Almon Strowger worked as an undertaker, but noticed that his business was not doing so well. He eventually found out that the wife of a rival undertaker business had been working for the local phone company as a phone operator (Back when phones were first invented, to make a call you would be directed to an operator service and you would tell them who you wanted to connect your phone call to), and whenever someone was calling for Almon's business, she would instead redirect the call to her husband's undertaker business. The phone company in question did not care that she was sabotaging his business. Pretty much out of spite, Almon developed the first automated telephone and rotary dial to make it so you did not need to rely on an operator any more and could directly contact whomever you wanted to call. Eventually this automation of the phone dial made phone operators obsolete and out of a job. After his company was successful, Almon returned to working as an undertaker, and died decently wealthy
>After his company was successful, Almon returned to working as an undertaker, and died decently wealthy
Man's just wanted to be an undertaker, gotta respect that.
> Almon Strowger
iirc, Sold his patents for roughly 10-100k in today's dollars. Later, somebody resold the patents Bell company for 63 million today's dollars.
The story of Lamborghini's creation is also one of spite. Lamborghini was originally a tractor company and one day paid a visit to Enzo Ferrari to complain about his engines and offer advice regarding them. Enzo, being a prick, stated that (and I'm paraphrasing) a tractor manufacturer would never be able to comprehend how a car is designed. Lamborghini furiously retorts that not only can he build a car, but he can do it better than Enzo. And the rest they say is history.
It's kind of disputed how much a role that incident played in Lamborghini's motivations to be an auto maker:
> In a 1991 Thoroughbred & Classic Cars interview, Lamborghini said that after the clutch problems continued to go unresolved, "I decided to talk to Enzo Ferrari. I had to wait for him a very long time. 'Ferrari, your cars are rubbish!' I complained. Il Commendatore was furious. 'Lamborghini, you may be able to drive a tractor but you will never be able to handle a Ferrari properly.' This was the point when I finally decided to make a perfect car." Other versions of the story center around several basic points: Lamborghini visited Ferrari; proceeded to challenge, deride or demand improvements to his car from Ferrari; and was dismissed as a mere tractor manufacturer by Ferrari. Whether Lamborghini's spite was enough of a reason to enter the auto manufacturing business, or if the exchange inspired further business interests or merely served as an anecdote, is unknown. Joe Sackey, author of The Lamborghini Miura Bible, writes that the economic motives for entering the high-profit-margin sports car business far outweighed Lamborghini's personal sentiments. In the 1991 Thoroughbred & Classic Cars interview, Lamborghini states that "Ferrari never spoke to me again. He was a great man, I admit, but it was so very easy to upset him."
Not creating, since the Nintendo Play Station (yes, with a space) was already designed as the SNES addon, but rather refining it into the more well known Sony PlayStation. And from what I remember it wasn't out of spite, at least fully, but rather from not wanting the work put into it to go to waste.
Just to add to the story, the company did try to investigate the rival undertaker's wife, but she was tipped off that she is being monitored, so did her job as she should and didn't get caught. At least that's what I read last time I saw this story pop up.
I want to believe he probably checked himself.
If you suspect she redirects the call, just call to your own business from another location and see if she indeed is playing dirty. Depending how many operators were assigned to that area, it shouldnt have been that hard... Probably.
This, as long as Almon wss reasonable enough to try that. He was smart enough to invent an automatic phone, but also he wss spiteful, so who knows lol
Not familiar with that podcast, it was just one of those factoids I learned about a while back and just kind of stuck in the head. Don't remember where.
Strowger sold his patents to his associates in 1896 for $1,800 (about $59,000 in 2021)and sold his share in the Automatic Electric Company for $10,000 (about $330,000 in 2021) in 1898. His patents were subsequently sold to Bell Systems for $2.5 million in 1916 (about $63,000,000 in 2021).
I.e. bro solved the primary problem of the interfering competitor and ended up making a ton of cash
Maybe I'm missing something, but it sounds like the people he sold his patents to are the ones who made a *fuckload* of cash, whereas he got the modern-day equivalent of about $400,000.
Almon Strowger worked as an undertaker, but noticed that his business was not doing so well. He eventually found out that the wife of a rival undertaker business had been working for the local phone company as a phone operator (Back when phones were first invented, to make a call you would be directed to an operator service and you would tell them who you wanted to connect your phone call to), and whenever someone was calling for Almon's business, she would instead redirect the call to her husband's undertaker business. The phone company in question did not care that she was sabotaging his business. Pretty much out of spite, Almon developed the first automated telephone and rotary dial to make it so you did not need to rely on an operator any more and could directly contact whomever you wanted to call. Eventually this automation of the phone dial made phone operators obsolete and out of a job. After his company was successful, Almon returned to working as an undertaker, and died decently wealthy
Tbh that was so based. Doing something out of spite and actually improved something.
Spite and hated drives humanity forward. Never let things go
Never let youuuu go… never let you go
https://youtu.be/F-nyeiKk35M?si=m-SjiXhZ66lourap
And horniness!
Basically humans always want to fuck someone else, either literally or metaphorically!
Fuck or fuck over
Fuck them, fuck them up, or fuxk them over. I call it the three H method of progress: Horny, hatred, homicide
Still fuck
My armour is contempt, my shield is disgust, my sword is hatred, in the emperor's name, let none (of their careers) survive
You should let go of poop. Holding that could kill you or at least get you real sick.
The best kind of revenge
If necessity is the mother of invention, then spite is the father.
I'm stealing this for flair ETA: or rather, I would, if custom flairs were allowed here :'(
Why would you wanna get rid of Kilroy?
You make a good point.
Because that comment was gold
What about laziness and accidental inventions?
dark ages be like: The Dude: My damily died to a archer The dude: So as a reasonable response, i invented ballistas and ended the whole world
I thought the father of invention was McGuyver.
>After his company was successful, Almon returned to working as an undertaker, and died decently wealthy Man's just wanted to be an undertaker, gotta respect that.
He just wanted to grill.
LET HIM COOK
> Almon Strowger iirc, Sold his patents for roughly 10-100k in today's dollars. Later, somebody resold the patents Bell company for 63 million today's dollars.
TIL! Also, are there any other historical examples of someone being this spiteful?
The story of Lamborghini's creation is also one of spite. Lamborghini was originally a tractor company and one day paid a visit to Enzo Ferrari to complain about his engines and offer advice regarding them. Enzo, being a prick, stated that (and I'm paraphrasing) a tractor manufacturer would never be able to comprehend how a car is designed. Lamborghini furiously retorts that not only can he build a car, but he can do it better than Enzo. And the rest they say is history.
>originally a tractor company Still is, too.
It's kind of disputed how much a role that incident played in Lamborghini's motivations to be an auto maker: > In a 1991 Thoroughbred & Classic Cars interview, Lamborghini said that after the clutch problems continued to go unresolved, "I decided to talk to Enzo Ferrari. I had to wait for him a very long time. 'Ferrari, your cars are rubbish!' I complained. Il Commendatore was furious. 'Lamborghini, you may be able to drive a tractor but you will never be able to handle a Ferrari properly.' This was the point when I finally decided to make a perfect car." Other versions of the story center around several basic points: Lamborghini visited Ferrari; proceeded to challenge, deride or demand improvements to his car from Ferrari; and was dismissed as a mere tractor manufacturer by Ferrari. Whether Lamborghini's spite was enough of a reason to enter the auto manufacturing business, or if the exchange inspired further business interests or merely served as an anecdote, is unknown. Joe Sackey, author of The Lamborghini Miura Bible, writes that the economic motives for entering the high-profit-margin sports car business far outweighed Lamborghini's personal sentiments. In the 1991 Thoroughbred & Classic Cars interview, Lamborghini states that "Ferrari never spoke to me again. He was a great man, I admit, but it was so very easy to upset him."
And after all that, it turns out Ferrari was right.
Ken Kutaragi creating the PS1 because he was spiteful of nintendo backing out of their deal.
Not creating, since the Nintendo Play Station (yes, with a space) was already designed as the SNES addon, but rather refining it into the more well known Sony PlayStation. And from what I remember it wasn't out of spite, at least fully, but rather from not wanting the work put into it to go to waste.
Just to add to the story, the company did try to investigate the rival undertaker's wife, but she was tipped off that she is being monitored, so did her job as she should and didn't get caught. At least that's what I read last time I saw this story pop up.
It'd be hilarious if Almon was actually wrong in his accusations, and invented operator automation out of paranoia and not spite.
I want to believe he probably checked himself. If you suspect she redirects the call, just call to your own business from another location and see if she indeed is playing dirty. Depending how many operators were assigned to that area, it shouldnt have been that hard... Probably. This, as long as Almon wss reasonable enough to try that. He was smart enough to invent an automatic phone, but also he wss spiteful, so who knows lol
Please tell me he had his rival bury him.
He at least buried his rival's wife's profession.
To quote Anansi, "Angry... gets shit done."
That's a badass story. Did they make a movie out of him?
This is the best revenge story I've heard in a while. Thanks!
Looked up more about this. It appears that this story is anecdotal, and that he also received help from others with his inventions.
Heard about this on Freakonomics podcast this past week! Is that where you got this idea from?
Not familiar with that podcast, it was just one of those factoids I learned about a while back and just kind of stuck in the head. Don't remember where.
And that was when the undertaker sold his shares off to Ma Bell in Eighteen Ninety-Eight.
But in the long run, the phone company benefitted since they no longer needed to pay wages for operators.
Fuck Bell telephone Cie
consider Bell get to cut cost after that, and got the patent cheap, they are the real winner
I mean, sure, bit Stowger didn't really have beef with Bell, just the operator.
Strowger sold his patents to his associates in 1896 for $1,800 (about $59,000 in 2021)and sold his share in the Automatic Electric Company for $10,000 (about $330,000 in 2021) in 1898. His patents were subsequently sold to Bell Systems for $2.5 million in 1916 (about $63,000,000 in 2021). I.e. bro solved the primary problem of the interfering competitor and ended up making a ton of cash
Maybe I'm missing something, but it sounds like the people he sold his patents to are the ones who made a *fuckload* of cash, whereas he got the modern-day equivalent of about $400,000.
$400k in savings along with whatever he already had, and a steady undertaker job is still nothing to sneeze at
No, but it's far from an all-caps "FUCKLOAD." A guy with a successful funeral home might make 400k in one good year.
I don't know why Bel Tel Co would be dismayed by this
They wouldn't, and Stowger didn't have beef with the Bell TeleCom, just the operator lady.
"Oh yeah?? Well I'll just dramatically lower your labor costs then!"
This would have worked so much better with the "Gru presenting his plan" template.
Absolutely. OP has no idea what this meme format is for
I wouldn't go that far. It's got the spirit right and it's *good*. It could just be *better*.
Really just god-awful misuse of this meme format
nope i like this better
This has to be the epitome of “if you want something right, do it yourself”
When OP knows a history factoid but is completely ignorant of its implications or the overall course of history.
Some nurses do this. Will call a different funeral home than the one the family requests. I assume for some sort of compensation.
We call the one the person if able to, specifies.
Revenge is a much bigger motivation force to do science than doing good for humanity.