Many innovations are now available to the enterprising businessman due to the many technological advances of the past few years. Every time-consuming office process can now be made efficient with the help of time-saving devices, including everything from calculations to producing invoices. Even the mail system is going through a technological rejuvenation!
Though the telegraph may be the go-to communication system for sending data over long distances, sometimes one must transfer physical copies. The traditional mail system, with its steam powered speed and efficiency, still has several limitations. Even the locomotive, though revolutionary, is at times still too slow. However, the brilliant men at the London Stock Exchange have found a solution.
The pneumatic tube, built on the scientific foundations of pressure differentials, allows letters to travel at frightening speeds and with little human intervention. Letters or parcels are placed within a sealed tube then dropped into the system. Running underground, beneath both residential and business districts, the mail travels at a speed of 50 km/h. Depending on the system, the package can either reach its destination (perhaps a neighbouring office?) or a redistribution center. The post office may sort the parcel and put it in another tube, allowing for near-instantaneous parcel to mail-train transfer.
Of course, it’s not just any hand-written letter the tech savvy businessman can put into a pneumatic tube! A great many number of various typing machines are on the market today, each with specific, finely engineered and expertly crafted benefits.
The Hall linear typewriter, using the tried and tested linear-typing approach, is a great addition to any office. Simply by moving the slider over the desired letter of the alphabet, then depressing a key, the machine imprints a letter onto the page. It is the perfect solution for multiple copies of letters, where penmanship should be consistent.
Similar is the Victor linear typewriter, but it offers some other advantages. The letters are placed on a slider, allowing for a minimal button mechanism. The typewriter is a great addition to the office where space is a constraint.
The future will not be found in the linear typewriter, though. The “Writing Ball,” by the engineers at Malling-Hansen, takes a completely different approach to mechanical typing. The machine features a half-sphere with keys representing each alphabetical letter protruding from the top. Built with the curvature of the human hand in mind, it will allow the entrepreneur to harness the speed and efficiency of the machine in his day-to-day work.
Financial work calls for more than just letters, which is why the mechanical calculator is being adopted in offices throughout the civilized world. Though many simple addition machines exist, advances in the field of mathematics and engineering have led to the creation of powerful computation machines.
At the forefront of this revolution is the Odhner mechanical calculator. It is a pinwheel calculator featuring a 10-digit register setting, an accumulation register capable of storing 13 digits, and an 8-digit revolution register. When a number is pressed, the corresponding number of pins is raised on the pinwheel. These then act as gear teeth, turning the proper mechanisms when the handle is rotated. Addition, subtraction and multiplication all become childishly simple!
Even the quickest of calculators will offer no advantage to the business that cannot get information quickly. Access to up-to-date information is becoming ever more important in the ever accelerating world of finance. Tickers offer a solution for the businessman who has no time to sit at a telegraph and cannot afford to waste personnel with such trivial tasks. The ticker, connected to a telegraph system, will provide the entrepreneur with valuable stock information, including commodity prices and stock values. Messages can be sent on a transmission unit through a keyboard much like the one found in pianos, with the black keys representing letters and the white keys used for figures and fractions.
These, and many other innovations, will change the way we work and organize our lives. The mechanical revolutions that have changed the face of transport and manufacturing are slowly making their way into our homes and offices. In a few years, writing by hand may be a skill only few would know, and even fewer would practice. If the loss of this skill means having transatlantic communication and lighting-fast parcel delivery, I think it’s a fair trade.
