| William Seward Burroughs (1857 - 1898) was a young clerk in the Cayuga County National Bank of Auburn. As part of his job he spent long and tedious hours adding numbers and became interested in solving the problem of creating an adding machine. In the bank there had been a number of earlier prototypes, but in inexperienced users’ hands, those that existed would sometimes give incorrect, and at times outrageous, answers. In 1882 he moved to St. Louis and started working in a machine shop where he had the opportunity to focus on his adding machine design. After struggling with many technical and financial difficulties finally in 1884 he managed complete his first prototype which was able to add up to 9 digits and print the result. Next year he patented his design and started manufacturing of Burroughs Adding Machines. Until 1887 he manufactured 50 adding machines which sold for 475 USD (12,000 USD in 2015 dollars). The company started to grow and always managed to adept new technologies including the electronics revolution. Burroughs became one of the leading computers firms in the 70’s and 80’s. In 1986 Burroughs merged with Sperry Corporation, another leading computer firm of its era, and formed Unisys which still exists today. Burroughs has a very special place in my personal history. Burroughs was the first electronic calculator I ever used and the first computer I played games about 40 years ago when I was a little child. |
Burroughs #21, 2015, 19.00 x 23.50 cm., Wet collodion tintype
