ABSTRACT
"The social and economic consequences of technological changes are a function of the rate of their diffusion and not the date of their first use," economic historian Nathan Rosenberg observed. Industrial revolution–most numerical control (N/C) enthusiasts at the end of the 1950s merely waited expectantly, and impatiently, for that revolution to begin. It was long in coming, far longer than they had anticipated. Predictably, numerical control use was concentrated in such state-subsidized industries as aircraft, aircraft engines, and parts, and in the machine tool industry itself. The Bendix system was based upon the Massachusetts Institute of Technology design for N/C and reflected the special needs of the military and the aerospace industry. Bendix machines were thus highly sophisticated and expensive pieces of equipment, accessible to few but the subsidized. In 1965, therefore, Bendix attempted belatedly to reorient itself for the commercial market.
