The Weekly Authority: Edition #165

This week we’re diving into tech history with a look at American inventor Thomas Edison.

On this week in 1879 — October 21, to be precise — Edison perfected the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb. Although it didn’t last quite as long as bulbs do today, racking up just 13.5 hours of light before burning out, his later attempts lasted longer, extending the bulb’s lifespan to around 40 hours.

Many people think Edison invented the light bulb, but that’s simply not true.

• The light bulb was actually invented by a British scientist called Warren de la Rue, back in 1840. Warren’s invention use a coiled filament made of platinum, but due to the cost of the materials, it never became a success commercially.
• He was far from the only one to have a go at inventing light bulbs: Back in 1800, Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist, chemist, and electricity pioneer — also credited as the inventor of the electric battery — was already carrying out his own experiments. In 1799, Volta invented the voltaic pile, an early form of electric battery, proving that electricity could be generated chemically.
• There were others creating early incandescent lamps too, but all attempts were commercially impractical, requiring the use of a high electric current and with an extremely short lifespan.

But back to Edison: He didn’t perfect the light bulb as we know it today on his first attempt. In fact, Edison began working on creating an incandescent lamp for indoor use almost 18 months before his success, using a filament made of carbonized cardboard that burnt out too fast.

• He later experimented with different filaments, using palmetto, hemp, and various grasses, finally settling on bamboo. In total, he tested more than 6,000 vegetable fibers, ran 1,200 experiments, and spent $40,000.
• After his success on October 21, Edison filed for a US patent on November 4, 1879, granted January 27, 1880.
• A few months after the patent was granted, Edison discovered carbonizing the bamboo filament gave the bulb a lifespan of over 1,200 hours.

Edison went on to form the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City, demonstrating his light bulb for the first time in public on December 31, 1879. During the demonstration, he said, “We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.”

Things you never knew about Thomas Edison

• The light bulb wasn’t Thomas Edison’s first foray into inventing. In 1869, he invented the Electrographic Vote-Recorder, to speed up the voting process. No more shouting “Yes!” or “No!” Just flip a switch, and votes would be counted electronically. Politicians weren’t fans of the invention, and as a result, it was a total flop.
• In 1877, he invented the phonograph — or record player, as we know it today — but he can also be credited with inventing the fluoroscope, the tasimeter, and the electromechanical design for the Kinetograph, a motion picture camera.
• After the phonograph’s debut, Edison began work developing creepy talking dolls with tiny phonographs that played children’s songs and “spoke” lyrics. He only sold 500 dolls, and critics said they couldn’t understand what the dolls were saying, so they never really took off.

• October 26: Sony Xperia launch @ 11PM ET
• October 26: Palm Bud Pros launch
• October 27-28: 2021 Android Dev Summit
• October 28: Redmi Note 11 launch
• November 18-19: MediaTek Executive Summit

Tech Tweet of the Week

First: Can you believe it’s now backordered until November?

And this is everything…

The angry little face as the green beans get snapped.

— Daniel Holland (@DannyDutch) October 16, 2021

Have a de-light-ful week (sorry!)

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor

The Weekly Authority: Edition #165
Source: Radio Viral News