The Power of HorsesToday’s automobile stems from a steam powered vehicle introduced by Ferdinand Verbiest who was member of a Jesuit mission in China in 1672.
There is currently a car for every eleven people on the planet, We burn 600 million gallons of fuel each year.
Print and Save
Johannes Gutenberg is credited with introducing the printing press in 1439.
Despite the rabid move to online and mobile, we have somehow quintupled our paper consumption since attempting to create a paperless society.
Play The Hits
Despite numerous disputes over many decades, Guglielmo Marconi was credited with introducing a radio telegraph system in 1896. Thomas Edison, David E. Hughes and Nikola Tesla were influential as well.
There are now more than 45,000 commercial radio stations in the world covering ever format imaginable. Satellite radio has opened the floodgates wide enough to feature such niche programming choices as uncensored comedy, extreme sports and polka.
Laptops and Memory Sticks
In 1968, Douglas Englebart hosted what was later called The Mother of All Demos as he outlined how individuals were going to be able to create and transmit content through word processing, hypertext and video conferencing technologies.
Since it was introduced last weekend, Apple sold close to a million units of their latest portable device. News stories on the iPad flooded both the blogosphere and traditional news agencies as if they had just invented the wheel.
A Series of Tubes
In 1958, the United States government developed the Advanced Research Projects Agency in response to their then Cold War adversary the Soviet Union’s space program. The ARPAnet gave the U.S. a technological edge in electronic intelligence.
Now more than 1.7 Billion people in the world have Internet access and over 76% of North Americans are online.
All That You Do
Forty years ago, a word was created to describe the creative way in which companies and individuals promote, sell and communicate their products and services while understanding the needs and desires of a target audience.
The word Marketing was an American invention and is the same translated in to any other language. Today it represents every aspect of business and culture and is no longer limited to advertising or promotion.
Did You Get My Voicemail?
Originated from the Greek term “far voice”, the telephone was another controversial invention because many had their hand in its early progress. Canadian Alexander Graham Bell, American Thomas Edison and various other inventors around world had their part in developing this historic gadget.
And just this week, more text messages were sent via cellar telephone than there are people walking the earth.
Watch Your Thumbs!
Dating back as far as 1973, messages were transmitted electronically through an intricate encoded system wired through a series of computer servers all over the United States.
And if you are running a company, email is just a part of everyday life today.
Human Networking
Thirty years ago, there was no Facebook or LinkedIn, no one was tweeting or friending and the idea that you would actually meet a complete stranger you had only previously met online was laughable.
The chance to connect with people from every possible crevice of the world who share similar ideas and work remotely on projects and build businesses through the social web was an old idea that has become a new buzz.
Acceptance and Belief
All too often our lens is pointed at the advancements in our own personal lives. Those which were invented before we were born seem to be accepted without question.
None of these and thousands of other inventions matter without two important elements – our ability to create and share.
Perhaps before discarding something new, we should give it a little time to see if it’s worth keeping?
@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.
photo credits: apple
