Here at Historic Tech I sometimes find myself pondering the most important questions in life such as: ‘Is this the oldest automatic washer-dryer in the world?!’ Let me explain…. Recently I was looking through an original catalogue from the Great Exhibition of 1851 held at Crystal Palace near London. Deemed by many to be one...Read More

  In the world of innovation, a good idea is sadly never enough to ensure success. While we are all taught the stories of the great inventors such as Tesla, Edison or Marconi, and that a single good idea can change the world, we are hardly ever taught about the millions of others who each...Read More

If there is one consistent unit of measurement that has been applied as a benchmark to nearly every technical innovation that comes along it is this- the pocket. From pocket knives to pocket watches, pocket microscopes to pocket telescopes, pocket radios to pocket telephones, pocket automatons to pocket cameras, pocket televisions to pocket cassette players,...Read More

If you were able to escape the constant deluge of soul-destroying Covid stories the other day you may have been aware of Tesla’s ‘Battery Day’. It is an annual event for this controversial technology company who use it as an opportunity to hint at some of the more interesting technology they have in the pipeworks....Read More

(written for West Country Life Magazine) The years between the 1960s to late 1970s saw a revolution in computers, not just in their size and ability to conduct ever more complicated tasks, but in our whole perception of what a computer was really for. The noted technology commentator Howard Rheingold has called machines from this...Read More

(For West Country Life Nov 2020) Some items that you come across are things you know plenty about- so you buy them, sell them and think no more of them. Other items have a way of sending you down an unsuspecting rabbit hole of enjoyable research. It is of course rarely about the financial value...Read More

(for West Country Life- August 2020) Back in the mid-19th Century the London based Society of Arts decided to hold an annual exhibition dedicated to the best new inventions. They ran the event for about twenty years and were happy to traverse a very wide range of fields provided the exhibit was an interesting new...Read More

Mention the word ‘Neon’ and apart from those gaudy 1980s fashion faux pas, most of us will instantly conjure up images of Mid-Century New York, Tokyo or Las Vegas streets crammed with a plethora of gaudy bright advertising signs all twinkling and flashing away. And whether you love them or hate them, it is hard...Read More

  One of the words that best summarises the 1960s is surely ‘style’. Style in its most basic form is the magical blend of form and function which fuses together to create a meaningful and hopefully timeless statement. As the booming English electronics industry entered that swinging 60s era, it correctly realised that in order...Read More

Perhaps more than any other medium, Television has always courted controversy and admiration at the same time. From the time we are old enough to watch the screen it is hammered into us that it is both a source of pleasure and guilt. Who amongst us does not remember our parents scaring us with phrases...Read More