Automatic scorer
{{Short description|Scoring system for ten-pin bowling}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
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File:Ato 2005-11-18-score1.jpg
An automatic scorer is the computerized scoring system to keep track of scoring in ten-pin bowling. It was introduced en masse in bowling alleys in the 1970s and combined with mechanical pinsetters to detect overturned pins.
By eliminating the need for manual score-keeping, these systems have introduced new bowlers into the game who otherwise would not participate because they had to count the score themselves, as many do not understand the mathematical formula involved in bowler scoring. At first, people were skeptical about whether a computer could keep an accurate score. In the twenty-first century, automatic scorers are used in most bowling centers around the world. The three manufacturers of these specialty computers have been Brunswick Bowling, AMF Bowling (later QubicaAMF), and RCA.
History
Automatic equipment is considered a cornerstone of the modern bowling center. The traditional bowling center of the early 20th century was advanced in automation when the pinsetter person ("pin boy"), who set back up by hand the bowled down pins, was replaced by a machine that automatically replaced the pins in their proper play positions. This machine came out in the 1950s.{{cite news |date=November 9, 1967 |title=Bowling Scoring Now Automatic |page=31 |newspaper=Herald & Review | agency=The New York Times |location=Decatur, Illinois |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118325422/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} A detection system was developed from the pinsetter mechanism in the 1960s that could tell which pins had been knocked down, and that information could be transferred to a digital computer.{{cite news |last=Corona |first=Al |date=November 11, 1967 |title=Electronic Scorer Ready |page=31 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55273335/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}{{cite news |author=Craker |first=Gil |date=November 16, 1967 |title=Opinion Divided on Automatic Scorer |page=19 |work=Herald & Review |location=Decatur, Illinois |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55273814/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}
Automatic electronic scoring was first conceived by Robert Reynolds, who was described by a newspaper story at the time as "a West Coast electronics calculator expert."{{cite news |date=November 9, 1967 |title=Brunswick Markets Automatic Scorer |page=42 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |location=Rochester, New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55210290/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} He worked with the technical staff of Brunswick Bowling to develop it. The goal was realized in the late 1960s when a specialized computer was designed for the purpose of automatic scorekeeping for bowling.{{cite news |date=November 9, 1967 |title=Company Notes |page=27 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59167755/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} The field test for the automatic scorer took place at Village Lanes bowling center, Chicago in 1967.{{cite news |author=Pezzano |first=Chuck |date=November 10, 1967 |title=Scoring Machine Wins Approval of Reporter |page=56 |work=The Record |location=Hackensack, New Jersey |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55746317/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}{{cite news |author=Craker |first=Gil |date=November 16, 1967 |title=Unit Now Being Field Tested |page=19 |work=Herald & Review |location=Decatur, Illinois |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55203954/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}{{cite news |author=Spears |first=Larry D. |date=June 11, 1970 |title=New Bowling Aid: Automatic Scorer |page=18 |newspaper=Waterloo Daily Courier |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119988651/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} The scoring machine received approval for official use by the American Bowling Congress in August of that year.{{cite news |author=Rogers |first=Thomas |date=November 9, 1967 |title=Bowling eyes big $ score |page=43 |work=The Morning News |location=Wilmington, Delaware |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55211166/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} They were first used in national official league gaming on October 10, 1967.{{cite book|author2-first=Steven | author2-last=Anzovin | author1-first=Joseph Nathan | author1-last=Kane |author3-first=Janet | author3-last=Podell |edition=5th, revised |title=Famous First Facts |isbn=0824209303 | url= https://archive.org/details/famousfirstfacts00kane_0 |url-access=registration|date=1997|page=547|location=New York|publisher=The H. W. Wilson Company }} Item 7230. In November, Brunswick announced that they were accepting orders for the new digital computer, which cost around $3,000 per bowling lane.{{cite news |date=November 13, 1967 |title=Automatic scorer comes for bowlers / At almost $3,000 per lane |page=10 |work=The Southern Illinoisan |location=Carbondale, Illinois |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55212314/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} Bowling centers that installed these new automatic scoring devices in the 1970s charged a ten cents extra per line of scoring for the convenience.{{cite news |date=November 9, 1967 |title=Bowling gets Auto-Scorer |page=29 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |location=Madison, Wisconsin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55213545/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}
Description
Each Automatic Scorer computer unit kept score for four lanes. It had two bowler identification panels serving two lanes each. The bowler pushed it into his named position when his turn came up so the computer knew who was bowling and score accordingly. After the bowler rolled the bowling ball down the lane and knocked down pins, the pinsetter detected which pins were down and relayed this information back to the computer for scoring. The result was then printed on a scoresheet and projected overhead onto a large screen for all to see.{{cite news |author=Harfst |first=Dave |date=November 9, 1967 |title=New Bowling Service: Computerized Scoring |page=53 |work=Lansing State Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118325595/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}
The Automatic Scorer digital computer was mathematically accurate, however the detection system at the pinsetter mechanism sometimes reported the wrong number of pins knocked down. The computer could be corrected manually for any errors in the system; similarly, human errors, such as neglecting to move the bowler identification mechanism, could be corrected for by manual action.
The scorer could take into account bowlers' handicaps and could adjust for late-arriving bowlers. The automatic scorer is directly connected to the foul detection unit. As a result, foul line violations are automatically scored.
Brunswick had put ten years of research and development into the Automatic Scorer, and by 1972 there were over 500 of these computers installed in bowling centers around the world.{{cite news |author= |date=February 27, 1972 |title=Bowling enters the electronic age |page=125 |work=Press-Telegram |location=Long Beach, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59165201/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} AMF Bowling, competitor to Brunswick, entered into the automatic scorer computer field during the 1970s and their systems were installed into their brand of bowling centers.{{cite news |author= |date=April 14, 1978 |title=AMF computer systems technician |page=32 |work=Mansfield News Journal |location=Mansfield, Ohio |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59296406/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} By 1974, RCA was also making these computers for automatic scoring.{{cite news |author=Dommershausen |first=Joe |date=September 1, 1974 |title=City and area bowlers start rolling this week |page=26 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |location=Madison, Wisconsin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59326070/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}{{cite news |author=Kramer |first=Carol |date=November 2, 1975 |title=Super bowling in New York |pages=381, 388 |work=New York Daily News |location=New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59325908/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}{{cite news |author= |date=April 5, 1974 |title=M-66 Bowl |page=18 |work=Battle Creek Enquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59326180/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}
Reception and further developments
The purposes of the computerized scoring were to avoid errors by human scorers and to prevent cheating.{{cite news |author=Craig |first=Lissa |date=December 12, 1982 |title=No more pencils for keeping score, computer does it |page=103 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |location=Rochester, New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59265571/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} It had the side benefit of speeding up the progress of the game and introducing new bowlers to the game. Score-keeping for bowling is based on a formula that many new to bowling were not familiar with and thought difficult to learn.{{cite news |author=Schilling |first=Don |date=August 7, 1977 |title=Bowling |page=19 |work=The Leaf-Chronicle |location=Clarksville, Tennessee |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59266580/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} These casual bowlers unfamiliar with the formula thought the scores given by the computers were confusing.{{cite web |author=Goodger |first=Jef |date=November 4, 2019 |title=Bowling Scoring |url=https://www.liveabout.com/bowling-scoring-420895 |access-date=October 13, 2020 |publisher=LiveAbout}}{{cite web |url=https://www.thebowlinguniverse.com/blogs/guides-and-tips/how-to-keep-score-in-bowling|author= |title=How to Score Bowling |access-date=October 13, 2020|publisher=The Bowling Universe|date=February 12, 2017|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924103119/https://www.thebowlinguniverse.com/blogs/guides-and-tips/how-to-keep-score-in-bowling|archive-date=September 24, 2020}} Some bowlers were not comfortable with automatic scorers when they were introduced in the 1970s, so kept score using the traditional method on paper score sheets.{{cite news |author=Boardman |first=Sid |date=March 7, 1970 |title=Scoring has Automatic Twist |page=7 |work=The Kansas City Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60378453/ |quote=Scoring sounds simple to those that know how. |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}
The introduction of this device increased the popularity of the sport.{{cite news |last=Davenport |first=Terry |date=June 18, 1977 |title=New Scoring Machines right up their alley |page=13 |work=San Mateo Times |location=San Mateo, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60383347/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} Automatic scorers came to be considered a normal part of modern bowling installations worldwide, with owners and managers saying that bowlers expect such equipment to be present in bowling establishments and that business increased following their introduction.{{cite web |author=Bass |first=Sharon L. |date=August 21, 1988 |title=Some Alleys Can Now Do Everything but Bowl |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/21/nyregion/some-alleys-can-now-do-everything-but-bowl.html |access-date=October 11, 2020 |newspaper=The New York Times}} Brunswick introduced a color television style automatic scorer in 1983.{{cite news |last=Muskegon |first=Mich |date=July 9, 1988 |title=Please don't mention 'alleys' at Brunswick |page=25 |work=The Rock Island Argus |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60897202/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} Bowling center owners could use these style automatic scorers for advertising, management, videos, and live television.{{cite news |last=Sayre |first=Alan |date=July 9, 1988 |title=Brunswick |page=11 |work=The Journal News |location=White Plains, New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61086516/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}{{cite web |url= https://www.qubicaamf.com/brochure/qubicaamf-bowling-scoring-entertainment-management-system-brochure|title= QubicaAMF /Scoring, Entertainment and Central Management System |access-date=October 14, 2020|publisher=AMF|date=2020 }}
By the 2010s, these types of electronic visual displays could show bowler avatars and social media connections to publicize the bowlers' scores.{{cite web |date=July 20, 2018 |title=Pulsating / Bowling center installs new scoring system |url=http://www.therepublic.com/2018/07/21/pulsating__bowling_center_installs_new_scoring_system/ |access-date=October 11, 2020 |newspaper=The Republic |location=Columbus, Indiana}} Some are capable of being extended entertainment systems of games for children and adults.{{cite web |author=Kleinknecht |first=Brian |date=2020 |title=Sunn Valley Lanes Installs QubicaAMF's BES-X Entertainment System |work=Sun Valley Lanes and Games |url=https://sunvalleylanes.com/sun-valley-lanes-installs-qubicaamfs-bes-x-entertainment-system/ |access-date=October 14, 2020 }} Some scoring systems support variations on traditional bowling, such as different kinds of bingo games where certain pins have to be knocked down at certain times or practice regimes where certain spares have to be accomplished.{{cite book |author=Wiedman |first=Doug |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=evF6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA236 |title=Bowling: Steps to Success |date=2015 |publisher=Human Kinetics |edition=2nd |location=Champaign, Illinois |pages=199–200, 234–236|isbn=9781492585534 }}
By this point, QubicaAMF Worldwide, an outgrowth of AMF, was one of the leading providers of bowling scoring equipment.{{cite news |date=August 31, 2017 |title=New state-of-the-art bowling scoring system installed at Stars & Strikes Bowling Center |page=7B |newspaper=Command Post |publisher=Scott Air Force Base |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119562917/ |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}