Today we’re going to learn about credit cards, computer architecture, and steel as a landmark of time.
The Daily Rabbit Hole: Automatic doors were invented in the first century AD.
“When a priest lit the fire, the air inside the brass pot would expand, forcing the water into the containers. These containers descended as they were filled, dragging down the pulley ropes and opening the doors.”
I’m now just imagining a Greek guard pretending to use the force to open doors.
If you ever want to get a taste of what it’s like to be thrust into a new era, watch this video.
The ‘Wait, What?’ Vortex: All steel produced after Oppenheimer’s trinity test has traces of radioactivity - and all steel prior doesn’t.
“It’s hard for a geiger counter to accurately measure radiation if the metal it’s made from is, itself, radioactive.”
May be more accurate to label this the “slightly concerning” vortex.
Fax Facts …
The fax machine is a symbol of a bygone era. An era where work was done on desks vs desktop machines and when folders weren’t an icon on a screen. Yet, at one point it was cutting edge technology.
Believe it or not, the fax machine was invented in 1843 by Alexander Bain, 18 years before the civil war broke out and 33 years before Alexander Graham Bell won the patent for his newfangled telephone. It wasn’t until nearly 120 years later that it became a staple of transmitting information in the 1960s. It was so ahead of its time, people needed a whole century for it to become a mainstay. 60 years later and it now represents industries that haven’t caught up with the times.
It’s hard to believe that modern technology will face a day when it is no longer relevant, but it’s happening now.
Gen-Z is already entering the workforce oblivious to how computers store information. Yes, you read that correctly. They’ve spent their whole lives on phones, tablets and chromebooks that abstract the basic architecture of a computer away from them. Those folders and subfolders you use to organize your files are slowly but surely on their way out.
That, or Millennials will find themselves in perpetual IT support. Between their parents setting up the wifi and new colleagues struggling to find a meeting invitation, they will remain a bridge between eras.
But … when has a generation not served this purpose?