day 83

digital darwinism 5: accidental empires

Eye Candy #4: Except for a heavy bombing in WWII and a remodel job in 1871, the tower at Cortachy, Scotland hasn't needed much in the way of architectural evolution over the past 400 years. Yesterday we learned that the computer industry is a jungle of Darwinian architectures. Robert Cringley writes in Accidental Empires: "The boys of Silicon Valley make their millions, battle foreign competition, and still can't get a date." If this does not prove that the computer industry is a messy place governed by serendipity, ruined plans, and machine-gun artists, then I will have to convince you with a more detailed technical argument. Here goes. Charles Elsener, the fourth-generation descendant of the inventor of the Swiss Army knife, supervises 900 workers who churn out 110,000 knives per day. In 1909 great-grandfather Karl Elsener named the company "Victoria" after his mother, but he changed it to "Victorinox" when stainless steel was invented in the 1920s ("inox" refers to stainless steel). With the exception of this small perturbation, Victorinox has been replicating the same design since the 1890s. The Swiss Army knife is based on a simple architecture that permits tools such as can opener, screwdriver, nail file, and toothpick to easily be mixed and matched in 800 different variations of the same design. In short, the Swiss Army knife has a solid architectural basis leading to a solid design that has made millions for the Elseners. The architectural underpinnings were so good that there has been little to change in 100 years. The Swiss Army knife hits the bull's-eye like a rifle shot.

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