

"Twitter" in 1935 - CWIZO
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/04/30/robot-messenger-displays-person-to-person-notes-in-public/

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barmstrong
Key difference: "the user drops a coin into the slot".

Twitter missed that part :)

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aw3c2
It would have miserably failed if they did not "miss" that part.

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Anon84
They even had a business model from day one! (it was coin based)

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frederickcook
It even has location-based technology: it lets you know when your friends are
near!

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Luc
Here's another view of it: <http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/3359446/Hulton-
Archive>

The Popular Mechanix article says the message will stay in view 'at least two
hours', while the Getty Images caption says 'up to two hours'. By the looks of
it the latter seems more likely - pump enough coins into the machine and you
can make earlier messages roll out of view!

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archgoon
This is a message to location service. There is no broadcasting to all
Notificators in London simultaneously, and each requires a coin for each
message sent. The message is only up for two hours, and is not tied to a user.
The intended purpose was for a specific person to be present at the
destination.

How is this analogous to twitter any more than say, the classifieds of a
newspaper?

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drgath
You are totally right. Also, here you are writing on a piece of paper instead
of typing in a text box. The viewing interface is also totally different as
one is a either a monitor or a mobile device, and another is a crude bulletin
board thing. And don't even get me started on ...

Lighten up!

:)

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archgoon
The interface hardly matters. I apologize for thinking about this too hard.

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Roridge
I love the way the post on the blog is under the category "Useless Tech".

I wonder if there was a patent for the machine.

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swombat
No wonder Twitter is so popular in London. We've been tweeting since 1935!

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wallflower
London was also known for its pneumatic tubes. Though not as extensive as
Paris, there were many messages carried via pneumatic tube transport.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube>

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wyclif
The Internet is also known for its series of tubes.

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drgath
Which are made of cats

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi8VTeDHjcM>

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eam
Hmm... I wonder if it had a 140 character limit.

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njn
_writes a brief message on a continuous strip of paper_

Sounds like maybe they were handwritten?

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roundsquare
Very cool. I wonder how widely used it was.

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chanux
Wonder what this does <http://www.notificator.com>

PS: It's does Twitter searches.

