The International Society for the Abolition of Data-Processing Machines (or ISADAPROM) was founded by Harvey Matusow in the late 1960s. Its aim was "to conduct guerrilla warfare against the computer by such means as sending a penny too much or too little when paying a utility bill."
San Francisco Examiner - Oct 27, 1968
Matusow also authored The Beast of Business, which was supposed to serve as a manual for the guerrilla warfare against the computer. I wonder if any of the techniques he detailed would still work today?
However, Matusow is best known for giving evidence in court against individuals during the McCarthy era. Later he claimed that the FBI had paid him to give false testimony, and he detailed these allegations in his book False Witness.
Before there was Alexa or Google Voice, there was the Butler In a Box. It was invented in the early 1980s by Gus Searcy, a professional magician, with help from Franz Kavan, a computer programmer. In response to voice commands it could control connected household devices. So, it could operate the lights, turn on the heat, make a phone call, etc.
About 9000 of them were reportedly sold. But at around $1500, the gadget was too expensive. Plus, the voice recognition was somewhat buggy. By the early 1990s they were off the market, but there's still some of them for sale on eBay.
Nov 1946: In a contest of old vs. new technology, the abacus beat a calculator in a contest of speed in all categories (addition, subtraction, and division) except multiplication.
I'm assuming a modern computer should now be able to outperform an abacus, though I suppose it would depend on how quickly one can input the numbers.
A product concept from Dutch design company Nieuwe Heren. The wireless, flexible keyboard sewn into the jeans was fully functional. However, the jeans could not be machine washed.
As far as I know, these remained a concept and never made it to market. But the company said that, if they were ever to sell these jeans, they'd price them at around £250 ($325).
The ad below ran in Esquire (and many other publications) in 1969. The pitch seems reasonable enough until you consider that home computers weren't introduced until the late 1970s. So how were people going to learn programming without a computer to practice on? According to the ad copy, students were expected to "train by mail."
I wonder if anyone ever actually learned programming in this way?
Created by William Phillips in the 1940s, the Moniac was a device that used water flowing through pipes to simulate how money moves around within the economy. From the NY Times:
Water flows through a series of clear pipes, mimicking the way that money flows through the economy. It lets you see (literally) what would happen if you lower tax rates or increase the money supply or whatever; just open a valve here or pull a lever there and the machine sloshes away, showing in real time how the water levels rise and fall in various tanks representing the growth in personal savings, tax revenue, and so on. This device was state of the art in the 1950s, but it looks hilarious now, with all its plumbing and noisy pumps.
The studio processes of multitracking and overdubbing are commonplace now, a cinch with home digital tech. But in 1952, the notion that a single musician could create a recording where they played every single instrument--a la Prince--was rare and weird.
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.