TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Western Electric and Al Capone

Western Electric and Al Capone

Jim Haynes (haynes@alumni.uark.edu)
Tue, 07 Dec 2004 17:36:33 GMT

I'm currently reading a book, "Manufacturing the Future - a History of
Western Electric" by Stephen B. Adams and Orville R. Butler.

Al Capone had a couple of casinos across Cicero Avenue from the
Western Electric Hawthorne Works. Joseph Juran was a statistics
expert in quality control at Western. After spending some time in
Capone's establishment after hours, Juran noticed that one roulette
wheel operator worked "like a robot", making the operation of his
wheel amenable to statistical analysis and prediction. His expertise
enabled him to win $100, which at the time was several weeks' pay.

(Compare with the much later activities of some college students
documented in the book, "Eudaemonic Pie". They used computers in
briefcases and radios in their shoes in a successful scheme to predict
the behavior of a roulette wheel.)

jhhaynes at earthlink dot net

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