I contacted the curator at the Lincoln Museum by email. His response:
This is entirely a hoax. Clever, too. We have an official stastement to that effect due within the hour. -James
James M. Cornelius, Ph.D.
Curator, Lincoln Collection
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum
112 N. Sixth St.
Springfield, IL 62701-1310 217.785.7954
http://www.alplm.org
A few people in the other submission have suggested that this is a hoax. The photos may have been rehashed from period publications, there is no mention of this patent application in the well documented life of Lincoln, and it is rather convenient that the means of proper documentation was left at home.
But what a yarn! It takes gumption to start off a tall tale with a circus man. And it plays into the "execution is everyhing" mentality. The OT should consider starting a gazette of his own!
As for the story, it appears President Lincoln understood the sensibility of decentralisation. Each town manages its own Gazette. The townsfolk have a personal relationship with the person in charge of managing the information.
From the end user's perspective this idea still seems as sensible today as it was then. And it's no more difficult to achieve.
In the meantime, send all your personal details to Facebook and their advertiser clients for analysis. You might be missing out on important products and services if you don't!
[+] [-] Kevin_Marks|14 years ago|reply
This is entirely a hoax. Clever, too. We have an official stastement to that effect due within the hour. -James
James M. Cornelius, Ph.D. Curator, Lincoln Collection Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum 112 N. Sixth St. Springfield, IL 62701-1310 217.785.7954 http://www.alplm.org
[+] [-] ynniv|14 years ago|reply
But what a yarn! It takes gumption to start off a tall tale with a circus man. And it plays into the "execution is everyhing" mentality. The OT should consider starting a gazette of his own!
[+] [-] adamio|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] boreacrat|14 years ago|reply
original: http://members.dandy.net/~mrbooks/23800.jpg
edited: http://natestpierre.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/newspaper....
[+] [-] Natsu|14 years ago|reply
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3944856
Abe does have one patent (#6469), but it's not for Facebook. They claim this patent was rejected, though.
[+] [-] keithvan|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] namidark|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vinayan3|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thespin|14 years ago|reply
As for the story, it appears President Lincoln understood the sensibility of decentralisation. Each town manages its own Gazette. The townsfolk have a personal relationship with the person in charge of managing the information.
From the end user's perspective this idea still seems as sensible today as it was then. And it's no more difficult to achieve.
In the meantime, send all your personal details to Facebook and their advertiser clients for analysis. You might be missing out on important products and services if you don't!
[+] [-] readme|14 years ago|reply