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Abraham Lincoln the Early Adopter

Posted by kdawson on from the techno-bunny dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "On the 200th anniversary of his birth, President Abraham Lincoln's popular image as a log-splitting bumpkin is being re-assessed as historians have discovered that Lincoln had an avid interest in cutting-edge technology and its applications. During the war, Lincoln haunted the telegraph office (which provided the instant-messaging of its day) for the latest news from the front; he encouraged weapons development and even tested some new rifles himself on the White House lawn; and he is the only US president to hold a patent (No. 6469, granted May 22, 1849). It was for a device to lift riverboats over shoals. 'He not only created his own invention but had ideas for other inventions, such as an agricultural steam plow and a naval steam ram, [and] was fascinated by patent cases as an attorney and also by new innovations during the Civil War,' says Jason Emerson, author of Lincoln the Inventor. But Lincoln's greatest contribution to the war effort was his use of the telegraph. When Lincoln took office the White House had no telegraph connection. Lincoln 'developed the modern electronic leadership model, says Tom Wheeler, author of Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph To Win the Civil War. At a time when electricity was a vague scientific concept and sending signals through wires was 'mind boggling,' Lincoln was fascinated by the telegraph and developed it into a political and military tool that allowed him to project himself to the front to monitor and track what was going on. 'If he were alive today, we'd call him an early adopter,' says Wheeler."

15 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. No... by zackhugh · · Score: 5, Funny

    If he was alive today, we'd call him a zombie...

    1. Re:No... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      if he was alive, i don't see how he could be undead as well.

    2. Re:No... by dkleinsc · · Score: 2, Funny

      Or a really powerful Jedi. For all you Robot Chicken fans out there.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    3. Re:No... by Timosch · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, we'd call him a patent troll.
      SCNR

    4. Re:No... by Maestro485 · · Score: 2, Funny

      So John Wilkes Booth was actually a hero?

      *head explodes* (figuratively)

    5. Re:No... by RancidPeanutOil · · Score: 2, Funny

      I believe the correct form of the reply would be:

      If he were alive today, he would be screaming, "let me out of this box!"

  2. At last! by hcoal · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is 1863 the year of the Linux desktop?

    1. Re:At last! by Potor · · Score: 3, Funny

      you mean the Linux logtop.

    2. Re:At last! by mangu · · Score: 3, Funny

      you mean the Linux logtop.

      Yes, I think you're right:

      ls /var/log/*.log
      /var/log/apport.log /var/log/kdm.log /var/log/scrollkeeper.log
      /var/log/auth.log /var/log/kern.log /var/log/user.log
      /var/log/bootstrap.log /var/log/lpr.log /var/log/uucp.log
      /var/log/daemon.log /var/log/mail.log /var/log/wvdialconf.log
      /var/log/dpkg.log /var/log/pycentral.log /var/log/Xorg.0.log
      /var/log/fontconfig.log /var/log/rkhunter.log /var/log/Xorg.10.log

  3. Re:Though the names change... by Ihmhi · · Score: 5, Funny

    Micromanagement is a meme attached to StarCraft.

    Fixed.

    --
    Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
  4. Re:he also used the word nigger a lot by Loadmaster · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, but really all those white people in the church are all played by Eddie Murphy.

    http://www.hulu.com/watch/10356/saturday-night-live-white-like-me

  5. Re:Log-splitting bumpkin, huh? by religious+freak · · Score: 2, Funny

    Funny story: I thought I did, but it turned out to just be a really weird Amish dude. I finally figured it out when Lincoln didn't even know how to use a button. Gay Lincoln marriage... what a waste of 15 years... but thanks for the suggestion.

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    If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
  6. we'd call him an early adopter? by nurb432 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Personally I would call him 'Mr President'.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  7. Re:he also used the word nigger a lot by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Funny

    If Obama's church were so hostile towards whites, it wouldn't have a fairly large amount of whites in attendance every Sunday.

    You've never seen the legions of white kids who listen to Public Enemy, have you?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  8. Re:Log-splitting bumpkin, huh? by A+nonymous+Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    New to this world? Never heard anyone speak of any organization's institutional history or memory? Playing dumb because using your brain is too much work?

    --
    Infuriate left and right