The Queen's Pinched Mine

The Queen's pinched mine!"

The Duke gave this as the reason for his telex (a two-way teletypewriter channeled through a telecommunications system for instantaneous communication) to a small company in Johannesburg, South Africa.

I was a partner in that company, which, in 1958, patented a telephone answering machine, then unknown, but now used worldwide a million times a day.

We applied enthusiastically to many countries for a license, and over time received many replies, some bulky packages and some very brief. England, Germany, France and Italy sent detailed specifications, the United States sent a flat "No," and Israel, catching its breath after surviving the war which greeted its birth, said simply "Send us one. If it works, we'll approve it; if it doesn't, you can have it back."

We chose England as our first international foray. This required British Post Office approval and the bureaucratic hurdles plagued us for months. Finally, we set off to London with high hopes and a machine modified to meet the BPO specification. Three weeks later, chastened, we returned to South Africa, having learned that bureaucracy clings jealously to its hold. We had lodged our product with the BPO laboratory as directed, kicked our heels in London day after day, made innumerable phone calls to try and hasten the tests, eventually to be told that we could resubmit after a whole new set of modifications had been made. They were very complimentary about the efficiency of the machine, the quality and the presentation, but "these things take time - you know how it is." We didn't know how it was, but had no option other than to go back to the workbench.