Bob Olodort, the inventor of the label printer and portable keyboard has died. He was 73.
A self-described “technologist artist,”as a young man was a curious and independent inventor who spent his free time working on engineering projects he knew little about.
After graduating from Hamilton High School, he studied psychology and photography at UC Berkeley, where he participated in antiwar protests and the Free Speech Movement.There, between attending classes and making documentaries and ethnographic films, Olodort absorbed himself in engineering projects. It didn’t matter that he had no training in engineering; his creative drive and interest in science sufficed.
He went on to develop the first computer label printer, which he designed in his studio — an airplane hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. He licensed the product to the Japanese holding company Seiko, and it became a $35-million business., considered his magnum opus. The 8-ounce, full-size, foldable keyboard that users could plug into hand-held devices was a major success when it was released the following year.
In 2000, PC Magazine named the keyboard the most innovative product in its design category, calling it “engineering wizardry” and “a marvel of design” that made “hand-held computing much more appealing and productive for mobile users.” “The full-size part was critical. After all, no matter how small the devices get, people’s fingers aren’t getting smaller,” he said. “The challenge was to make a full-size keyboard that could collapse into a small space for portability.”
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