Army Digital
Army Digital
A Short History of the Swiss Army Knife
The story begins in 1891 with Karl Elsener, owner of a company that made surgical equipment. He founded the Association of Swiss Master Cutlers, to supply pocket knives to the Swiss army, who at this time were using German-made ones. It took Elsener five years to come up with what he called the "Soldier's knife" (known today in Switzerland as the "Offiziersmesser"). With suggestions from an engineer friend, Jeannine Keller, the original model had a wooden handle, and came with a blade, screwdriver, can opener, and a punch. It was actually made available to the army before 1896, but Elsener was not happy with the device, and eventually was able to put blades on both sides by using a special mechanism using a single spring for both blades. This allowed him to also add a corkscrew.
Elsener's company, Victorinox, was the single supplier of multi-function pocketknives until 1893. A company in the French-speaking area of Switzerland called Paul Boechat & Cie began to market a similar product. The company was later bought by its general manager, Theodore Wenger, and the company name changed to Wenger. By 1908, the Swiss government decided to split the contract for knives between the two companies, partly to appease German and French-speaking factions in the country, and partly to stimulate competition (and lower the prices of the knives). The two companies came to an agreement over marketing, with Victorinox using the phrase "The Original Swiss Army Knife" and Wenger using "The Genuine Swiss Army Knife". The following year (1909), the Swiss army began decorating the knives with the Swiss national symbol (a white cross). Victorinox uses a shield with bilateral symmetry around the cross, while Wenger uses a slightly rounded square with quadrilateral symmetry. The Swiss army uses knives with a simpler bilaterally-symmetric shield.
Victorinox switched to stainless steel blades and tools in 1921. It is believed Wenger did so as well around the same time, but company sources are inconclusive about the exact date. The knives were sold in PX stores on US army bases from 1945 to 1949. In fact it is believed that the term "Swiss Army Knife" was coined in English by American G.I.s during World War II, because they couldn't pronounce the Swiss name "Offiziersmesser".
Today, Swiss army knives contain a multitude of tools, including: several blades, a bottle-opener/screwdriver/wire stripper, can opener/small screwdriver, tweezers, toothpick, corkscrew, phillips-head screwdriver, nail file, scissors, saw, hook, magnifying glass, ballpoint pen, fish scaler, pliers, keychain, USB flash memory, digital clock, digital altimeter, LED light, laser pointer mp3 player, and a brass spacer in the official army model, which allows assembly of the SIG 550 and SIG 510 assault rifles (with the screwdriver and reamer extended, the knife becomes a restraint to the firing pin during the lock assembly). Wenger has a special model which contains all the tools they make. The device is nearly twice as wide as it is long, and retails for around $1,200.
The knives are also available in many other colors besides the traditional red. Black, blue, white, pink, camouflage, phosphorescent yellow and many others, in both opaque or transparent. Also metal and wood cladding. The model actually used by the Swiss army is in fact aluminum, and not red at all.
On April 26, 2005, Victorinox acquired the Wenger company, becoming again the single supplier of knives to the Swiss army. The company intends to keep the Wenger brand alive for knives sold to consumers.
About the Author
Michael Carpenter operates two websites that sell Swiss Army Knives:
Army Knife Swiss (US) and
Army Knife Swiss (UK).
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How do gaming technologies and personal digital technologies discipline its user and prepare them for management in work organisation?
Technology has advanced at a rapid rate during the last twenty years. New technologies have created new ways of living with more technological possibilities than ever before. One possibility was the video game market which has now grown to the stage where people are playing all over the world. The market for video games is continually expanding with many games now reaching similar revenues to that of top Hollywood films. The extent to which these technologies have prepared and disciplined users for the work organisation would appear at first to be very little as it would be assumed just a game. However there could be many similarities which have helped people improve organisational and management skills.
Many video games are another persons reality. The example of the football manager series, can be seen as a direct example of the presence of management and organisation in a video game. This allows users to control, direct and instruct a football team as if it were there job to do so. Football Manager is one of many simulations, others including Rollercoaster Tycoon, Sim City, Medal of Honor, all being real life occupations which many people desire due to the market size for these simulation games. It is common however that these players do not choose to try and follow this career path. The video game is seen as a method of escapism into a world which is totally different to everyday life. This raises the question whether anything learnt from a video game can be applied in a persons ‘real’ job. The possibility in the mind of the person/gamer is two worlds which are separate entities which will not allow transferable skills, one being fantasy and the other a reality.
Discipline in an organisation would require an employee/employer to work hard at carrying out the relevant tasks. These tasks would be usually to built to achieve aims, goals and objectives for the organisation. These goals having been set to reach a mission statement. This situation could be likened to a video game. E.g. Grand Theft Auto, the organisation goals are individual missions, the mission statement being to complete the game to 100%. The employee/employer and the gamer will work/play to achieve these overall goals and if they are reached then benefits will arise out of them. The gamer feels rewarded with a sense of achievement and so does the employee, although monetary gain is also likely in the work organisation. The skills required are focus, determination and belief to succeed towards an overall objective which is an essential skill in an organisation, providing the basis for good management skills. With both these skill needed for games and management it could be possible that video games prepare or highlight people with the necessary skills to focus on goals and objectives. This proving them to be more prepared for management in the workplace.
Everyday management in the workplace requires co-ordination and communication skills. An employer will need to delegate tasks to another employee, allowing large scale operations to be complete successfully. This is also present in video games, especially multi-player shoot-em-ups. With a headset a player can instruct teams and armies to attack/defend or other tactics to try and win the battle. This involves communicating plans effectively, under pressure, skills which are seen valuable in the work environment. However the extent to which these skills are developed when playing games could be questioned. The gamer may have already acquired them elsewhere and gaming is simply putting them into practice, which would not prepare them for the work organisation anymore than they already were.
Video games are a leisure activity which is not associated with work. The discipline of the two are very different as the worker and gamer are in very different situations. The worker could be considered as under ‘real’ pressure to complete work. The gamer however is in a relaxed environment, with little outside pressure to complete the game, even though it may be important to the individual it does not have any affects on colleagues if the game is not complete where as in work organisations it does.
Video game technologies can be recognised as requiring similar skills to that of management in work organisations, but they are very limited. The discipline and preparation to become a successful manager in a work organisation will require a lot more than decent gaming skills. I believe the two activities have no correlation between good gamer and good manager, however this remains to be proved. The video game and work organisation are two completely different situations requiring a different state of mind in each.
Video games can also be cheated on e.g. Wii Cheats and Wii Cheat Codes , this is something that is definitely not possible in management!
About the Author
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