Monday 6 October 2014

James Goodfellow OBE.


                                     

Life would be very different without this man (would you have known who he was?).

It was he who invented the four digit PIN number, and the ATM machine (although others do claim the same). Mr G holds the patents to prove his inventions, although it is said that he only ever made £10 from having done so; other than his salary.

Those of us who remember the old 3pm bank closing time, and the rush to cash cheques, will forever be grateful to Mr Goodfellow. Now we have access to our own money 24hrs a day, and can buy that essential bag of potatoes at 2am if we so wish.

Mr Goodfellow changed our lives for the better, as well as giving certain Romanian gangs a whole new career option; I thank you sir.


18 comments:

  1. I did not know about Mr Goodfellow. Now I want to thank him too for the hole in the wall that gives us money. ( Like my daughter used to call it when she was a small child)

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    Replies
    1. That's exactly as I see it too. A generous miracle.

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  2. ….. and, the first one was put in my Dad's branch of Barclay's Bank in Enfield town in 1967 and was unveiled by Reg Varney from ' On The Buses ' fame !!!!! …. although, I thought it was John Shepherd-Barron who invented it ? XXXXX

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    Replies
    1. Several people claim to have invented them; but Goodfellow holds the patent. Reg Varney is still on TV, causing groans across the UK.

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  3. It's easy to forget that things like this were actually invented.

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  4. I'd never heard of him. It sure beats a signature that no one ever looks at. It's funny because chip and pin hasn't been around that long but it's hard to imagine being without it now!

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  5. Have you ever seen the workings of an ATM ? I used to work for a bank, and often wondered( when filling it with cash) how anyone could have thought it all up as it is so complicated inside! Perhaps the first ones were simpler.

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    Replies
    1. One thing I do know, is that I always COUNT my money when it comes out of that little mouth.

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  6. I wonder if his £10 was dispensed through a machine?

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    Replies
    1. The rest of his millions probably got chewed-up.

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  7. I am old fashioned - I still buy my potatoes at ten in the morning.

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  8. Oh, I never knew (or even thought) about who invented the pin number. But thanks Mr Goodfellow. I remember our first ATM was in Richards Bay, and called the BOB Machine. Can't remember what BOB stood for now!

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  9. Replies
    1. It better than a Friday afternoon Tea Dance.

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  10. I only started using the machines recently. The banks don't want you inside wasting their time being a customer anymore.

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    Replies
    1. I would be stumped without them here. I never set foot inside a bank.

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