Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

Today in 1935: The First Parking Meter Is Installed

The next time you’re frantically rushing to plug your parking meter, you can curse Carl C. Magee. Because it was on this day in 1935 that Magee’s parking meters made their world debut, much to the chagrin of future drivers everywhere. The first three decades of the 20th century saw the rise of the automobile,…

Tech News Matt Novak

A Brief History of Speech Recognition’s Glorious Retrofuture

In the two decades following World War II, it seemed there was no limit to technological growth. Sure, a computer was still the size of an entire room, and no one had telephones in their pockets. But techno-utopian ideas like flying cars and jetpacks and meal pills were all being taken very seriously as the…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Depression-Era TV of Tomorrow Had Home Shopping–And a Like Button

TV advertisers imagine that one day soon you might see a product on screen — say Don Draper’s whiskey glass or Daenerys Targaryen’s dress—and pause the program, click on the product and then instantly purchase it. Relatively primitive versions of this technology already exist, but the idea is far from new. Long before most people…

Social Media Matt Novak

This Week in Time Capsules: Warships, Lawsuits and Century-Old Cigars

This week we have some strange and wonderful time capsule news, including a freshly welded capsule that will travel the world in the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, an 1877 stowaway that spent the last century in the smoking section, and one county in Kansas that (thanks to a time capsule!) discovered Bank of America owes…

Tech News Matt Novak

Where the Future Came From: A Trip Through the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair

What would you do if you had a time machine? Go watch the ancient Egyptian pyramids being built? Hang out with Jesus and turn some water into wine? Kill Hitler, maybe? These are all, no doubt, noble endeavors. But I’ve often said—and I stand by this—that if I had a time machine, I’d go visit…

Tech News Matt Novak

Before Online Education, These 15 TVs Were the Classroom of Tomorrow

On a muggy spring day in Manhattan during the throes of the Great Depression, about 200 New York University students shuffled into a room on the 62nd floor of the RCA Building. They were there for a lesson on the principles of photoelectricity, taught by their professor, Dr. C. C. Clark. But strangely, the professor…

Tech News Matt Novak

1959’s Electric Car of Tomorrow Looks Awfully Familiar Today

It may not be a Tesla, but this electric car was the height of cool when it graced newspaper comics pages around the world in 1959. Detroit-based commercial illustrator Arthur Radebaugh had plenty of practice dreaming up cars of the future. Many of Radebaugh’s clients were Detroit automakers who loved his futuristic flair, which was…

Tech News Matt Novak

NYC Nikola Tesla Exhibit Opens Tomorrow, In Time For His 157th Birthday

A new exhibit dedicated to the work of Nikola Tesla opens tomorrow at the New York Hall of Science in Queens. Called Tesla’s Wonderful World of Electricity, this homage to the late inventor was assembled with help from the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, Serbia. Why tomorrow? Because July 10th is Tesla’s birthday, and is…

Tech News Matt Novak

Would You Visit Atomic Bomb National Park?

Maybe you’ve seen the buffalo at Yellowstone, hiked Half Dome at Yosemite, and gotten one last look before everything melts at Glacier. So what’s next? If lawmakers have their way, it could be splitting the atom at Atomic Bomb Park. Recently the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would allocate $21 million to…

Tech News Matt Novak

“Umami” Was Coined by the Inventor of MSG to Describe Its Taste

In 1908, Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda isolated and patented monosodium glutamate, more commonly known to English-speakers of the 21st century as the often-maligned MSG. Ikeda thought that his discovery was so special that the taste deserved to be described with a brand new word, a word that a century later has become quite popular among…

Tech News Matt Novak

This Book Showed ‘80s Kids the Computerized, War Games War of Tomorrow

Here in the 21st century, soldiers can be sitting in a room in New Mexico while piloting an unmanned aerial vehicle halfway around the world in Afghanistan. Back in the early 1980s this kind of reach was still largely the stuff of science fiction. But the incredibly rapid development of computing power and satellite communications…

Tech News Matt Novak

This Week in Time Capsules: DVDs, Radar and Ruminating About Death

This week was a big one for capsule aficionados. Time capsules are as much a Fourth of July tradition as hot dogs, boating, and getting your fingers blown off with homemade fireworks. So, needless to say, a lot of time capsules were plunged into American soil yesterday. But for some people — like Oceanside, California…

Tech News Matt Novak

Virtual Reality Was In, Sony Was Out: Trends From USA Today in 1995

Remember 1995? Yeah, me neither. But to refresh our memories, we’ve got an “In and Out” list from the December 20, 1995 edition of USA Today. This strange artifact (found in the University of California-San Francisco tobacco document archives) gives a peek at how mainstream America was thinking about shifting trends in media, technology and,…

Tech News Matt Novak

Douglas Engelbart, Developer of the Early Computer Mouse, Dead at 88

Douglas Engelbart, an internet pioneer and developer of the early computer mouse, passed away early this morning at the age of 88. Engelbart was involved in the development of the ARPANET—the precursor to the modern internet—and showed off hypertext long before most people had interacted with a computer, let alone touched a networked computer. On…

Tech News Matt Novak

DIY Fireworks Instructions From the 1920s Were Ridiculously Unsafe

Americans love things that sparkle, things that glow, and especially things that blow up. So it makes sense that on America’s birthday, we take great pride in our various spectacles of light and noise. Today, there are countless YouTube videos and how-to websites showing how to create your own firecrackers and noisemakers. But back in…

Tech News Matt Novak

This Coin-Operated Radio Was Like a Vending Machine For Your Ears

Back in the 1920s, it seemed everything was becoming coin-operated. All over the U.S., you could find coin-operated weighing machines at railroad stations; coin-operated vending machines were chock full of candy, cigarettes and other tasty treats; and the automatic coin-operated shoe shine machine was even threatening to put its flesh-and-blood counterpart out of a job.…

Tech News Matt Novak

How We Imagined The Push-Button Kitchen Before Microwaves Existed

Through modern eyes, most American cuisine in the 1950s may not seem like the most appetizing stuff. There was an abundance of strange meats, way too much jello, and hot dogs in just about everything (and vice versa). Sometimes the combination of the three made for a fascinatingly grotesque display. But while some of the…

Tech News Matt Novak

UberX in LA: It’s Illegal. It’s Great. It Needs to Stop.

Despite the fact that it’s currently banned in Los Angeles, UberX is defiantly still up and running. I used it for the first time this weekend. This so-called ride-sharing service from San Francisco-based Uber Technologies is supposedly the future of cabs. Much like similar services Lyft and Sidecar, UberX seeks to “disrupt” the taxi industry…

Tech News Matt Novak

How To Send a Photo Around the World (in 1926)

Today, we take for granted the ability to send photos halfway around the world in an instant. (Which is probably why that popular smartphone photograph service is called Instant-Gram™.) But a century ago, getting a photograph across an ocean was a much more involved process than simply snapping a mirror selfie and publishing it to…

Tech News Matt Novak

This Week in Time Capsules: Blackberrys, Booze and Best of Deep Purple

This week’s round-up of time capsule news includes some freshly buried capsules stuffed with cellphones, hair products and booze; some recently unearthed capsules that are so waterlogged they probably should’ve just stayed in the ground; and the hunt for quite a few capsules that have gone missing. Disgusting, Waterlogged Time Capsule Dug Up In Ohio…

Tech News Matt Novak

Matt Novak

Today in 1935: The First Parking Meter Is Installed

A Brief History of Speech Recognition’s Glorious Retrofuture

The Depression-Era TV of Tomorrow Had Home Shopping–And a Like Button

This Week in Time Capsules: Warships, Lawsuits and Century-Old Cigars

Where the Future Came From: A Trip Through the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair

Before Online Education, These 15 TVs Were the Classroom of Tomorrow

1959’s Electric Car of Tomorrow Looks Awfully Familiar Today

NYC Nikola Tesla Exhibit Opens Tomorrow, In Time For His 157th Birthday

Would You Visit Atomic Bomb National Park?

“Umami” Was Coined by the Inventor of MSG to Describe Its Taste

This Book Showed ‘80s Kids the Computerized, War Games War of Tomorrow

This Week in Time Capsules: DVDs, Radar and Ruminating About Death

Virtual Reality Was In, Sony Was Out: Trends From USA Today in 1995

Douglas Engelbart, Developer of the Early Computer Mouse, Dead at 88

DIY Fireworks Instructions From the 1920s Were Ridiculously Unsafe

This Coin-Operated Radio Was Like a Vending Machine For Your Ears

How We Imagined The Push-Button Kitchen Before Microwaves Existed

UberX in LA: It’s Illegal. It’s Great. It Needs to Stop.

How To Send a Photo Around the World (in 1926)

This Week in Time Capsules: Blackberrys, Booze and Best of Deep Purple

School Forced to Replace Toilets After Kids Flush Vapes

‘Scream 7’ Just Won’t Stop Making Money as ‘Scream 8’ Gets Started

The Curtain Has Closed on Meta’s Movie Rating-Inspired Content Filters

Good News! You Can Finally Change That Ridiculous Gmail Address

ExpressVPN Just Launched ExpressAI: Your Prompts Are Now Invisible

VR Just Took Another Massive Body Blow

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

‘Supergirl’ Will Feature David Corenswet’s Superman in a Sort of Big Brother Role

Report: FDA Set to Unban RFK Jr.’s Favorite Peptides

Source Code for Anthropic’s Claude Code Leaks at the Exact Wrong Time

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset