Cash Register
Invention of the cash register is a good example of a latent need finding an insightful solution from an unrelated field. Its inventor, Jake Ritty was a restaurant owner from Ohio, who hit upon the idea of a counting machine while on a pleasure trip.
In 1879, Jake was travelling on a ship to Europe across the Atlantic. During the voyage, the passengers were taken on a tour of the ship. In the engine room, Jake was captivated by seeing a machine which recorded the number of times the ship's propeller rotated. What he saw in this machine was an idea of "a machine that counts".
He was so excited by his insight that on reaching Europe, he caught the next ship home, so that he could assemble his invention. Back in Ohio, using the same principle as the ship's machine. he made a machine which could add items and record the amounts. This hand operated machine, which he started using in his restaurant, was the first cash register.
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