Dec. 29, 1766: He Put the Mac in Mackintosh
1766: Charles Macintosh, who has no connection whatsoever to the computer of the same name, is born in Glasgow, Scotland. He will be remembered in tech annals as the inventor of rubberized, waterproof clothing. He’s remembered more generally for the raincoat that bears his name.
Macintosh, the son of a well-known dyemaker, developed an early interest in chemistry and science. By age 20 he was already running a plant producing ammonium chloride and Prussian blue dye. Around this time, he introduced some new techniques for dyeing cloth.
In partnership with a certain Charles Tennant, Macintosh developed a dry bleaching powder that proved popular, making a fortune for both men. The powder remained the primary agent for bleaching cloth and paper into the 1920s.
At the same time, though, Macintosh was experimenting with the idea of waterproofing fabric, using waste byproducts from the dye process. One byproduct he worked with was coal tar, which, when distilled, produced naphtha.
Macintosh found that naphtha — a volatile, oily liquid created in the distillation the aforementioned coal tar, as well as petroleum — could be used to waterproof fabrics. In 1823, he patented what was the first truly waterproof fabric, supple enough to be used in clothing. He produced the desired results by joining two sheets of fabric with dissolved India rubber soaked in naphtha.
When this concoction of his was later used to make a flexible, waterproof raincoat, the garment quickly became known as the mackintosh. (The extraneous “k” has never been explained.) The coat came into widespread use, both by the British army and by the general public.
Which is not to say it was all smooth sailing for Macintosh’s process. The fabric was vulnerable to changes in the weather, becoming stiffer in the cold and stickier in the heat. It was not especially good with wool, either, because that fabric’s natural oil caused the rubber cement to deteriorate.
Nevertheless, the waterproofing process was essentially sound and was improved and refined over time. It was considered effective enough to be used in outfitting an Arctic expedition led by 19th-century explorer Sir John Franklin.
Although he enjoyed his greatest success and lasting fame for his waterproofing process, Macintosh was no one-trick pony. In his capacity as a chemist, he helped devise a hot-blast process for producing high-quality cast iron.
Source: Today in Science
Illustration: Charles Macintosh enjoys the warm, dry indoors.
Painting by J. Graham Gilbert, RSA, engraved by Edward Burton.
This article first appeared on Wired.com Dec. 29, 2008.
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Pricey Solar Power for MACBOOKS
QuickerTek now offers solar power for the entire Apple MacBook line of popular laptops unibody Macs and just released white MacBook. The initial Apple Juicz Solar Charger worked with the MacBook Air only, now we power the entire MacBook line including the 13.3, 15 and 17-inch unibody Pros and the white MacBook. There are two Apple Juicz models available: 27 Watt and 55 Watt, to match your performance needs.
The addition of the all of the MacBook and MacBook Pro models to the previous MacBook Air completes the solar compatibility. MacBook users are no longer tethered to the AC wall outlet. The freedom to work where you want, makes the solar charger from QuickerTek very popular with all users – but especially in tough environments.
One of our users has taken the Apple Juicz Solar Charger to Mount Everest. This feat helps demonstrate the extreme durability and flexibility that MacBook users can expect. Not every Solar Charger user will take their laptop to the world’s tallest peak, but knowing that it is built tough enough, adds confidence when hiking in the woods, spending a week at an island beach, a month on your boat or just working in your own backyard.
The Apple Juicz also folds up for easy transport. Even though the sun gathering power is remarkable, the folding solar collection panels make it practical to use – something that has been lacking in solar technology to date. The Apple Juicz Solar Charger also comes complete with all cables to make “going solar” as easy as it should be. Users don’t need to make any adjustments to take full advantage of the ever-present renewable resource – the sun.
You gain additional power options through a 2.5mm connector allowing access to other QuickerTek power products from solar cells to external batteries. There are no safety sacrifices in using QuickerTek’s Apple Juicz MacBook Solar Charger.
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5mm connector – for connecting QuickerTek solar and external batteries;
Original Apple MagSafe connector;
12 volt automotive cigarette lighter connection;
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27 Watt – $ 700
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Apple Juicz Solar Charger is backed with a one-year warranty on parts and labor.
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Windows 7 passes all Mac OS X in market share race
Windows 7 passed the 5% market share milestone last weekend, which put it, if only temporarily, above the total market share of all versions of Apple’s Mac OS X, a Web measurement firm said today.
Last Saturday and Sunday, Windows 7 powered an estimated 5% and 5.14% of all computers that were online those days, according to Internet metrics vendor Net Applications. The two-day average of 5.07% was higher than the 5% of the market that Net Applications said Apple’s operating system averaged for the week of Nov. 15-21.
“It’s safe to say that Windows 7′s daily share did peak above Mac’s weekly share,” said Vince Vizzaccaro, executive vice president at Net Applications, in an e-mail today. Vizzaccaro said his company had not yet compiled daily averages for Mac OS X, something that would be necessary to compare Windows 7′s weekend numbers with the same dates for the Mac.
When Windows 7′s Nov. 15-21 average was matched against Mac OS X, however, for an apples-to-apples comparison, Microsoft’s 4.15% lagged behind Apple’s 5%.
But Vizzaccaro was confident that Windows 7 would soon pass Mac OS X for good, and not just during a short stretch. “Certainly, the trend line shows Windows 7 will surpass Mac share soon,” he predicted.
In fact, Windows’ overall market share of 92.64% for the week of Nov. 15-21 was slightly higher than the OS’s October share of 92.52%. “We may be seeing an uptick in overall Windows share this month,” Vizzaccaro confirmed. “This isn’t too rare, but if we see three or four months in a row of Windows regaining market share, that would be a significant trend change.”
Continue: Windows 7 passes Mac OS X in market share race
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