Today I learned:
In 1934, Bell Labs had invented magnetic recording tape. They then shelved it. Although not at the same time, they would go on to invent - and subsequently shelve or fail to bring to market or prevent from coming to market - digital subscriber lines, fax machines, fiber optics, and mobile phones.
Magnetic tape recorders weren’t really used again until the 1950s, when they were invented by 3M.
(The first link is to an excerpt of Tim Wu’s The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires, which is insanely fascinating)
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jonprins posted this
