First Version Everyday Things

Steven Sasson as an engineer at Eastman Kodak invented and built the first electronic camera using a charge-coupled device image sensor in 1975. Earlier ones used a camera tube; later ones digitized the signal. Early uses were mainly military and scientific; followed by medical and news applications. However, the history of the digital camera dates back to 1961 with Eugene F. Lally of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who when he wasn’t coming up with ways to create artificial gravity was thinking about how to use a mosaic photosensor to capture digital images. His idea was to take pictures of the planets and stars while travelling through space to give information about the astronauts’ position. Unfortunately, as with Texas Instrument employee Willis Adcock’s filmless camera (US patent 4,057,830) in 1972, the technology had yet to catch up with the concept. Click here to view the first image in this week’s WINS gallery. Continue reading for a viral video of a working V6 engine made entirely from paper.

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A technology, gadget and video game enthusiast that loves covering the latest industry news. Favorite trade show? Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.