Did the Flying Shuttle Cost Money? (Clarified)
The question contains a misunderstanding. John Kay's flying shuttle (1733) was a real, pivotal invention—not a myth.
What It Was
- A wheeled shuttle** that raced across a wider loom via a cord jerked by the weaver.
- Doubled weaving speed; enabled one weaver to do work of two.
- Key trigger for the Industrial Revolution in textiles.
Cost Context
- Development cost: Kay spent years and personal funds perfecting it.
- Adoption cost: Mill owners paid for new looms/retrofits; weavers resisted (job loss fears).
- Patent battles: Kay litigated extensively; died in poverty in France.
There's no single "price tag"—it was a capital investment in machinery, not a consumer product. The economic impact was massive: cheaper cloth, factory system, labor displacement.
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