Whatnot Wednesday: or — An Unreasonable Facsimile Thereof

Welcome to another exciting installment of Whatnot Wednesday, or, as I like to call it, Biff’s smarmy response to taco Tuesday.

So, let’s just jump right into this thing. This post isn’t going to read itself.

It was on this day in 1959 that the first viable commercial plain-paper copier, the Xerox 914, was unveiled to the public in a demonstration on live TV at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel in New York.

Xerox 914 – Shown with optional AM/FM/LP/8-Track Console

The nation held its collective breath as the “copy” button was pushed. There was much whirring and clacking and humming, and the 914 spit out a computer punch card that read “PC Load Letter”.

Chester Carlson, the inventor primarily responsible for this modern marvel, was reported to have said, “PC Load Letter? What the <bleep> does PC Load Letter mean?”

A week later, the 914b copier was released with little to no fanfare. It was largely identical to its predecessor, the 914, but eliminated the computer punch card option.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

And you know what else they say.

Those who are ignorant of history are bound to copy it.

 

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How to Play Whatnot Wednesday

1. Write a blog post
2. Use the tag “#WhatnotWednesday” (no space) – Along with any other tags you want to use
3. Include a link to this post
4. Post your post
5. Leave a comment below with a link to your Whatnot Wednesday post
6. Have fun

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