Several weeks ago, I had picked up a few things at a yard sale. I had taken some quick pics of the items. These had some interest to me at the time, enough to keep them ready in draft form on the blog. The golf pencil from Wang Country Club and the integrated circuit chip from Texas Instruments were in a toolbox of workshop detritus. Someone had valued them and kept them. I didn't notice the items until I got home and went through the details of my purchase.
And I didn't delete these images like some others I had staged. But I didn't know what to express about them at the time. I pondered their meaning to me over the last few weeks. With some experiences in the Daily Walk today, and a consideration of the longer view, these objects have more direct meaning to me. And a story unfolds.
The golf pencil? Wang was founded in 1951 and originally headquartered in Cambridge, MA. At its best, it was a $3B company with 33,000 employees. But after the death of its founder in 1990, it filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992, and basically was non-existent as a brand by 2008.
In 1975, I recall my first contact with one model of the Wang calculator in high school. It had the suitcase-sized central processing unit, four individual desktop display keyboards connected by long cables, nixie-tube readouts, some programming capability, and magnetic core memory. It was in the calculator 300 series which went into production in the mid-1960's.
The golf pencil is a remnant of the high-flying days, not of the product line per se, but of the company-associated, personal lifestyle associated with the then-successful brand.
And I didn't delete these images like some others I had staged. But I didn't know what to express about them at the time. I pondered their meaning to me over the last few weeks. With some experiences in the Daily Walk today, and a consideration of the longer view, these objects have more direct meaning to me. And a story unfolds.
The golf pencil? Wang was founded in 1951 and originally headquartered in Cambridge, MA. At its best, it was a $3B company with 33,000 employees. But after the death of its founder in 1990, it filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992, and basically was non-existent as a brand by 2008.
Internet Fair Use - Wang Logo circa 1976
In 1975, I recall my first contact with one model of the Wang calculator in high school. It had the suitcase-sized central processing unit, four individual desktop display keyboards connected by long cables, nixie-tube readouts, some programming capability, and magnetic core memory. It was in the calculator 300 series which went into production in the mid-1960's.
Internet Fair Use - Wang 360 circa 1966-1976
Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Technology and Companies: This Too Shall Pass
The Texas Instruments chip is a bygone technology from another day. Interesting to look at with the numerous electrical leads and window into the chip itself. Someone held onto it. It had meaning to them and was retained in their toolbox.
The chinese checker set was an inexpensive yard sale purchase to play the game with my seven-year-old. She likes traditional checkers so we have learned the chinese checker approach. But many more players than two can race the pieces across the board with strategy and tactics for offense and defense. Just like in a matrix-oriented business organization.
Copyright James E. Martin 2014 Chinese Checkers
Technology changes. Technology companies come and they go. The daily hive of activity buzzes along in self-centered, self-confidence for the future. The games will continue. The pieces will move about the board. The rules of the game may change. Probably a certainty. On my deathbed, little of this will matter. These things too shall pass. But some things will stay the same. There is nothing new under the sun. Just thinking on the detritus of life.
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