Walt Disney, the entertainer
By Kiron Kasbekar | 30 Jan 2024
The name Walt Disney conjures up images of animation, iconic characters that filled our childhoods with laughter and wonder. Those days we didn’t even know of a person with that name, or a company with that name – but we knew of their products – the Walt Disney comics and the Walt Disney films. And then there were the endearing toys and the amusement parks with which the name was associated.
Starbucks: Caffeinating the world since 1971 (Part-2)
By Aniket Gupta | 24 Jan 2024
In the first part, we explored how Starbucks started and how Howard Schultz took over Starbucks and expanded it rapidly. We also explored how Starbucks launched its IPO and expanded it even further. This article will continue the story of Starbucks and see how the 21st century has treated this chain of coffeehouses.
Tim Berners-Lee, Web inventor
By Kiron Kasbekar | 19 Jan 2024
There are hundreds of inventions we see around us that were created in the past century. Made of solid stuff, made from steel, copper, glass, petroleum, plastic, synthetic fibers and such other tangible materials. And there are countless creations made from intangible stuff. The stuff of ideas, such as poems, stories, novels, jokes … And then there is the Internet
Starbucks: Caffeinating the world since 1971 (Part-1)
By Aniket Gupta | 19 Jan 2024
You may have observed that this website has featured profiles of companies, many of which were once major players in their industries but eventually faded away. This article is not about such a company. It delves into the story of a company that started its journey around half a century ago and has evolved into a cultural icon. The focal point of this two-part Company Profile is Starbucks.
Industry study - The browser wars
By Kiron Kasbekar | 17 Jan 2024
Do you remember what the Internet was like, before the 1990s? Lines and lines of monochrome text, wading through which was a chore because it also loaded very slowly. The systems ran on the DOS system and you had to remember cryptic commands like DIR, DISKCOPY, FDISK, PROMPT.
Company story – Cunard Line
By Kiron Kasbekar | 12 Jan 2024
The Cunard Line started its life in Glasgow in 1839 as the British and North American Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company when Samuel Cunard was awarded the first British transatlantic steamship mail contract.
A brief history of ship propulsion
By Kiron Kasbekar | 09 Jan 2024
The evolution of ship propulsion systems from oars to nuclear power Ships have played a crucial role in the development of human civilization, enabling exploration, trade, warfare, and the transportation of goods and people across the world's oceans, rivers, and seas and, sadly, warfare too.
The magic of aerogels
By Kiron Kasbekar | 05 Jan 2024
Aerogels, first developed during the 1930s, are some of the lightest known solid materials ever created. They were commercialized during the 1940s. That was a long time ago, but they are still not a widely known substance.
Aerogels – amazing new materials
By Kiron Kasbekar | 05 Jan 2024
One day I was trying to get background on one of the topics I cover for my articles and YouTube videos, and I went off at a tangent, as I sometimes do, and began looking at some entirely different subject. It was a subject I had never read or heard about. It’s a material called aerogel.
Samuel Slater – textile tycoon or traitor?
By Kiron Kasbekar | 26 Dec 2023
Samuel Slater is a name that holds significant importance in the annals of American industrial history. Often referred to as the ‘Father of the American Factory System’, Slater's contributions played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s industrial landscape.
Underwood Typewriter Company – an icon of the past
By Kiron Kasbekar | 21 Dec 2023
You’ve probably never heard of Underwood typewriters. For the company folded up in 1963 – 60 years ago. You may not even have seen and handled a typewriter, unless someone in your family owned one.
Sad story of the woman after whom the Mercedes car was named
By Kiron Kasbekar | 21 Dec 2023
Mercédès Adrienne Ramona Manuela Jellinek was the daughter of the Austrian automobile visionary, Emil Jellinek, and his first wife, Rachel Goggmann Cenrobert.
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