Unexpected Original Uses for Technology
Robert Cringely: “Radio was invented with the original idea that it would replace telephones and give us wireless communication. That implies two-way communication, yet how many of us own radio transmitters? In fact, the popularization of radio came as a broadcast medium, with powerful transmitters sending the same message—entertainment—to thousands or millions of inexpensive radio receivers. Television was the same way, envisioned at first as a two-way visual communication medium. Early phonographs could record as well as play and were supposed to make recordings that would be sent through the mail, replacing written letters. The magnetic tape cassette was invented by Philips for dictation machines, but we mainly used it to hear music before there were CDs. Telephones went the other direction, since Alexander Graham Bell first envisioned his invention being used to pipe music to remote groups. The point is that all these technologies found their greatest success being used in ways other than were originally expected.”
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