{"id":74063,"date":"2026-07-16T06:36:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T10:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=74063"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T20:19:09","slug":"earle-campus-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/earle-campus-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"The ‘Trolley,’ Slide Rules, and Rotary Phones: Big Red Tech History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Once upon a time, in an era long before the Internet, students absorbed the impacts of other innovations\u2014like lights in the library<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Corey Ryan Earle \u201907<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cToday, the computer can do more than ever on its own\u2014but man can still pull the plug.\u201d At least that was the case in 1965, when Cornell Computing Center director John Rudan spoke about computing during a talk in the Straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From slide rules to calculators, email to cell phones, each generation of Cornellians has faced new and evolving technologies, often with a mix of enthusiasm and fear. And while it may feel like we\u2019re experiencing unprecedented technological change in the 21st century, it\u2019s hardly the first time the University community has weathered such storms.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"An<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was, of course, technological innovation that helped create Cornell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the mid-1800s, the electrical telegraph radically changed communication, finance, journalism, and other industries. Founder Ezra was an early tech innovator, and his contributions\u2014from building the first telegraph lines and designing glass insulators to pitching potential investors\u2014laid the foundation for a telecom revolution and the eventual formation of Western Union, where he made his fortune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The trolley crosses the Arts Quad in 1895.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n

But as anyone who has ever tried to install a printer can attest, new tech often poses unexpected problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, enthusiasm in 1892 about bringing Ithaca\u2019s new electric railway (or \u201ctrolley\u201d) to campus was tempered by concerns about the \u201cunsightly poles and wires, and noisy, cumbersome cars,\u201d according to one Daily Sun<\/em> editorial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1886, the installation of incandescent lights in the University library, then in McGraw Hall, meant more open hours for the studious. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But within months, Cornellians began carping about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is much complaint among students who are doing evening work in the library, at the unsteadiness of the electric lights,\u201d noted the Daily Sun<\/em>. \u201cThey burn quite dimly and often die out entirely for five or 10 minutes at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enthusiasm in 1892 about bringing Ithaca\u2019s new electric railway (or \u201ctrolley\u201d) to campus was tempered by concerns about the \u201cunsightly poles and wires, and noisy, cumbersome cars,\u201d according to one Daily Sun<\/em> editorial.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cornell\u2019s libraries have been the testing ground for other innovations over the decades, like the pneumatic tube and paging system<\/a> that distinguished Olin at its opening in 1961.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But those tubes broke within the first year, necessitating repairs, and a grad student complained in an op-ed about the \u201cvoracious appetite\u201d of the tubes, which \u201cgobbled up\u201d his request cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Electric
The 1890s were a time of bowler hats and newfangled electric lights in the library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1965, the year Cornell\u2019s pioneering computer science department was founded, the Daily Sun<\/em> pondered the future \u201cautomatic library\u201d: \u201cCan computers replace bookshelves? Can IBM data processing machines condense all the vast information of a library into a teacup?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benjamin White, a visiting professor of psychology, predicted that the library \u201cas a thing to go to may be pass\u00e9,\u201d since \u201cinformation could be relayed by telephonic links to a series stations.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A pneumatic carrier from Olin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n

Sound familiar?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While smartphones are ubiquitous today, in 1930 the installation of 840 rotary telephones in dorm rooms was major news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Routed through a Sage Hall switchboard, the network\u2014replacing a previous system of just 76 pay phones in dorm hallways\u2014was one of the largest in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As the Daily Sun<\/em> noted of the earlier system: \u201cWhenever the phones rang\u2014and it was difficult to tell which phone was ringing\u2014everyone within range would run to see if it was for him. Even if it wasn\u2019t he usually stayed around to hear the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The privacy was short-lived, however. To cut ballooning costs, private room phones were replaced with corridor units in 1952\u2014about one phone per eight students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the women\u2019s residences could call outside the University, phones in men\u2019s dorms could only access the Cornell network, allegedly because pranksters were charging toll calls to fictitious names. (Separate pay phones were installed for outside calls.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Clara Dickson Hall once featured in-room phones (seen at far left, circa 1955) …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"A
… and in engineering classrooms of the early \u201960s, slide rules were de rigueur<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTelephones are the source of an awful lot of irritation, and an awful lot of noise, and today\u2019s students are absolutely dependent on them,\u201d Milton Shaw, director of housing and dining, said in 1964\u2014a sentiment that\u2019s perhaps just as applicable to today\u2019s smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following decade, the arrival of pocket electronic calculators caused consternation among some faculty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Telephones are the source of an awful lot of irritation, and an awful lot of noise, and today\u2019s students are absolutely dependent on them.<\/p>\nMilton Shaw<\/strong>, director of housing and dining, in 1964<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAssignments that used to take entire evenings can be done in an hour or two,\u201d observed the Daily Sun<\/em> in 1974. Professors found themselves rewriting homework and exams to ensure they tested ideas, not just arithmetic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Cornell Store employee noted that the new device\u2019s popularity had \u201ckilled the market on slide rules.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Students
“Computer Services” in 1985.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n

In 1982, the University announced what it considered the first U.S. course to integrate writing techniques with computerized word processing\u2014which, as one student observed, had an obvious advantage over typewriters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you want to change a paragraph,” they said, “you don\u2019t have to [re-]type the whole report.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most were enthusiastic, the Cornell Chronicle<\/em> explained that \u201cthe computer did not evoke enthusiasm from everyone.\u201d One student noted, \u201cI just have a mental block about mixing computers with creativity,\u201d while others complained about long waits for terminals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mann Library opened its first computer lab in 1984.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Class of \u201998 arrived in fall 1994, it became the first in which every student was granted a NetID and email address instead of having to request them individually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Class of \u201998 arrived in fall 1994, it became the first in which every student was granted a NetID and email address instead of having to request them individually.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The email takeover was swift and all-encompassing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf anyone had told me five years ago that such a thing as an email addiction existed, I would have laughed,\u201d a student wrote in the 2000 Cornellian<\/em> yearbook, adding: \u201cThis is days faster than snail mail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Orientation
Toting a dot-matrix printer during Move-In, fall 1989.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While email addiction continues in some form today, the last quarter-century has brought plenty of new tech\u2014and new distractions\u2014into the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wi-fi, laptops, smartphones, social media, and now artificial intelligence have transformed teaching and learning. But like their predecessors, Cornellians will evolve with the times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An expert on Big Red lore, Corey Ryan Earle \u201907 teaches \u201cThe First American University,\u201d a wildly popular spring semester course on Cornell history.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top: Using an early computer terminal, the Datel 30, in 1970. (All images courtesy of Rare and Manuscript Collections)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published July 16, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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