1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,399 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hate there 2 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: and Welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: Tech are You? So? Not that long ago, I was 5 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: watching a YouTube video on Max Miller's Tasting History channel, 6 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: And if you don't know what that is. Max Miller 7 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: prepares historical meals, you know, like meals that people ate, 8 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: you know, way back in history. So he'll pick a 9 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:43,160 Speaker 1: specific time and place and talk about a typical meal 10 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,559 Speaker 1: that was prepared or a special meal that's mentioned in 11 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,840 Speaker 1: some historical document, and he will prepare it himself as 12 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: well as deliver a history lesson to go along with 13 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: the food. It's a great channel. I have no connection 14 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: to it. I have never corresponded with Max Miller. That 15 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: bit's not important. But in this episode, Max was visiting 16 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: the Mythical Test Kitchen and Josh of Mythical Kitchen. That's 17 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: another YouTube channel as a connection with Good Mythical Morning, 18 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: which has been a show that's been on forever, a 19 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: great success in the world of online entertainment, one of 20 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:25,320 Speaker 1: the few shows that has had real staying power. But anyway, 21 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: Josh of Mythical Kitchen and Max of Tasting History. We're 22 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: talking about five foods that changed fast food forever. A 23 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: lot of alliteration. I guess that does well in YouTube titles. 24 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 1: During this conversation, they talked about the fast food chain 25 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: in an out Burger, which is a chain I've never 26 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: actually eaten at, because by the time I traveled to 27 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: a place that had in an out Burgers, I was 28 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: no longer eating meat, and that pretty much cuts down 29 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: on what you can order there. I'm on the East 30 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: coast of the United States, where in and Out just 31 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: isn't a thing. You kind of had to travel further 32 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: west to start encountering them. Anyway, Josh dropped a little 33 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: bit of trivia that made me scratch my head. Namely, 34 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 1: he said that the founder of In and Out, a 35 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: guy named Harry Snyder, invented the two way intercom for 36 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:17,239 Speaker 1: drive through operations back in nineteen forty eight. Now, that 37 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: to me can seem a little misleading. First of all, 38 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: if you're talking about just inventing the intercom, that's far 39 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,239 Speaker 1: too late. However, you know, if we use the qualifier 40 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: that he specifically invented it for the sole purpose of 41 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: being able to communicate between a person in their car 42 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: and a person inside a restaurant. Then really it all 43 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: checks out. So it all just depends on how you 44 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: word it. He didn't invent the intercom, but he did 45 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: invent what would become the modern drive through. So today 46 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,079 Speaker 1: I thought I would talk about the actual history of 47 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,679 Speaker 1: the intercom, because that starts well before nineteen forty eight 48 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: and Snyder's inventiveness. In fact, we have to kind of 49 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: go back to the nineteenth century to talk about the 50 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: telephone first, even that is super tricky to do. The 51 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: simple answer as to who invented the telephone is one 52 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: that I think most people know right. If you ask 53 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: who invented the telephone, the answer invariably is Alexander Graham Bell. 54 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:17,639 Speaker 1: But that's not the complete answer. It's not even necessarily 55 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: the most correct answer, depending upon your point of view. 56 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: But we have to remember, like most inventions aren't really 57 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: a stroke of genius that one person in the world 58 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: experienced and then created something where nothing was before. Usually, 59 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: invention is something that is built upon lots of other discoveries, 60 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: and saying who is the inventor of something largely comes 61 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: down to just time, place, and who was witness. So 62 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: Bell would be the first to secure a patent for 63 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: a technology that eventually would work. When he applied for 64 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: his patent, he did not yet have a working model 65 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: of a telephone. But he does deserve quite a bit 66 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: of credit for being the first to really secure a patent. 67 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: But other folks had mused upon the possibility of a 68 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: talking telegraph and had done a lot of work toward that. 69 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 1: The first mention I find predates Alexander Graham's Bell's patent 70 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: by nearly three decades, nearly thirty years. And Tony Miucci 71 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 1: began to experiment with a way to transmit voiceover telegraph 72 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:31,239 Speaker 1: wires all the way back in eighteen forty nine, that's 73 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: before the US Civil War. He continued to experiment until 74 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: he finally was able to file a caveat in eighteen 75 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: seventy one. Now, in most contexts, we use the word 76 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: caveat to mean a warning, right, it means beware, And 77 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 1: in fact that was the only context I was familiar with. 78 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:56,039 Speaker 1: I had not heard of filing a caveat. But in 79 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,600 Speaker 1: this particular context, what it means is that you are 80 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: essentially a that you have an upcoming invention it's kind 81 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: of like a preamble toward filing a patent. You haven't 82 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: filled out the patent yet, but you file the caveat. 83 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: It's kind of a placeholder to say, I don't want 84 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: anyone swooping in here and patenting a technology that I 85 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: am already working on, so I'm filing this document that 86 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 1: says I have a patent application coming now. Unfortunately, Miucci 87 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: was not really in a secure financial place in his life, 88 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: so he wasn't able to afford the fee to renew 89 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: his caveat when it came up for expiration. So for 90 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: more than a century, Miucci was largely uncredited for his 91 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: contributions toward the invention of the telephone. But in fact, 92 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: if he had been able to be in a financially 93 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: stable place, it's possible that Miucci would be the name 94 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: we would be talking about when we say who invented 95 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: the telephone. But there are other people who also did 96 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: a lot of early work. There was a french Man 97 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: named Charles Borciul. I'm just gonna call him Charlie because 98 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: I already know I butchered his last name. So Charlie 99 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: worked on his own version of a telephone or a 100 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:15,920 Speaker 1: speaking telegraph. In the eighteen fifties, he was employed by 101 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: a telegraph company and he was convinced he could create 102 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,480 Speaker 1: a device that was capable of transmitting voice across those 103 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: telegraph lines. So he developed a microphone to convert sound 104 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 1: to electrical signals, but he never quite figured out how 105 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,840 Speaker 1: to make a receiver that could playback sound so that 106 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: you could, you know, understand it. So I imagine a 107 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 1: phone call with his device would sound like you were 108 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 1: talking to one of the adults in a Charlie Brown 109 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: cartoon that muted trumpet sound. Then there's the potentially shady 110 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 1: story of Elisha Gray. His lawyers applied for a caveat 111 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,679 Speaker 1: for a talking telegraph system, and did so the very 112 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: same day that Alexander Graham Bell's lawyers were applying for 113 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,799 Speaker 1: a patent for his telephone system. And if Gray's lawyer 114 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: had been able to secure that caveat early enough, then 115 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: that might have been enough for the patent office to 116 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: dismiss Bell's application. But Bell's lawyer was recorded as being 117 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: the fifth person in line that morning at the patent office, 118 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: and Gray's lawyer was listed as the thirty ninth, And 119 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: you know, first come first served. I guess now there 120 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: are people who suggest that there were some shenanigans going 121 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: on at the patent office, that perhaps Gray had a 122 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: more legitimate claim to getting his caveat filed before Bell's 123 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: patent was filed, and even some allegations that Bell perhaps 124 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: lifted some of Gray's ideas in his design when Bell 125 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: went on to actually make a working device, because like 126 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: I said earlier, when Bell filed for his patent, he 127 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: didn't yet have a working model of a telephone. And 128 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: I found most of this information at the Library of 129 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: Congress website, by the way, it's a fun little read, 130 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: and you know, some of the other info were from 131 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: other sources. But in the end, Alexander Graham Bell gets 132 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: the simplified credit because he first secured a patent for 133 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: the invention, and then later he was able to build 134 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: a working version. His telephone had two components. It had 135 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter had kind of 136 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: a cylindrical speaking phone device. You would speak into this 137 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: cylinder and the other end of the cylinder was closed 138 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: off right, the end you spoke into was open. The 139 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: other end had a membrane across it. Technically a sheet 140 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: of paper in the early days. And connected to this 141 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: sheet of paper, on the opposite side from where you 142 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: were talking in was a piece of cork that had 143 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: a needle attached to it, and the needle would make 144 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: contact with a conductive liquid like sulfuric acid and stuff 145 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: in it. This was Gray's approach, by the way that 146 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,319 Speaker 1: he had described in his caveat This is the bit 147 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: where some historians suggest that perhaps Bell was lifting from 148 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,960 Speaker 1: Gray in an effort to build a working version of 149 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: his invention, and that he was essentially stealing. Whether that's 150 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: true or not is still one of those historical mysteries. 151 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: On the other side of the container of this liquid 152 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: was a metal contact, and so the paper would vibrate 153 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: due to the sound coming in through the cylinder, so 154 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: that sound makes the paper vibrate. That ends up making 155 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 1: the needle vibrate, and the vibrations mean the needle is 156 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:42,559 Speaker 1: moving through the liquid. In this conductive fluid, the movements 157 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: of the needle would bring it closer to or further 158 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: away from the metal contact. This would actually alter the 159 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:52,199 Speaker 1: current that was flowing through that liquid and thus then 160 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: through the telegraph line. So on the other end was 161 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: the receiver which consisted of a simple electromagnetic setup. So 162 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: you had an an electromagnet that was suspended so that 163 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: it was inside the magnetic field of a permanent magnet, 164 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,320 Speaker 1: like a horseshoe magnet. So as current would flow through 165 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: the electromagnet, the electromagnet would generate its own magnetic field, 166 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: and this would interact with the permanent magnets magnetic field. 167 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:19,320 Speaker 1: So if they were opposite charges like north and south, 168 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: they would attract. If they were similar like north north 169 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,199 Speaker 1: or south south, they would repel. And so this changing 170 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:29,559 Speaker 1: fluctuation in the magnetic field of the electromagnet would make 171 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: the electromagnet move closer to or further from the permanent magnet. 172 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:39,200 Speaker 1: Remember it suspended, it's not permanently fixed. And attached to 173 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 1: this electromagnet was a taut membrane and a kind of 174 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:49,320 Speaker 1: a sounding horn. So the electromagnet would move due to 175 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: these fluctuations of the magnetic field, and that in turn 176 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: would cause the membrane to vibrate. These vibrations coincided with 177 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:01,120 Speaker 1: those fluctuations, and the flexing membrane would create changes in 178 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 1: air pressure vibrations. In other words, and we perceived that 179 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: as sound, so the sounds that created the vibrations on 180 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 1: the transmitter aka the microphone side of the system would 181 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:16,440 Speaker 1: then be replicated by the vibrations on the receiver or 182 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 1: loudspeaker side. It was a brilliant setup. We'll talk about 183 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,960 Speaker 1: how this led to the invention of the intercom, but 184 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: first let's take a quick break to thank our sponsors. 185 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:41,199 Speaker 1: All right, So the invention of the telephone would really 186 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: revolutionize the world, but it didn't happen overnight. It actually 187 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 1: was a very slow process. For one thing, in the 188 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: early days, not that many people had houses that were 189 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: wired for electricity, let alone a telegraph line. So the 190 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,440 Speaker 1: earliest telephone systems were limited. They only went to a 191 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:03,200 Speaker 1: few locations, and they were all open party lines essentially, 192 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: which means there was no way for two people to 193 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: have a private conversation on the telephone. Anyone who was 194 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,559 Speaker 1: connected to that particular network or system could just pick 195 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: up a receiver and listen into whatever was going on 196 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: at that moment. And it also meant that if more 197 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:20,600 Speaker 1: than two people wanted to chat on the phone at 198 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: the same time on the same network, there would be 199 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: an issue. You would either have to have one party 200 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 1: just sit out and wait or deal with a whole 201 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:32,000 Speaker 1: lot of crosstalk. But for our purposes, the important part 202 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: is the telephone would be the starting point for a 203 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: related communication system, the intercommunication device or intercom. So an 204 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: intercom is typically a separate, standalone communications system for a 205 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 1: building or other structure. So rather than being connected to 206 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: a larger network that includes lots of buildings like homes 207 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: and businesses and such, and intercom is something you would 208 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:04,199 Speaker 1: find inside a single location like you know, an apartment building, 209 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,480 Speaker 1: or even in a vehicle or in the case of 210 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 1: a drive through the outside and the inside of a restaurant. 211 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,440 Speaker 1: It is independent of the larger telephone network, so you 212 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: can't make calls to or from the intercom to the 213 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:22,359 Speaker 1: network at large, but it is built on similar technologies 214 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,960 Speaker 1: to the phone network. Now, before the electronic intercom, some 215 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: buildings actually use speaking tubes. Typically these were made out 216 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 1: of a material like brass, and they worked by channeling 217 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: sound from one point to another. But you know, there 218 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: was no conversion of sound into electricity or anything like that. 219 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:43,320 Speaker 1: This was just the transmission of actual vibrations. This had 220 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: limitations because those vibrations lose power over distance. Right, they 221 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:52,959 Speaker 1: get weaker as they travel, so at a certain point 222 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: the tube would be so long that the vibrations coming 223 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 1: out the other side would be too weak for the 224 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: typical person to hear, so you'd have people like outing 225 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: their heads off at either end of the tube and 226 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,199 Speaker 1: only barely being heard by the other person. Also, outfitting 227 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: a building with a whole bunch of brass tubes wasn't 228 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 1: always practical. Like, maybe if you were building it with 229 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: the tubes in mind from the beginning, you could do it, 230 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:19,440 Speaker 1: But if you were trying to retrofit a building with this, 231 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 1: it wasn't always easy to do. On a similar note, 232 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 1: like it wasn't just apartment buildings that were running into 233 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:29,560 Speaker 1: these kinds of challenges. During the First World War, the 234 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: British realized they needed to create a way for piloting 235 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 1: instructors to speak with pilots in training during training sessions. 236 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: So the aircraft at this time had open cockpits. You know, 237 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:45,360 Speaker 1: there's no like glass separating you from the outside world. 238 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 1: You're flying in an open cockpit. As you can imagine, 239 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: that made it very noisy to sit in either the 240 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: pilot's seat or the instructor seat, which sat in tandem 241 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: behind the pilot. What's more, the British were seeing a 242 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: large number of accidents that were caused by pilot error, so, 243 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: equate to the website air Andspaceforces dot Com, sixty percent 244 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:11,240 Speaker 1: of the Brits combat losses were actually from pilot error. 245 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: Only two percent of their losses came from enemy action 246 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: like having an airplane shot down by the enemy or 247 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 1: otherwise disabled or destroyed by the enemy. So clearly there 248 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: needed to be a better way for instructors to talk 249 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 1: with pilots in the training phases because pilots weren't learning 250 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: the appropriate operation of their vehicles. So the way they 251 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,040 Speaker 1: solved this was kind of similar to those brass tubes 252 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: I talked about in apartment buildings, except instead of brass tubes, 253 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: there was a rubber hose. So on one end of 254 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 1: the hose you had a funnel that would fit over 255 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 1: the mouth of the instructor. The other end of the hose, 256 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: originally there was a similar funnel that would fit over 257 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: the student's mouth. And obviously that's not enough because right 258 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 1: you could just be shouting into someone else's mouth. Do 259 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: this must be the place by talking heads where he says, 260 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: sing into my mouth, but you wouldn't be able to 261 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: hear anything. So the hose had little branching elements at 262 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: either end that connected over the ear flaps on the 263 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: helmets that the pilot's wore. Remember these are like the 264 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:21,920 Speaker 1: days of like leather helmets. So they eventually would make 265 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 1: these metal cups that would fit over the ears, and 266 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: the tubes would fit into the metal cups so that 267 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: the sound could be heard by the person you know, 268 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 1: wearing the helmet, and that way the instructor and the 269 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 1: student could communicate with each other. The instructor could belt 270 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:44,000 Speaker 1: out directions, the student could hear and respond and ask questions, 271 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: and it really helped bring down the accident stats as 272 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: well as reduced the amount of time that was needed 273 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:53,160 Speaker 1: to train up a pilot. It sped up training considerably. Now, 274 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: later versions of this setup would just ditch the funnel 275 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: for the student, like they would not have a mouthpiece anymore. 276 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: So learning to fly would mean that you would receive instructions, 277 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: but you'd have to hold all your questions until you 278 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,440 Speaker 1: were back on terra firma. So the instructor would still 279 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,439 Speaker 1: have a funnel that they would speak into, but the 280 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: funnel would just go to a branching set of tubes 281 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:19,120 Speaker 1: that would go to the ear pieces set into the 282 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:23,480 Speaker 1: helmet that the student was wearing. Even by World War One, 283 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:28,919 Speaker 1: there were already examples of intercom by wire systems. It 284 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,760 Speaker 1: just wasn't practical to use on an airplane yet, but 285 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: it was in use elsewhere. One company that gets credit 286 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: for developing early intercom systems was the Kellogg Switchboard and 287 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:44,240 Speaker 1: Supply Company, which secured a patent back in eighteen ninety 288 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 1: four front early system for apartment buildings and the like. 289 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: This is, of course, according to a website I've found 290 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: called Butterfly MX. More on that in a second. So 291 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 1: Kellogg in this case, it's not the serial guy. Kellogg 292 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,520 Speaker 1: in this case refers to Milo G. Kellogg. He had 293 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,639 Speaker 1: worked for a company called Gray and Martin before he 294 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,520 Speaker 1: founded his own business. And yes, that's Gray, as in 295 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: Elisha Gray, Alexander Graham, Bell's rival who filed the caveat 296 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,440 Speaker 1: the same day that Bell filed his patent, Gray and Barton. 297 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: That company would later become the Western Electric Manufacturing Company, 298 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,120 Speaker 1: and later it would just be known as Western Electric. 299 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:29,679 Speaker 1: And Kellogg had worked at Western Electric until eighteen eighty nine. 300 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:31,959 Speaker 1: By the time he went on to found the Kellogg 301 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,159 Speaker 1: Switchboard and Supply Company, he had already secured more than 302 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,440 Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty patents to his name, and these 303 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 1: patents became assets of his company. Kellogg would actually play 304 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: a really big part in fighting the American Bell Telephone Company, 305 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,360 Speaker 1: which of course was named after Alexander Graham Bell, and 306 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:54,200 Speaker 1: that company was attempting to secure a perpetual monopoly over 307 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:57,520 Speaker 1: the phone system in the United States, even though Alexander 308 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: Graham Bell's patents had expired in the early eighteen nineties. 309 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: So once patents expire their public domain, it's fair game. 310 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:08,440 Speaker 1: But the company was trying to change that. They were 311 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,880 Speaker 1: trying to persuade the American government to change patent law 312 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,960 Speaker 1: so that the company would enjoy perpetual exclusive rights to 313 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: the telephone invention. Kellogg was one of many people who 314 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: fought back against that movement, and ultimately Kellogg's side would win. 315 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 1: That story by itself is fascinating and it would give 316 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 1: Game of Thrones a run for the money as far 317 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:35,160 Speaker 1: as deceit and betrayal goes. But we don't really have 318 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: time to go into that for great detail, so I'll 319 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: have to hold off on that maybe covered in a 320 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 1: future episode, because it is a fascinating story and it 321 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,679 Speaker 1: involves a point where Kellogg himself got very sick and 322 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:53,360 Speaker 1: his second in command behind his back, secretly sold Kellogg's 323 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 1: switchboard and supply company to the Bell Telephone Company, and 324 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: then Kellogg would have to take the whole to court 325 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,680 Speaker 1: and ultimately get the decisions reversed. It's a great story. 326 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:07,960 Speaker 1: I've just summed it up, but maybe I'll go into 327 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,640 Speaker 1: more detail in a future episode. Now. According to BUTTERFLYMX, 328 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,639 Speaker 1: which by the way, is a company that makes intercom 329 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,400 Speaker 1: hardware and software applications for businesses and homes, Like we're 330 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: talking like advanced stuff that includes things like video conferencing 331 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,680 Speaker 1: and connections with other home automation systems, that kind of thing. 332 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:31,680 Speaker 1: Their website says that the intercom system from Kellogg back 333 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety four was really just a simple circuit 334 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: that would connect handles at the front door of an 335 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: apartment building that would connect to a specific circuit for 336 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 1: each apartment inside. So there'd be one handle for like 337 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 1: Apartment one A and another handle for apartment one B 338 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,639 Speaker 1: and so on. So pulling on a handle would close 339 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 1: the circuit that would send a signal to the receiver 340 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: that's in that respective apartment, and that receiver would would buzz. Essentially, 341 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:02,200 Speaker 1: it was like an alarm clock. It would cause a 342 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: little hammer to hit against a bell or something, but 343 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,080 Speaker 1: that was the extent of this intercommunication. So essentially it 344 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: was like a door bell that let someone know they 345 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: had a visitor who was standing outside the building. I 346 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: would argue that's not really an intercom because it didn't 347 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 1: allow for a voice communication in either direction. However, again 348 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 1: according to Butterfly MX quote, a few years later, the 349 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 1: Kellogg company added an ear piece and mouthpiece to enable 350 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: tenants to speak with visitors end quote. So assuming that 351 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: that is correct, then this would be a very early example, 352 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:44,200 Speaker 1: you know, pre twentieth century example of an intercom system. Now, 353 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 1: I should add I couldn't really find a love supporting 354 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 1: documentation to give more details about this specific case when 355 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: I was looking at Kellogg, I mean, obviously Kelleg Switchboard 356 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,399 Speaker 1: and Supply Company was a real company. They did a 357 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: ton of work created elements that were used for telephone systems, 358 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,640 Speaker 1: so that is legit. It really was a thing. How 359 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: much they did in intercoms and how early and when 360 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: it changed. I can't give you details about that because 361 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:17,359 Speaker 1: I couldn't find particulars, but it is true that early 362 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: intercom systems were essentially small, independent telephone systems that were 363 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: confined to a specific location and did not interconnect with 364 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:28,159 Speaker 1: the larger phone network. And keep in mind, in the 365 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 1: early days, there were a lot of separate phone networks, 366 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,879 Speaker 1: a lot of regional phone networks where you couldn't call 367 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,680 Speaker 1: anyone who was on a different network because there were 368 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: no interconnections that would take time to form. So for 369 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,880 Speaker 1: a very long time, phone networks were really only useful 370 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:49,440 Speaker 1: for relatively local calls. Now, in general, finding a lot 371 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: of hard information about the history of intercoms is tricky. 372 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 1: Most other resources I found get pretty vague with details. 373 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:00,959 Speaker 1: For example, I found a piece that was on Techwala's 374 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 1: article titled history of intercom Systems, and it shows that 375 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: details get pretty fuzzy. There's a passage that says, quote 376 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,680 Speaker 1: by nineteen twelve, if not earlier, users had the choice 377 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,960 Speaker 1: between a telephone style handset or a desktop loudspeaker that 378 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:21,960 Speaker 1: let users keep their hands free end quote. So this 379 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:26,680 Speaker 1: is about like an interoffice intercom system and the fact 380 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,399 Speaker 1: that it has the phrase by nineteen twelve, if not earlier, 381 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 1: suggests that there's a distinct lack of documentation going on here. 382 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,480 Speaker 1: No shade on techwallap, mind you. I'm not throwing them 383 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:40,880 Speaker 1: under the bus, because I also found it very hard 384 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 1: to find a lot of firms supporting documentation where I 385 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: can confidently say, in the year you know whatever, we 386 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:54,439 Speaker 1: saw the first interoffice intercom system. I just don't have 387 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 1: that information. There are a lot of different people who 388 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:01,000 Speaker 1: are accredited as the inventor of office intercom systems, but 389 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:06,919 Speaker 1: usually they invented something very specific that made intercom systems better. 390 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 1: When it comes to the actual first intercom system, the 391 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 1: details there are a lot harder to find. Okay, we're 392 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 1: going to take another quick break. When we come back, 393 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 1: We're going to talk about fast food and drive throughs. Okay, 394 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,400 Speaker 1: so we're back, and the whole point of this episode 395 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:36,400 Speaker 1: is that intercoms were definitely a thing before we ever 396 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,719 Speaker 1: get to In and Out Burger and Harry Snyder, because 397 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:41,879 Speaker 1: the first In and Out Burger didn't open until nineteen 398 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: forty eight. However, I don't want to take away from 399 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: Harry Snyder here because I don't think it's Snyder's fault 400 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,960 Speaker 1: that some people take a shortcut to suggest that he 401 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:53,880 Speaker 1: invented the intercom. A lot of sites are pretty good 402 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,480 Speaker 1: about this, where they say he didn't invent the intercom, 403 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,640 Speaker 1: Rather he was the first to use an intercom system 404 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 1: to enable what would become the model for the modern 405 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:06,359 Speaker 1: drive through, which is the correct thing to say, but 406 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: a lot of other sites simplify this just to say 407 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: that he invented the intercom, which is not correct. But 408 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: he did come up with a solution to a pretty 409 00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:18,440 Speaker 1: tricky problem. So here in America, we have a very 410 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: car centric culture. In America, we have this self identity 411 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:29,560 Speaker 1: where freedom plays a huge part in that self identity. 412 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,680 Speaker 1: Depending on how cynical you are, you might view this 413 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,800 Speaker 1: concept of freedom as being largely imaginary, but put that aside. 414 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,800 Speaker 1: Part of being free is this idea that you can 415 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 1: travel throughout the United States whenever you want. You just 416 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:46,960 Speaker 1: have to have a way of getting around, but you 417 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,119 Speaker 1: can travel freely from state to state without needing papers 418 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 1: or anything to be able to do it. And there's 419 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 1: this kind of sense of pioneering and exploration that's kind 420 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,280 Speaker 1: of ingrained into the American identity. Again, how realistic that 421 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: is is depended upon your point of view. Part of 422 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 1: that meant that there was this very car centric culture, 423 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: which required a couple of things to start to happen 424 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: to enable that. The highway system was one of them. 425 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:20,000 Speaker 1: You had to have highways connecting different regions together in 426 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: order to make these trips. The proliferation of gas stations 427 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 1: was another. You had to have places where you could 428 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 1: refuel while you were on the go. The creation of 429 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,879 Speaker 1: things like motels was another one. You had to have 430 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:34,880 Speaker 1: places where you could you could stop for the night 431 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,439 Speaker 1: and sleep so you could rest before you continued on 432 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,879 Speaker 1: your road trip, and places where you could grab food 433 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:44,439 Speaker 1: when you're on the go. So Snyder was coming up 434 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:47,359 Speaker 1: with a solution to that issue that you're going to 435 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:49,679 Speaker 1: grab food on the go. You want fast food, but 436 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: it's not really convenient for you to drive to a place, 437 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:55,199 Speaker 1: park your car, get out of your car, walk up 438 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 1: to the restaurant, go inside, place your order by talking 439 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: to an actual human being face to face. That's the worst. 440 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: Then paying for your food, waiting for it, bringing it 441 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:08,199 Speaker 1: back out to your car, and then you get to 442 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: drive off. That's not very efficient. Now, Alternatively, you could 443 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:16,240 Speaker 1: have customers park in the parking lot, and then you 444 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 1: could send employees out to the customers and take the 445 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:22,919 Speaker 1: customer's orders, then come back to the restaurant place the orders, 446 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:25,439 Speaker 1: wait for the food, grab the food, go back out 447 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 1: to the customers and deliver it. Perhaps you could even 448 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: have the employees wearing roller skates. This was a pretty 449 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:36,159 Speaker 1: popular method in the mid twentieth century. It still is 450 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,359 Speaker 1: in some places, like there's some places that do the 451 00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:41,679 Speaker 1: retro thing. You know, the employees on roller skates who 452 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,160 Speaker 1: will take orders and bring food out to you and stuff. 453 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,919 Speaker 1: You could do this, but again wasn't very efficient. It 454 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: also meant that you had to have more staff on 455 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,480 Speaker 1: your employment in order to get this done. So it 456 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:55,960 Speaker 1: would be a lot better for you if the customer 457 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 1: could just drive up and order directly, But the noise 458 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: of vehicles, the distance between customer and cook or cashier 459 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,280 Speaker 1: made it hard to have this work. It would create 460 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:12,199 Speaker 1: choke points, it was hard to understand folks, and the 461 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: system would be inefficient. So Snyder's solution was to create 462 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:20,159 Speaker 1: an intercom system that would let one customer order at 463 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: an ordering location, and then a customer further up ahead 464 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:26,919 Speaker 1: could actually be getting their food and paying for their transaction. 465 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 1: And it made everything much more efficient, right, You weren't 466 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 1: taking an order, prepping the food, delivering the food, and 467 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,600 Speaker 1: then taking money for it all at one spot. You 468 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: were dividing that up so the line would move much 469 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: more quickly. So he introduced this technology at his first 470 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,760 Speaker 1: In and Out Burger location in the Los Angeles area, 471 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:51,600 Speaker 1: technically in Baldwin Park. And from what I understand, the 472 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:56,280 Speaker 1: first intercom system was installed in nineteen forty nine, so 473 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 1: he had only opened a year earlier, and he had 474 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 1: built the first two way intercom system he used in 475 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: his own garage and he installed it himself at the restaurant. So, 476 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 1: according to Snyder's granddaughter Lindsey in her book The Ins 477 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: and Outs of In and Out, Snyder was inspired by 478 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,280 Speaker 1: intercom systems that were in use on warships in the 479 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,400 Speaker 1: US Navy, and he decided to use that approach at 480 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 1: his restaurants. The very first intercom system was pretty nondescript. 481 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 1: It was just a speaker that was mounted on a 482 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 1: post that was next to the restaurant, but customers didn't 483 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 1: initially know how or why they should use it, so 484 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: they had to put up some signage to let folks 485 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,000 Speaker 1: know not to just keep driving around to the takeout 486 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: window and shout orders at line cooks, but instead to 487 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,720 Speaker 1: stop at the speaker where they could place their order. 488 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 1: The system was very much Jerry rigged. You know, Snyder 489 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: was not an electrician or an engineer. He was kind 490 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,880 Speaker 1: of just a tinkerer. He also was color blind, which 491 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:58,080 Speaker 1: meant he wasn't using the standard colored wires to indicate 492 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:00,840 Speaker 1: which wire would go where, which wouldn't be that big 493 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 1: of a deal except for the fact that these speakers 494 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:08,120 Speaker 1: weren't secured to the post in a way that was unassailable. 495 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:12,000 Speaker 1: So in an effort to prevent people from stealing drive 496 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:14,800 Speaker 1: through speakers, which could be a thing. People would steal 497 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,120 Speaker 1: speakers so that they could use them for other stuff, 498 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 1: he decided that his system would mean that employees would 499 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:23,640 Speaker 1: have to disconnect the speakers at the end of the 500 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: day and then bring the speakers inside so they could 501 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 1: be locked up inside the restaurant. And that meant you 502 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,000 Speaker 1: had to be very careful with how you stored the 503 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: wires because you would really need to hook the speaker 504 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: back up properly at the beginning of the next day. 505 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: For business right, and since he was colorblind and wasn't 506 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,640 Speaker 1: using the standard wire colors to indicate, Hey, this wire 507 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: goes here, that wire goes there. I mean, you had 508 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 1: to be very careful when you were storing those wires 509 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:53,280 Speaker 1: in the speaker so that you could connect them properly 510 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 1: the next day. Otherwise you're just going to be spending 511 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:58,040 Speaker 1: a lot of time troubleshooting and figuring out why the 512 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 1: intercom system isn't working. Now, Snyder's innovation was a game 513 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,440 Speaker 1: changer for In and Out, and eventually it'd be a 514 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 1: game changer for the rest of the fast food industry, 515 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 1: but it would take some time for it to catch on. 516 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: Business Insider has an article titled, how In and Out 517 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 1: invented the two way speaker system and created the first 518 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,520 Speaker 1: modern drive through. I think the two way speaker system 519 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:21,600 Speaker 1: the invented the two way speaker system part is a 520 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:25,120 Speaker 1: little misleading, but creating the first modern drive through is 521 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 1: absolutely on point. And that article says that competitors like 522 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:32,960 Speaker 1: Wendy's and Jack in the Box would start installing their 523 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: own intercom systems and their drive throughs in the mid 524 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 1: to late nineteen sixties, and that McDonald's didn't even get 525 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: on board until the mid nineteen seventies. So since in 526 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: and Out was doing this since nineteen forty nine, they 527 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 1: had more than a decade of being the exclusive fast 528 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:53,400 Speaker 1: food chain that had an intercom drive through system, which 529 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: is pretty cool. Now we can look at the drive 530 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,600 Speaker 1: through as kind of like that smaller component of that 531 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,120 Speaker 1: car culture I was talking about, right, Like, that's just 532 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:05,120 Speaker 1: one of those elements where you realize that the reason 533 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:10,840 Speaker 1: all this exists was to enable this culture in America 534 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 1: that encouraged people to go on road trips and travel 535 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:20,200 Speaker 1: to distant places and explore the country. It was something 536 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: that really cemented in the American psyche, this idea that 537 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:30,320 Speaker 1: car ownership is a big part of being an American citizen. 538 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that you have to have a car 539 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: to be an American citizen, but a lot of what 540 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,160 Speaker 1: we do does revolve around cars, and that if you 541 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 1: don't have one, it makes participating in society a lot 542 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:46,680 Speaker 1: more challenging. There's some areas in America that have good 543 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:53,680 Speaker 1: to great public transportation alternatives, but where I am in Atlanta, Georgia, 544 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: I will say that the public transportation is at best adequate, 545 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: it's not great. And it requires you to make a 546 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,920 Speaker 1: lot of considerations and sacrifices in order to be able 547 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 1: to get to where you're going, including leaving way earlier 548 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 1: than you think you need to in order to be 549 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,640 Speaker 1: able to make all your connections. So, yeah, it's interesting. 550 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:19,239 Speaker 1: It's one of those elements that collectively really tell the 551 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 1: story of America's concept of freedom and independence and agency. 552 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:28,560 Speaker 1: And it all has to do, in this case, with 553 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 1: a pretty simple system that was built on top of 554 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: the old telephone system. Now, obviously intercoms have advanced quite 555 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 1: a bit since those days. Now we have ones that 556 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:44,080 Speaker 1: include things like video cameras and the ability to interact 557 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:47,000 Speaker 1: with things like electronic lock systems and all that, but 558 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,680 Speaker 1: that would come later. And now we have ones that 559 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 1: work over Internet protocol, not over like the old telephone system. 560 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:58,960 Speaker 1: So the actual method of transmission has changed over time 561 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:01,800 Speaker 1: as well, but the basic idea has remained the same. 562 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:05,400 Speaker 1: And so I think it's fair to say In and 563 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 1: Out had a pretty big impact at least on fast 564 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:11,879 Speaker 1: food culture here in the United States, and that the 565 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 1: tasting history element wasn't completely wrong. It was just perhaps 566 00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:21,480 Speaker 1: a tiny bit misleading to suggest that Snyder invented the 567 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:25,359 Speaker 1: two way inter comm system. He didn't invent it, he 568 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,879 Speaker 1: just found a really, really good use for it. And 569 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:32,520 Speaker 1: if you're going to in and out get some fries, 570 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,879 Speaker 1: get them animal style, think of me while you do it, 571 00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 1: and I will live vicariously through you. That's it for 572 00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:44,439 Speaker 1: today's episode. I hope you are all well, and I'll 573 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:53,399 Speaker 1: talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is an 574 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:58,600 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio 575 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:02,240 Speaker 1: app Apple Podcasts wherever you listen to your favorite shows.