history. When was the last time you bought a Xerox computer?
--- Quote ---White Out is another good invention. Now we can just paint over our mistakes and try again! :D
--- End quote ---
This was on another thread on this board. White Out (Liquid Paper) was invented by the Bette Nesmith Graham, mother of Mike Nesmith, who was one of the original Monkees.
Leslie
Shuggy:
--- Quote from: MaineWriter on October 21, 2006, 09:01:50 am ---Post it notes were invented by accident. ... White Out (Liquid Paper) was invented by the Bette Nesmith Graham, mother of Mike Nesmith, who was one of the original Monkees.
--- End quote ---
I have often envisaged the scene where someone comes off the factory floor:
"Boss, boss, there's horrible blue goo coming out the back of the flurkinfafter! It sticks to walls, it sticks to paper, it lifts the ink off newsprint. How can we get rid of it?"
Officeboy: "Call it BluTak and sell it."
Katie77:
How old is Grandpa???
>>
>> Stay with this -- the answer is at the end. It will blow you
>>away.
>>
>> One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about
>>current events.
>> The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the
>>shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.
>>
>> The Grandfather replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was
>>born before:
>>
>> ' television
>>
>> ' penicillin
>>
>> ' polio shots
>> ' frozen foods
>>
>> ' Xerox
>>
>> ' contact lenses
>>
>> ' Frisbees and
>>
>> ' the pill
>>
>> There were no:
>>
>> ' credit cards
>>
>> ' laser beams or
>>
>> ' ball-point pens
>>
>> Man had not invented:
>> ' pantyhose
>>
>> ' air conditioners
>>
>> ' dishwashers
>>
>> ' clothes dryers
>>
>> ' and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and
>>
>> ' man hadn't yet walked on the moon
>>
>>
>> Your Grandmother and I got married first, . . . and then
>>lived together
>> Every family had a father and a mother.
>>
>> Until I was 25, I called every man older than me, "Sir".
> And after I turned 25, I still called every man older than
>me, "Sir"
>> We were before gay-rights, computer- dating, dual careers,
>>daycare centers, and group therapy.
>>
>> Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good
>>judgment,
>>= and common sense.
>> We were taught to know the difference between right and
>>wrong
>>and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.
>>
>> Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country
>>was a bigger privilege.
>>
>> We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent
>> Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with
>>your cousins.
>> Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when
>>the evening breeze started
> Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the
>>evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.
>>
>> We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric
>>typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings
>> We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the
>>President's speeches on our radios
>> And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out
>>listening To Tommy Dorsey
>>
>> If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan ' on it, it was
>>junk.
>> The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school
>>exam.
>>
>>
>> Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee weren't heard of.
>>
>> 5 and 10 cents.
>>
>> Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a
>>Pepsi
>>= were all a nickel.
>>
>> And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your
>>nickel
>>on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.
>>
>> You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, . . . but who
>>could
>>afford one?
>> Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon
>>
>> In my day:
>>
>> ' "grass" was mowed,
>>
>> ' "coke" was a cold drink,
>>
>> ' "pot" was something your mother cooked in and
>>
>> ' "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby
>>
>> ' "Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office
>> ' "chip" meant a piece of wood,
>>
>> ' "hardware" was found in a hardware store and
>>
>> ' "software" wasn't even a word.
>>
>> And we were the last generation to actually believe that a
>>lady
>>= needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old
>>and
>>confused" and say there is a generation gap... and how old do you
>>think I am?
>>
>> I bet you have this old man in mind...you are in for a
>>shock!
>>
>> Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and
>>pretty
>>= sad at the same time
>>
>> This man would be only 59 years old
>>
>>
>>
>
>
David In Indy:
Wow Sue. That's amazing!
It just goes to show us how much things have changed in a relatively short amount of time.
Ellemeno:
There's a university which every year develops a list for faculty of things that happened before the incoming freshman class was born - inventions, historical events, etc. Anybody know how to find that list? It's always very interesting.
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