Stunning Business Intelligence Visualizations… from 1870

FastCompany has a great article this week on the results of the 1870 census, and the hand-made graphics (“BI –2.0”?) that were made from the data (thanks to RadicalCartography.net and the Library of Congress). [NOTE -- the original version of this post erroneously said "1830" throughout] Here’s a selection of my favorites – click on each one to get the full graphic. US geology – the hand-shading is so much nicer to look at than computer-generated... [Read More...]

Giant Brains: Did Edmund Berkeley Predict Email, the Internet, ERP Systems and the iPhone in 1949?

Now that prediction season is coming to an end, it’s time to reflect on how technology always changes, but the underlying business needs remain the same from year to year, or even decade to decade. I recently stumbled across a second-hand book in the American Library in Paris titled "Giant Brains or Machines That Think" by Edmund C. Berkeley. Edmund Berkeley was an early computing pioneer, and the book includes a description of one of... [Read More...]