Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

One Library for the Entire World

It’s quite easy for people to talk cynically of the various ways in which technology is supposedly undermining culture and society. (And those complaints are obviously nothing new.) In particular, people have — rightly or wrongly — been afraid of “information overload” for ages. But I’m an Internet apologist. The ability of average people to…

Tech News Matt Novak

Imagining a City of Treelike Buildings

As New York City’s buildings sprouted toward the heavens in the late 19th and early 20th century, there was a concern that people on the ground would be deprived of sunlight. The buildings were blocking out the sun for those on the ground and it looked like a problem that was only going to get…

Tech News Matt Novak

Honeymoon on the Moon

Where were newlyweds supposed to honeymoon in the future? The moon, of course. Honeymoons on the moon show up in popular culture throughout the 1950s and 60s, in everything from songs to comic strips. The June 1, 1958 edition of the Sunday comic strip “Closer Than We Think” by Arthur Radebaugh claimed that it would…

Tech News Matt Novak

Musicians Wage War Against Evil Robots

After the release of The Jazz Singer in 1927, all bets were off for live musicians who played in movie theaters. Thanks to synchronized sound, the use of live musicians was unnecessary — and perhaps a larger sin, old-fashioned. In 1930 the American Federation of Musicians formed a new organization called the Music Defense League…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Super Bowl’s Love Affair With Jetpacks

Sports writer Michael MacCambridge wrote, “The Super Bowl contains multitudes; it has always exemplified America at its best, America at its worst, and more than anything else, America at its most.” So it’s no surprise that the largest televised spectacle in the world has a history of using jetpacks. It doesn’t get much more spectacular…

Tech News Matt Novak

How Kids of the 1950s Got The Idea That They Could Hunt Dinosaurs on Venus

In 1950, the Hayden Planetarium promoted its new exhibit, “Conquest of Space,” by soliciting letters for the public to reserve a seat on the first trip into space. The letters all make for an entertaining read, but one in particular stuck out for me. A letter from a person named Arthur described how he’d like…

Tech News Matt Novak

Sunday Funnies Blast Off Into the Space Age

When Dr. Athelstan Spilhaus met President Kennedy in 1962, JFK told him, “The only science I ever learned was from your comic strip in the Boston Globe.” The comic strip that Kennedy was referring to was called “Our New Age” and ran in about 110 Sunday newspapers all around the world from 1958 until 1975.…

Tech News Matt Novak

The World’s First “Carphone”

As I noted last week, the term “wireless telephone” in the early 1920s didn’t necessarily mean a device that could both transmit and receive messages. In fact, most radio devices during this time were simply either a transmitter or a receiver. However, some inventors were having a lot of fun tinkering with what was essentially…

Tech News Matt Novak

A Mobile Phone From 1922? Not Quite

I recently came across a short, silent film from 1922 called Eve’s Wireless. Distributed by the British Pathe company, the film supposedly shows two women using a wireless phone. Apparently this video has been making the rounds for the past few years. Could it be an early demonstration of some futuristic technology? I hate to…

Tech News Matt Novak

Boostercopters

Though the first practical helicopter wouldn’t be flown until 1936, this “boostercopter” appeared in the April, 1935 issue of Everyday Science and Mechanics.

Tech News Matt Novak

Talking Watches of 1895

This story about talking watches appeared in an 1895 issue of the Dutch journal De Natuur and was found in the book Victorian Inventions. In the first reports on the phonograph invented by Edison in 1877, it was remarked that it would now be possible to produce timepieces capable of calling out the hours instead…

Tech News Matt Novak

The aliens are coming back today!

In 1975 a movie (narrated by Rod Serling) called The Outer Space Connection, based on the book, was released. The book claimed that the aliens would return to earth on December 24, 2011. Oh look, that’s today! A July 29, 1975 Redlands Daily Facts (Redlands, CA) article about the release of the movie appears below.…

Tech News Matt Novak

Santa’s Trusty Robot Reindeer

When I was a kid I would’ve given just about anything to see a hoverboard under the family Christmas tree. Back to the Future II came out in 1989 (when I was six years old) and the movie promised kids like me a world of hoverboards and ubiquitous product placement by the year 2015. I…

Tech News Matt Novak

Space Age Santa

From the December 24, 1968 Delaware County Daily Times (Chester, PA): SPACE AGE SANTA — Art students at Indian Lane Junior High School, Middletown, man a computer to help Santa Claus decide who’s been band and who’s been good. The eighth and ninth grade students and their instructor, Ronald Beasom, built the computer as part…

Tech News Matt Novak

Romney’s “Keep America American” as anti-union tradition

Mitt Romney is getting some flak for his use of the phrase, “Keep America American.” Out of curiosity, I did a little search to find the earliest use of the phrase. The excerpt below, quoting Jack Kirby Jr., is from the May 20, 1909 New York Times. Some blogs point to the fact that the…

Tech News Matt Novak

Boxing Robots of the 1930s

The Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots toy is both a vivid and lukewarm memory of my childhood. I remember playing the plastic fighting game with my friend Matt (apparently Matt was quite a popular name for boys born in the early 1980s in the suburbs of St. Paul) and being terribly underwhelmed. There’s just about…

Tech News Matt Novak

Take two beers and call me in the morning…

This Schlitz beer ad from the August 3, 1908 Galveston Daily News (Galveston, TX) shows an American doctor and a German doctor talking about the health benefits of beer. The American doctor even prescribes Schlitz beer to his patients! Doctors of Two Nations Agree as to the Benefits of Beer American Doctor: To what, Doctor,…

Tech News Matt Novak

Think Inside the Box: What Time Capsules Reveal About Right Now

On June 15, 1957, the city of Tulsa celebrated Oklahoma’s 50 years of statehood with an event called Tulsarama. The city buried a brand-new, gold-and-white Plymouth Belvedere Sport Coupe in a concrete vault under the lawn of the Tulsa County Courthouse. The car, which was to be unearthed in 2007, was filled with objects that…

Tech News Matt Novak

Women in Factories: A New Business Problem

This ad for plumbing fixtures is from the May 18, 1918 Literary Digest. With men off fighting World War I, more and more women were working in factories. This ad claims that these women needed better bathroom facilities and showed off a washroom in the Harvard & Dennison Building in Cleveland, Ohio. Women in Factories:…

Tech News Matt Novak

Weather Control as a Cold War Weapon

On November 13, 1946 pilot Curtis Talbot, working for the General Electric Research Laboratory, climbed to an altitude of 14,000 feet about 30 miles east of Schenectady, New York. Talbot, along with scientist Dr. Vincent J. Schaefer, released three pounds of dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) into the clouds. As they turned south, Dr. Schaefer…

Tech News Matt Novak

Matt Novak

One Library for the Entire World

Imagining a City of Treelike Buildings

Honeymoon on the Moon

Musicians Wage War Against Evil Robots

The Super Bowl’s Love Affair With Jetpacks

How Kids of the 1950s Got The Idea That They Could Hunt Dinosaurs on Venus

Sunday Funnies Blast Off Into the Space Age

The World’s First “Carphone”

A Mobile Phone From 1922? Not Quite

Boostercopters

Talking Watches of 1895

The aliens are coming back today!

Santa’s Trusty Robot Reindeer

Space Age Santa

Romney’s “Keep America American” as anti-union tradition

Boxing Robots of the 1930s

Take two beers and call me in the morning…

Think Inside the Box: What Time Capsules Reveal About Right Now

Women in Factories: A New Business Problem

Weather Control as a Cold War Weapon

‘Scream 4’ Is Back, and on Tape

Iran Threatens to Attack U.S. Tech Companies Starting April 1

Amazon Clears Out Netflix-Licensed Nebula Capsule 3 Mini Projector at 32% Off, Dolby Audio Home Theater for Less

Anker 160W Laptop Charger Briefly Returns to Black Friday Pricing in a Last-Minute Amazon Spring Sale Deal

The New ‘Backrooms’ Trailer Is Packed Full of Endless Dread

Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo Falls Under $25, a Budget Bundle Deal in the Final Hours of Spring Sale

Liquids Crack With an Audible Snap, Study Finds

Dyson V15 Detect Plus Cordless Vacuum Is a Late Spring Sale Deal at a Record Low on Amazon

The New ‘Supergirl’ Trailer Is Filled With Krypto, Lobo, and ’60s Soul

Vaping Comes With a Cancer Risk, Review Finds

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