Ok, technically our company has not been around since 1801 but something that happened in 1801 that influenced many aspects of our business and maybe even the economic development of the area we live and work in. One of my favorite series of documentaries growing up was Connections hosted by James Burke and this tale of how an innovation in the early days of the 19th Century basically made us who we are today.

Jacquard’s Web by James Essinger tells the story how a hand loom led to the birth of the information age. The book covers a lot more than just one man’s attempt to automate the fine art of spinning silk but also chronicles the birth of the information age in a time you may not have thought any serious computing was going on. No, it wasn’t electronic computing as we know it with circuit boards and wires but this was a time when computer programming was born. On the left you will see a photo of the Jacquard loom with the early 19th century punch cards that made the automation of spinning intricate designs possible.

This is fascinating to me as a Greenvillian because at one time Greenville,SC was known as the textile capital of the world. A place where a lot of “computer programming” was going on and most people did not even realize it. I’m proud that our company name is somewhat inspired by this innovation that occurred over two centuries ago. This area of the United States is not only home to many web developers but we are a budding center of innovation and technology. I’m thankful we have a great networking and educational group like the GSATC to provides many opportunities to network and learn from other technology professionals and innovators. While textiles is not the prominent business in the Upstate that it once was you will discover that Greenville is even more of a technology center with such companies as BMW and Michelin as well as centers like ICAR.

If you are the least bit interested in either the history of computing, textile or innovation I encourage you to read Jacquard’ Web. What are some surprising things you have learned about your industry? What lessons of innovation and inspiration can you glen from the historical ties to what you are doing today?

This entry was posted on Friday, June 13th, 2008 at 10:30 am and is filed under Greenville,SC, Innovation, Internet, Upstate,SC, branding, marketing, web design, web development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.