I’m on a campaign to look at significant contributions to commerce by people and tools.
One tool that is historically under appreciated is the electronic answering machine.
I watched this machine in the late 70s and early 80s make many one person and small businesses possible. The answering machine allowed workers to stay in touch with their clientele at a very low cost and a high level of reliability.
At the time, it was common to use answering services which were operated by humans. The significant shortcoming of answering services in comparison to the answering machine is that people were very willing to leave details and technical messages with the machine. This was in fact necessary for small business to function.
This machine led to a flood of small businesses.
In addition, one simple wire made this machine even more effective and valuable. The wire connected the recording head and the speaker allowing the listener to screen incoming calls. As a result a message could be overheard as it was being recorded.
One tool that is historically under appreciated is the electronic answering machine.
I watched this machine in the late 70s and early 80s make many one person and small businesses possible. The answering machine allowed workers to stay in touch with their clientele at a very low cost and a high level of reliability.
At the time, it was common to use answering services which were operated by humans. The significant shortcoming of answering services in comparison to the answering machine is that people were very willing to leave details and technical messages with the machine. This was in fact necessary for small business to function.
This machine led to a flood of small businesses.
In addition, one simple wire made this machine even more effective and valuable. The wire connected the recording head and the speaker allowing the listener to screen incoming calls. As a result a message could be overheard as it was being recorded.