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The Two Worst Inventions?
Well, who can judge, but these two were really bad for humanity
The world won’t end with a bang. Actually the world won’t end, but humanity might. If we destroy ourselves, we won’t do it suddenly — no not nuclear war. We will slouch and slide slovenly oblivious toward our dissolution.
The 1950s set in motion forces that may end up destroying the world. Two particular inventions epitomize these forces. No, not televisions, but you aren’t far off.
The Disposable Society
Seemed like a great idea at the time. Invent a better writing instrument. For centuries, writing had been a messy affair. The quill pen had been replaced by the fountain pen, but the central issue remained. It was too easy to make a mess with a fountain pen. The pens leaked, ink bottles spilled, the sharp metal nib could tear the paper if it didn’t splotch ink across your paper. Writing was a chore that required a setup — the “writing desk” — to facilitate the task.
Build a better pen and the world will beat a path to your door.
László Bíró invented the first usable ballpoint pen. In 1938, he developed a practical mechanism to store and deliver ink to the pen tip and his brother, Győrgy, developed a quick-drying ink. However, the Bíró brothers were Jewish people in Hungary, and the growing Nazi persecution of Jewish people forced the Bíró brothers to flee. They managed to get to Argentina where they set up a factory to manufacture the pen.
Their ballpoint pen had little exposure outside of Argentina, other than a contract with the British air force. However, a US businessman, Milton Reynolds, learned of the Bíró pen during a trip to Argentina, and in true American corporate style, he copied the design and sold it as his own, giving no credit or royalties to Bíró. The Reynolds ballpoint pen was introduced in the US in 1945 and was an immediate bestseller.
The problem with the Reynolds ballpoint pen was that it cost the equivalent of $190 in today’s money. It was a luxury item. All Reynolds pens, and pens made by their imitators, were metal. Some were gold-plated.
Enter industrialist, Marcel Bich. He purchased László Bíró’s patent for $2 million and gave full…
