Tablets are an image of technology in the postmodern era, slim portable entertainment devices (and inevitably broken), packed with nanotechnology owned by many kids over the past decade. The first microtechnology symbol.
Born in 1949 and in Vion, Leon in 1895, Angela Luis Robles, a Spanish educator, received a patent for the “Machine Encyclopedia,” a groundbreaking precursor to modern tablets. Designed to make learning engaging and accessible, innovative devices have been invented by women whose contributions have been largely recognized until recently.
Louis Robles, known affectionately as “Doña Angelita” by students at Ferol in Galicia, was not an ordinary teacher. A graduate of Leon’s teacher training school, she taught shorthand, typing and accounting before becoming principal of Gordon and Ferrol’s schools. The widow mother of three daughters, she rode a horse to embrace the beach at Ferol against the convention. Her daughter fell asleep on the rattle of her typewriter.
First Tablet Machine Encyclopedia
Her most important creation, the Machine Encyclopedia, was intended to address heavy textbooks, complex subjects and challenges of visual impairment. The prototypes built at Ferol’s shipyards due to lack of corporate investment each had button-up reels that each featured similar subjects to modern USB drives. It included a light for reading in the dark, a magnifying lens that can be adjusted to suit the student’s needs, a small calculator, and a button that acts as an early hyperlink. Despite approval from the Spanish Ministry of Education, the invention never reached mass production.
Ruiz Robles’ Ingenuity won her Alfonso X cross and skepticism from those who doubted that all subjects would fit on her device. Leading her Catholic faith and the motto of selfless service, she managed a national school for orphans, taught free classes, and wrote letters for others. In 1925, her community respected her dedication with a special distinction.
In 2013, Apple’s iPad became popular, and Spanish education and economic ministries said “wait a second,” and published a book on her invention, sparking a lot of renewed interest. Her story appeared in works like “Guereras, Son of Las Chicus,” and won a Google Doodle for her birthday. Currently, two awards have given her name, and her prototype is on display at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Coruna.
Ruiz Robles always refused to sell inventions in the US, claiming it should be developed in Spain. Her teacher, mother and visionary heritage continues, and is a testament to a woman whose innovative spirit has transformed her education.
