That's the title of a book. See http://www.55fun.com/

Oddly, if you don't fancy paying out for the book the author has made it available as a PDF file for free download from his site! I've downloaded it and will take a look later.

Thanks Arnie . I love Google, so I'll definitely check it out.

Not all folks think Google benign: for example.

I can't imagine why you would sell a book and then post a free pdf of it.

Great site, zmj!

I can't imagine why you would sell a book and then post a free pdf of it.

Many people don't like reading books online or electronically. Many wish to read old-fashioned books: the ones you hold in your hands and fall asleep with. You could print out the PDF, but for some this is too time-consuming and/or costly. There are other reasons, too. There's a great series of books on learning the programming languages, Java and C++, called Thinking in Java and Thinking in C++ and written by Bruce Eckel. It's basically a loss leader for his consuliting firm. (Interestingly enough, Mr T A Edison is credited with pioneering this technique, but I am sure that a Briton invented both the term and the technique. Java, on the other hand, was invented by an American and C++ by a Dane living in the USA.) The Thinking in Java has an Amazon sales rank of 5,734 in books, which is rather respectable.

I see that the bit about the invention of the loss leader isn't the only thing that Wikpedia managed to get wrong.

They say, "...This business model was pioneered by Thomas Edison in the early 1880s shortly after he patented the first production incandescent lamp in 1879..."

As even Edison finally admitted afer being sued by Joseph Swan, his was not the first production incandescent lamp. Swan's lamp, patented in 1878, was already being sold commercially in 1979, before Edison had a working prototype. Cragside, in Northumberland, was fully lit by Swan's incandescent lamps in 1880.

Interestingly Wikpedia seems to get it right in its entry on Swan.

quote:

Originally posted by zmjezhd:
Not all folks think Google benign:

Many thanks for that!!! I used it and found many more hits on my subject. It's not nearly as US-centric. For a while I liked Teoma, but then it merged with Ask.com. Oh, welllll...

quote:

I can't imagine why you would sell a book and then post a free pdf of it

Obviously you don't understand Open Source, Kalleh. There is a whole industry of people who write software which they give away, including a number of profitable companies.

Sean, I do understand Open Source. As an academic who creates intellectual property, I must. There are nuances to consider (at least as an academic), that's for sure. That is, one can give away something that everyone wants, thus becoming well-known. Then of course more business will come your way. On the other hand, it is disconcerting to work for years on some research, only to find your PowerPoints being downloaded by all sorts of people from the Web because someone posted them somewhere. At least I received attribution. However, the universities that used the results might have contacted me and paid me to present. Many faculty members (and I am sure others) have experienced similar things.

quote:

Many people don't like reading books online or electronically. Many wish to read old-fashioned books: the ones you hold in your hands and fall asleep with. You could print out the PDF, but for some this is too time-consuming and/or costly.

Yes, after I posted that I realized I was wrong. I would much rather have a book than a bunch of printed pages. And I hate reading long pieces of work electronically. You're correct, Zmj.
As posted by Richard:

quote:

I see that the bit about the invention of the loss leader isn't the only thing that Wikpedia managed to get wrong.

And then:

quote:

As even Edison finally admitted afer being sued by Joseph Swan, his was not the first production incandescent lamp. Swan's lamp, patented in 1878, was already being sold commercially in 1979,

Hmmm...it seems as though Wikipedia isn't the only one to "manage to" get something wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard English:
I see that the bit about the invention of the loss leader isn't the only thing that Wikpedia managed to get wrong.

They say, "...This business model was pioneered by Thomas Edison in the early 1880s shortly after he patented the first production incandescent lamp in 1879..."

As even Edison finally admitted afer being sued by Joseph Swan, his was not the first production incandescent lamp. Swan's lamp, patented in 1878, was already being sold commercially in 1979, before Edison had a working prototype. Cragside, in Northumberland, was fully lit by Swan's incandescent lamps in 1880.

The wonderful thing about Wikipedia is that anyone can edit any article whatsoever. I've done this myself on several occasions (mostly for typographical, spelling or grammatical errors). Go back to the article and change it !

quote:

Hmmm...it seems as though Wikipedia isn't the only one to "manage to" get something wrong. Wink Razz Cool

Whoops!

Mind you, were I writing for a published reference source I'd have used a proof reader.

Of course, Richard. I was only teasing you.

<Sigh> For the record, we have mentioned Thomas Edison on this site 76 times, though some of them are a bit bogus (in 6-letters, for example). Still.

Edison was one of the greatest inventors ever - as well as being probably the more commercially successful. Unlike many inventors for whom creation was an end in itself, Edison ran his "inventory" as a business and made sure he invented things he could sell.

The list of Edison's successful inventions is a long one, including both sound-recording machines and moving picture machines.

But he didn't invent the incandescent lightbulb.

moving picture machines

Actually, it was William Dickson, a Scotsman, who did the inventing and patenting in the case of Kinetoscope in 1894. He also set the standard of double-sprocket 35mm wide film used to this day. He did work for Edison at the time, so credit goes to T A Edison. Dickson left and started his own company in 1895. There is a controversy in regards to actual invention which projected moving pictures. Louis Le Prince invented the first film camera/projector in Leeds in 1888. Edison's Kinetoscope was a penny arcade peep show device. Le Prince was French but lived in the UK and the USA. He died young, disappearing under mysterious circumstances, and Edison got the credit because there was nobody to tkae up the matter in the courts.

I agree that Edison was not the sole inventor or the moving picture machine - which is why I wrote "...including both sound-recording machines and moving picture machines...", rather than "the moving picture machine".

Le Prince was probably the first to produce a workable cine camera and the film he took of traffic on Leeds Bridge, at the bottom of Water Street, still exists - as does the building from which he took the shot. As I understand it, Le Prince never solved the the projection problem which had to wait until the invention of nitro-cellulose film.

Le Prince never solved the the projection problem which had to wait until the invention of nitro-cellulose film

The other big problem, besides film stock material, was keeping the film still while a single frame was projected on the screen. This was accomplished by the invention of the Maltese cross (part of the Geneva drive) by Oskar Messter in 1896. Le Prince's film, Roundhay Garden Scene, only exists in a paper print that is incomplete. Folks have rephotographed those bits for about two seconds of film at 12 FPS.

Two books about the invention of moving pictures which I found a good read:

1. Gordon Hendricks. 1961. The Edison Motion Picture Myth.

2. Christopher Rawlence. 1990. The Missing Reel.

I have seen the Roundhay garden scene but didn't realise that it preceded the Leeds Bridge scene. If Wikpedia is correct the Leeds scene is the second film ever made, although the Louis Le Prince centre in Leeds simply says that it was shot at "about the same time".

I have seen that one as well and have also seen the building on river where Le Prince shot the film from. It was, when I saw it, owned by British Waterways and I believe it still stands.