Jacquard loom
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JC pontificates about technology
An occasional series.
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The Jacquard loom was a power loom that simplified the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé with the use of punched cards. It was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, and in the technology guru James Burke — a super cool seventies guy and great formative impression on the young JC — hailed it as an early example of a computer.
Now, in 1805, was there a guy like former Deutsche Bank chief John Cryan crafting winning pieces of thought leadership to the effect that, “right. That’s it. Human usefulness as we know it is over. We are all going to become machines.”
Maybe, but, like Mr. Cryan, he became a victim of survivor bias and no record remains of him or his sage savouries.
In the mean time, what happened to intricately woven fabric now it could be quickly automated? Did this mean rentier capitalists, finally freed of the burden of wasteful servants, could reap colossal margins while their monstrous machines pumped out acres and acres of expensive fabric?
No.
Woven fabric plummeted in price. Of course it did. Because anyone could produce it now. All you needed was a Jacquard loom. And all of a sudden every bugger was buying Jacquard looms.
And,who would have thought?[1] They all needed people to programme, maintain and enhance their fancy new automatic looms.
Folks who used to be hand-weavers respecialised. Now the skill was programming the Jacquard loom and designing faster, fancier, more flexible Jacquard looms.
The thing you are currently staring at? It is a faster, fancier, more flexible Jacquard loom.
See also
References
- ↑ Well; Adam Smith, for one.