Day in Tech History: Recent Episodes
Jeffrey Powers
ComdexDuring the 80’s and 90’s, there was a little show called COMDEX. It stood for Computer Dealer Exhibition. For a while, there were 2 versions: The Spring COMDEX (Alternating for a while between Altanta and Chicago) and the Fall COMDEX (Las Vegas). The show was attended by many and there were vendors galore. I remember seeing Bill Gates at the 1998 Comdex for the Blue screen error when they plugged in a scanner. I also saw President William Clinton give a keynote.COMDEX finally fell in 2003. Nonetheless, a lot of History falls between this time and about April from the show. Therefore, the next few days there will be a lot of “At the COMDEX Show”.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Mosaic becomes Netscape * Power PC CHRP * Ubuntu on ARM
YouTube2006 – In February 14, 2005, 3 former Paypal employees started a website that let you upload and share your video. YouTube brought a new idea of putting your creations on the internet. However, their creation got very popular. It cost a lot of money to run and the company couldn’t keep up with costs. Enter: Google. They purchased the site from the founders for $1.65 billion on October 9. Today marked the completion of this acquisition.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History *2007 – New York Times tears down their Walled Garden for Ad- supported content. * 1990 – Tim Bernes-Lee launched the first Web Page * 1989 – The first Make Money Fast scheme is uploaded to Usenet
Gary_McKinnon2002 – Gary McKinnon has been in the news ever since his arrest. Back in 2002, he hacked into networks run by NASA, the Pentagon, along with other military bases around the US. He claims he was on a hunt to find evidence that the US has been covering up alien contact.What makes this a tough case is that McKinnon lives in the UK. Since the arrest, he has been waging a war against being extradited to the United States. He has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome – a form of Autism.
BTW – this is the largest military hack known to have been perpetrated by one individual.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History *2012 – John McAfee goes into hiding because his neighbor (Gregory Faull) was found dead from a gunshot the day before. Belize police wanted McAfee to come in for questioning, but McAfee stated the police were “out to get him”. He fled to Guatemala where he was arrested for illegal entry. He was deported to the US on December 12th. * The World Wide Web proposal is published by Tim Berners-Lee * Intel introduces the 45nm Penryn chips * On Computable Numbers with an Application to the Entscheidungs-problem – is published by Alan Turing
Sony2005 – In an effort to curb piracy, record companies began putting copy protection on the CD’s themselves. The electronic marking would cause CD’s to error out if they tried to copy. Unfortunately this idea was riddled with problems. Some players couldn’t read the disks, other people would find ways around the copy protection, such as different brand drives. However, it was found that the XCP copy protection standard became a backdoor for hackers as viruses could be introduced through the software.
The announcement came ten days after Sony had secretly put this system on the shelves.
2008 – A bill for $73 million dollars was sent to Microsoft, Google and Carl Icahn. This was for the operation costs (including incremental costs) for outside advertisers to acquire Yahoo!
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Remembrance of Veterans on Vetrans Day / WWI Memorial Day * IBM 2980 Financial terminal * The first OLPC order is placed * Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Icahn debauchery cost $73 million.
Windows 1.01983 – Windows 1.o was announced at the Helmsley Palace Hotel in New York City. It was one of the most elaborate product introductions to date. Gates says Windows 1.0 will officially release in 1984, yet it didn’t release until June, 1985.
Atari1986 – Back in that day, Comdex was the big computer show. There were two versions: one that was held in Chicago in the spring and the other in Las Vegas mid-November. At this time, Atari was the big dog on the block. Jack Tramiel was putting all efforts in this years Comdex after seeing a small dip in the shares.So they set up a 65 booth display with different 3rd party developers that would show off what the Atari could do. The big innovation that year – the SX212 1200 baud modem for $99.95. They also showed off the Atari 2600jr and the Atari 7800, and because of that impressive show, Atari boasted a $25 million profit that year.
Of course, the company went well for a few more years, merged with JTS, which was then bought by Hasbro in 1998. The company still is survived in a way to this day, but not in the glory that it was back then.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** IBM introduces Giant Magnetoresistive (GMR) Heads * The first Apple iPod is shipped * Circuit City files for Chapter 11 protection * Bill Gates introduces Windows for IBM PC
Mozilla Foundation2004 – Mozilla launches the web browser that would finally give Internet Explorer a run for it’s money. Firefox 1.0 web browser was created by Mozilla, who broke free from the Netscape Navigator browser to develop in Open Source. The Gecko layout engine browser would be available for Windows, Mac and Linux – with it being the standard browser in current flavors of Ubuntu. Last year on it’s 3.5 release, it set a new worlds record download. Firefox currently takes 1/5 of the market browser share.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Blizzard settles a lawsuit with Micro Star * Netscape acquires Collabra * Albert Einstein is awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in Physics
windows for Workgroups 3.11 logo1993 – Microsoft releases the OS Windows for Workgroups 3.11 – which is the last big release before Windows 95. It was built to connect better with Windows NT for businesses. It also had updates to improve stability and system performance.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Bubbleboy worm * DirectX 9 is released * Eric Schmidt bows out of Barak Obama’s search for a CTO
Pets.com sock puppet was the most popular part of Pets.com2000 – It was a time that would be known as when the Bubble burst. The event technically happened on March 10, 2000. Since that time, dot com-ers began losing their sites and livelihood. Although Pets.com had a pretty good run and marketing strategy, they didn’t have the momentum to keep investors on board. The company worked hard at trying to sell, but even the puppet mascot of a dog holding a microphone wasn’t enough to reel in an interested buyer. The only good sales at Pets.com were the sock puppets, which was eventually sold upon bankruptcy to a company called Bar None – an auto loan firm.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** IBM and Motorola shun Microsoft on a new computer platform * Atari makes IPO * the Craigslist bandit
3Dfx logo1995 – 3DFX releases the much anticipated Voodoo 3D acceleerator. QuakeGL becomes the first game using the Voodoo 3D. Hi-resolution rendering was it’s advantage. 3Dfx would continue to make the VooDoo until NVidia acquires the rights. 3Dfx would ultimately file for bankruptcy in 2002.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Lizzybee.com becomes the 3 millionth domain name * The first Walkman Phone * Hewlett Packard files for IPO
Microsoft Logo1999 – It was over 12 years that we saw Microsoft go through the Department of Justice over Monopoly issues. US district Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued a 207 page Findings of fact on this day. In it, he ruled that Microsoft did have a Monopoly power over the OS in the Intel market. During the week we talked about what leads up to this 207 page ruling.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Aurora SPARC Linux is released * Abilene network segment is upgraded to 10 Gbps * Google drops the Yahoo – Google deal in pressure from the Justice department
Michael Dell1984 – Michael Dell launches his new business of IBM compatible PC’s from his dorm in Austin, TX. The idea was to sell a philosophy over a product. The philosophy was to sell direct to customize to the shopper. Of course, Dell’s award winning service throughout the years has shown this to be a good plan. Happy Anniversary, Dell!
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Firefox captures 20% market share * Compaq announces the 12 lb portable * UNIVAC I predicts Dwight D. Eisenhower as president
Real Networks1999 – Real Networks admits to collecting data without telling users with their software program RealJukebox player. When the issue was brought up by a competitor, Real apologized and issued a patch to change the collection process. For any software to collect data, they must inform you and give you an option to opt out.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** UMax releases PowerPC Mac * Godzilla is released * McAfee manager arrested for laundering money
Neoprene1931 – E.I. DuPont announces to the world they have come up with a new substance that is a Synthetic rubber called DuPrene. Made from Acetylene, salt and rubber, this combination would eventually be renamed NeoPrine in 1937. The announcement was made at the American Chemical Society in Akron, Ohio.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History *2001 – Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Justice reach terms on Antitrust * 2002 – DeLi Linux is released * 2007 – Lenovo removes IBM label from computers
Intel Pentium ProIntel announced in 1995 the next generation processor – the Pentium Pro. Unlike the Pentium, the Pentium Pro was a chip designed for 32-bit architecture, so Windows 95 and Windows NT could run true. The processor ran between 150-200 MHz, with a bus speed of 60 MHz (for 150 or 180 MHz processor) or 66MHz (for 166 or 200 MHz processor). The processor used a .35 micron process and prices started at $974 to $1989.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History *2008 – Novell Open SUSE Community elected board * 1996 – DEC sues AltaVista * IBM PCjr Released * 1983 – The IBM PCjr is released
The paper was called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” by Satoshi Nakamoto. It was posted to a cryptography mailing list. This was a roadmap to the creation of the crypto-currency, which officially launched on January 3, 2009.
The Abstract:
- A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. Digital signatures provide part of the solution, but the main benefits are lost if a trusted third party is still required to prevent double-spending. We propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer network. The network timestamps transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without redoing the proof-of-work. The longest chain not only serves as proof of the sequence of events witnessed, but proof that it came from the largest pool of CPU power. As long as a majority of CPU power is controlled by nodes that are not cooperating to attack the network, they’ll generate the longest chain and outpace attackers. The network itself requires minimal structure. Messages are broadcast on a best effort basis, and nodes can leave and rejoin the network at will, accepting the longest proof-of-work chain as proof of what happened while they were gone.
The domain name “Bitcoin.org” was registered on August 18th. Since then, this premiere currency has seen some volitile transactions, jumping up to as high as $15,000.
Currently, Bitcoin is at around $8,000 USD.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** IBM OS/2 1.1 released * First public version of Sketch * Google privatizes Jotspot
War of the Worlds1938 – Orson Welles shocks the nation with radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds” by H. G. Wells. A large number of listeners who tune into the program ten minutes late (because the singer on the Edgar Bergan show was not that great). Because of this, they didn’t know this was a fictional story and start to panic. The story was brought through a series of “Newscasts” that Welles portrayed the reporter on the street and how these giant machines landed and began to attack the population.This event would launch Orson Welles career. Of course, he would go on to create Citizen Kane, Othello, Don Quixote and other classic cinema pieces.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** 1986 – First Fibre-optic cable * 1995 – Oracle announces Websystem * 2007 – Nine Inch Nails Trent Reznor says “Take my music”
William C. Lowe2013: If you grew up in the 80’s, you knew what an IBM PC was. Even in the 90’s and 00’s, the PC was what you had in the corner of the house to do homework on, surf the internet, work out expenses and more.
William C. Lowe was the man that brought that all together. He joined IBM in 1962 and left in 1991. It was in 1981 that the IBM PC debuted.
Did you know IBM was late in the PC game? In order for them to beef up a PC division, they almost bought Atari.
Instead, they decided to go with an open architecture with the PC. It took one year to develop and in the end the IBM PC could be purchased for $1,565.
We remember William C. Lowe with admiration.
1955 – Reynold Johnson brought a new idea to life. Using magnetic cylinder memory, His team put 50 platters – 24 inch disks – into a series. The end result – the first hard drive was born. The device was then produced as the IBM 350 (debuted September 4th, 1956), which was put into the IBM 305 RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control), which was debuted in September 13th, 1956 – with the IBM 355 (hard drive) and IBM 650 (RAMAC) on September 14th. It ran at 1,200 rpm and held 5 MB of data.Reynold Johnson’s prototype weighed one ton. The 350 cost $10,000 / MB.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Maxtor DiamondMax * Brad Silverberg leaves Microsoft * DC Comics goes online
Bill Gates1955 – William Gates Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates has a son. William Gates III was born in Seattle, WA. Bill Gates, of course, went on to start Microsoft. Bill was CEO of Microsoft until he retired in 2008. In 2000, he started the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Interestingly enough, 30 years later in 1985, Bill Gates put Microsoft up for IPO. That’s a birthday present…
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Apple unveils MessagePad2000 * Digital Millennium Copyright Act goes into Law * Palm merges Handspring – forms PalmOne
Dell1999 – Dataquest, a company that monitors PC sales, has shown a trend that Dell had maintained a 5% lead over Apple for 2 consecutive quarters. Therefore, Dell had become #1 in computer sales for 1999. Of course, a recent report mentioned that Apple could now buy Dell if it so inclined.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Windows Azure launches * Internet Explorer 4.0 releases * The ARPANET stops functioning
Subliminal-Brain1998 – A Georgia man became the first person that ran a computer controlled by thought. The subject (known as J.R.) was paralyzed due to stroke. Dr Roy Bakay and Dr. Phillip Kennedy implanted a glass cone into J.R’s brain, which would allow him to mentally control the PC.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Sig Hartmann resigns from Commodore * Sony introduced the PS2 in the United States * Facebook releases Scribe * JVC announced U-format video recorders
Osbourne Vixen Computer1984– The Osbourne Vixen debuted. Inside was a ZILOG Z80a processor, with 64k RAM and the CP/M OS. Other programs included Wordstar, Supercalc and M-Basic. All this for $1,498.The Encore was also introduced. It was developed by Vadem Inc for $2,195. The computer was an MS-DOS computer with modem and four icon keys. phone, clock, disk and calculator.
2001 – Microsoft released Windows XP Home, Pro for retail. XP used the NT Kernel and merged the consumer desktop OS with the business desktop OS. XP was code-named “Whistler”.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** ICANN elects its first Board of directors * The first electronic wristwatch
Internet1995 – The Federal Networking council officially coins the term Internet: the Council’s Committee on Computing, Information and Communications (CCIC) created the FNC on Sept. 20th, 1995 to act as a forum for networking collaborations among Federal agencies.From nitrd.gov
Resolution: The Federal Networking Council (FNC) agrees that the following language reflects our definition of the term “Internet. “Internet refers to the global information system that – (i) is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet Protocol (IP) or its subsequent extensions/follow-ons; (ii) is able to support communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite or its subsequent extensions/follow-ons, and/or other IP-compatible protocols; and (iii) provides, uses or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high level services layered on the communications and related infrastructure described herein.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Apple released v.10.3 * Sober Worm is detected * Microsoft put $240 Million into Facebook
Amazon.com2011 – Jeff Bezos announces a new line of Kindle products including the Kindle Fire. This 10 inch tablet was Amazon’s rival to the iPad. It ran a version of Android that connected with Amazon store. The Fire would cost $199 and came with 30 days of Amazon Prime.
2008 – British Secret Service admitted they have been looking for the next agents. They mention that they have been looking far and wide for spies. That is why they went to Facebook. MI6 placed 3 ads on Facebook to look for people seeking career change.. ability to shake a good martini is preferred.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** eDonkey shuts down * IE overtakes Netscape as the #1 browser * Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Kay Nishi accept new IBM contract
Kevin Mitnick1996– Famous hacker Kevin Mitnick is indicted on 25 charges for a 2 and a half year hacking spree. Police believed Mitnick had stolen Millions of dollars in software from different corporations. Mitnick faced up to 200 years in prison if found guilty. He was first arrested on February 15th, 1995. He was sentenced to 46 months and an additional 22 months for violating the terms of his 1989 supervised release. He was released to supervised release on January 21, 2000 and finally released on January 21, 2003.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Disney nixes Disney Mobile * iTunes 7.0 is released * Atari dumps inventory – Litterally – into a landfill
Loch NessAugust 22, 565:OK, not really Tech, but kinda geeky:565 – St. Columba saves someone who was being attacked by a monster in Loch Ness. That will later become record as the first time Nesse was spotted. You can read about it in the book Life of St. Columba by Adamnan.
From Adamnan’s Book:
(He) raised his holy hand, while all the rest, brethren as well as strangers, were stupefied with terror, and, invoking the name of God, formed the saving sign of the cross in the air, and commanded the ferocious monster, saying, “Thou shalt go no further, nor touch the man; go back with all speed.” Then at the voice of the saint, the monster was terrified, and fled more quickly than if it had been pulled back with ropes, though it had just got so near to Lugne, as he swam, that there was not more than the length of a spear-staff between the man and the beast.”
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** SHARE is founded * Legend of Zelda is released * The investigation of TIDE (The Terrorist Database)
Internet2August 21, 2001 – using a 45 MBs line, Brazil became part of the Internet2, an internet connected to multiple academics. The connection went from Rio de Janerio to Miami Fl. Internet2 member rolls included over 200 higher education institutions, 40 members from industry, 30 research and education network and connector organizations and over 50 affiliate members.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Windows 95 is released. The official launch date will be on the 24th * Club Neverdie is running well in Entropia Universe * MP3.com reaches a settlement on their case with Sony Entertainment Group
iPhoneAugust 20, 2008: When the 3G iPhone released, some people started complaining about the connection. Apple wasn’t saying anything. An independant company stated that the “Infineon” chip that helped control 3G was to blame for the issue. It was suspected that a software update would fix the problem.However the 2.0.2 software update didn’t really help with the connection problems. Add to it the fact that a woman was suing Apple over the 3G network being slower than advertised.
Steve Jobs finally put out a letter stating that by 2.1 the issues will be resolved.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** American Airlines launches in-flight WiFi * PowerMac G4 with Dual 800 Mhz processor is released * Betamax will cease production
VirusAugust 19, 2003: The Sobig.F virus was first discovered on this day. 24 hours later, it took down many a network by sending out emails with subjects like – “Re: Approved,” “Re: Details,” “Re: Re: My details,” “Re: Thank you!,” “Re: That movie,” “Re: Wicked screensaver,” “Re: Your application,” “Thank you!,” or “Your details.”The first version was found in January of 2003. The Sobig.F was the most destructive.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* AMD Sempron 3300+ * Saturday Morning TV begins * Netscape 3.0 released
WangAugust 18, 1992: Wang Computers had been growing, but their financial outlook didn’t seem good. In 1992, they filed for Bankruptcy protection. They eventually got out of bankruptcy, but not before they changed the scope of the business. They changed to Wang Global, then in 1999 were bought out by “Gentronics”
2011 – CEO Leo Apatheker made an announcement HP will be focusing on Enterprise, and putting the PC division on sale. This sale did not include the WebOS software. He instantly discontinued the HP TouchPad tablet and Pre series of smart phone. By the evening, most stores would discount the TouchPad to $99. This brought a lot of controversy, as some people would go to buy a TouchPad at Best Buy and they were denied as HP told them to ship the units back. BTW – HP was incorporated back in 1947 on this day.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** ET is released * Android “Near Release” SDK 0.9 * Grokster ruling stating that P2P are not liable for the content they deliver
DellAugust 17, 2006: Dell announced in 2006 they will begin putting AMD processors into Dimension desktops and later in the year Dell AMD servers will be available. On that same day, they announced that after an internal investigation into its accounting practices Dell would restate and reduce earnings from 2003 through Q1 2007. A total amount of between $50 million and $150 million was deducted – 2 cents to 7 cents per share.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** The first CD is made * FBI search a SD “Forensic Tech Solutions” that had gained access to some government computers. * US rules on Grokster for Peer to Peer and accountability
LawAugust 16, 1999 – The Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) announced they joined in a six-company lawsuit brought by Acclaim Entertainment against the Class, Paradigm and Razore 1911“>Razor 1911 hacking groups. Other companies included Accolade/Infogrames Entertainment, Bethesda Softworks, Interplay Productions, Lucas Arts Entertainment Company, and The 3DO Company. Of course this was an attempt to curtail the software piracy issue.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* IBM AI software * Palm purchases Be * Wikiscanner
August 15, 1877: Thomas Edison makes first audio recordingHow does the kids nursery rhyme play into technology? Well in 1877 these were the first words uttered out by Thomas Edison in making the first audio recording. Sometimes we take for granted audio – we have moved from Albums to 8-Tracks, cassettes, CD’s, then finally MP3. But if it wasn’t for Thomas Edison’s work, we might not be at the high and easy levels of audio recording.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* 1939 – We’re off to see the Wizard * 1977 – The Big Ear * 2000 – The “Secret Squirrel” * 2006 – The Phantom Console removed from Website
August 14, 2008: Netflix distribution centers go offline for 3 daysAugust 14, 2008 Fifty-Five Netflix distribution centers go offline due to an “undisclosed error”. While they didn’t let us know what happened, they did say that it only affected the core of mail-based delivery operations. The problem took 3 days to fully resolve, although they were slowly shipping movies by that Wednesday.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** 3DO sells * 1.1 GHz from AMD * SCP sells DOS
MicrosoftDatallegro – a warehouse application – had been sued by XPrime, where Cary Jardin (CEO of Datallegro) used to work. Datallegro was in mid acquisition by Microsoft at the time. The acquisition completed on Sept 16, 2008. The suit was analyzed by critics as “not relevant”. No word on how that suit ended.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** ICCP is founded * Atari sues Amiga * Apple’s Rooftop is burning
August 12, 1981: IBM brought the PC to customersIt was 1981 when IBM rolled out the first PC model 5150. Of course they had other computers, but nothing that targeted the home market as the PC would. The 5150 contained a 4.7 MHz processor, 16k or RAM and 40 k of ROM. All for $1,565. If you wanted to customize, well, get out the check book – that will cost you $6000.Each PC came with Microsofts’ CP/M Operating System.
“We intend the IBM Personal Computer to be the most useful system of its kind,” C. B. Rogers, Jr., IBM vice president and group executive, General Business Group said. “Besides making it easy to set up and operate, we are offering a program library that we expect will grow with the creativity of the Personal Computer users.”
The 5150 was sold through Computerland and Sears retail chains. You would also be able to get the computer through IBM Product Centers. The basic system would cost your $1,565.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Gary Reback (Netscape Communications) writes “The Microsoft Letter” * XML Standard rejected * Twitter “2000” ceiling limit
August 11, 1999: Redhat files IPORed Hat is a Linux distribution and a vendor. They are on the S&P 500 company list for it. Founded in 1993, this company has provided a more professional type of open source software – giving pay support and Enterprise editions for IT pros. CEO Bob Young brought the company to this point. They filed for IPO in 1999. It turned out to be one of the largest Wall Street Gains in history. They put up 900,000 shares of common stock. Red Hat spiked at $136 a share, but is currently at $57
Also, Palm released the Palm VIIx and Vx handheld computers. VIIx was $449 and the Vx was $399.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** BD-ROM is Finalized * Yahoo and Alibaba.com * Hypercard is Introduced by Apple.
August 10, 2004 iTunes hits 1 million songsOn this day in 2009, the Day in Tech History started. I was running the show as “Week in Tech History”, then went to a daily format to increase listeners. The show has been running for over 1000 episodes, never missing a day. It is now entering into it’s 9th year.
It’s a great day for Apple in 2004 as they hit th one millionth song. They started back in 2001, so to hit 1 million songs in 3 1/2 years was a big milestone. Of course, since then and since the introduction of the iPhone, that number has increased exponentially.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Borland releases Quattro * World Population at 6 Billion * Craigslist Outtage
August 9, 1999: AMD Athlon IntroducedAMD introduces a new brand name to compete with Intel in 1999. The Athlon processor replaces the K7 and adds 3DNow! Technology. The processor was introduced with speeds of 500 MHz to 650 MHz. The prices went from $249 to $849. The Palm VIIx was $449 and the Vx was $399.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Netscape goes Public * URL Shortner Tr.im announces they are closing (to only find they would come back online 2 days later)
August 8, 2008: $1,000 Ruby iPhone appApple has always controlled it’s products – The Application store is no different. This might be a great case why. An application was put into the store – Called the $1000 app. It did cost $1000, which means after Apple’s 30%, the developer received $700 per purchase. The application simply showed a ruby.Apple took the app down quick, but not after the application was purchased 8 times.
Keep in mind there ARE applications that cost upwards to $1,000. I highlighted them in this iPad365 episode.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Microsoft Office is introduced * Intel announces Pentium 4
August 7, 2000: Palm M-100 releasedPalm introduced a couple new devices in 2000, They beefed up the Palm V line with the Palm Vx and Palm VIIx. The company, however, decided to retire the Palm III line and start Palm m100. They debuted the 16MHz model with Palm OS 3.5 and a 2″x2″ monochrome LCD display for $149.The Palm VIIx was $449 and the Vx was $399.
Eventually, Palm was bought out by HP where it was used and discarded. WebOS software is now Open source.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** IBM introduces the ASCC * First Satellite photos of Earth were taken * Apple releases the PowerMac G5
August 6, 1997: Bill Gates & Steve Jobs create a Microsoft/Apple allianceIt was the day that will live in infamy. Apple on the verge of collapse. Steve Jobs in dire need. So he calls on the only person that can help – Bill Gates.
Well, it didn’t happen that way. But in 1997, at MacWorld Expo, the two come together to announce a five year alliance. Microsoft buys $150 Million of non-voting stock into Apple and hold it for 3 years. Patents will be cross-licensed for the next 5 years. Microsoft Office would be created for Mac computers. Internet Explorer would also be developed for the Mac OS.
This is considered one of the 10 most pivotal moments in tech history. Of course, Steve Jobs changed directions and Apple grew after this moment. Although some might have said this was one of Apple’s worst moments in time, it really turned out to be their best.
Full Day in Tech History podcast show notes for August 6
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History**Other today in technology historical facts:
- Tim Berners Lee posts the WWW project at alt.hypertext Usenet newsgroup
- XP Service Pack 2 is released
- Apple removes Google Maps off the iPhone
August 5, 2002: Internet 2 switches to IPv62013 – Jeff Bezos puchased the Washington Post for $250 million dollars. The deal was officially finalized on October 1, 2013. Later, in an article in Forbes, Bezos admits he was talked into the purchase.
The Washington Post is a separate entity from Amazon.
2002 – The Internet2 – Otherwise known as the Abilene Network – deploys Internet Protocol v.6. The switch from IPv4 was to give a network layer that could include packet-switched internetworks. This increases the IP addresses available.
Focused on members’ technology needs since 1996, Internet2 provides a collaborative environment for U.S. research and education (R&E) organizations to solve common technology challenges, and develop innovative solutions in support of their educational, research, and community service missions. Activating the same partnerships that produced today’s Internet, our members are forging the future Internet through community, an unsurpassed innovation platform, and trans formative, above the-network services and applications.
– from About the Internet2 PDF
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** eDonkey goes on-line * Steve Jobs “Oops” announcement on Mobile ME * First radio broadcast of a baseball game
August 4, 2009: Laura Ling, Euna Lee pardonedIn 2009, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il issued a pardon to two Current TV journalists who were recently charged for perpetrating hostile acts against the communist state. After a visit from former President William Clinton, Laura Ling and Euna Lee were released. They were detained on March 17th.
“It was the third time that I’ve heard her voice since March 17 when they were first detained. And it was a very different call from the two previous calls. She was very deliberate and clear in her message, which was, look, you just have to know that we did violate North Korean law. We broke the law, we are sorry, and we need help. We need our government’s help to try and get amnesty because that really is our only hope.”
– Laura Ling, speaking with KCRA-TV
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Social.fm closes it’s doors * eMule is first released * IBM PS/2 Model 2 is released
August 3, 1977: TRS80 Model I Released2005 – To handle revenues, the Mozilla Foundation established the Mozilla Corporation. This taxable organization can skirt any legal issues the Foundation would endure for being a non-profit organization. A board of directors brought Gary Kovacs on as CEO to the Mozilla Corporation.It was the first computer based on the Zilog processor.
1977, Lewis Kornfeld announces the TRS-80 Model I microcomputer. This 8-bit computer had 4KB RAM, 4KB ROM, 12-inch RCA video, and came with the CP/M OS. The computer was $399.95, but add all the extras and it would come to $599.95. The computer was presented by Lewis Kornfeld, president of Radio Shack at the time.
The TRS-80 Model I computer was discontinued in 1981.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** PayPal outage * European Union opens an antitrust case against Microsoft
August 2, 2005: Apple Mighty Mouse releasedThe Apple Mighty Mouse was first released in 2005. It was the first mouse since Apple Lisa that had multi-button functionality. A $49 price tag made it a real addition to your machine.However, this mouse was not without controversy. Another company – Called “Man and Machine” – created a mouse for the medical field. It was also given a trademark for the Mighty Mouse name a year before Apple. Yet Apple still received a Trademark for the mouse.
Now some may say “What about the mouse that saves the day”. According to trademark laws, their trademark was for a cartoon character, whereas Apple and Man and Machine made a mouse.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** IBM introduces the 370 series * SGI switches to Intel chips * The Ionizer is arrested * Google Surpassed Apple as top global brand
August 1, 1981: MTV LaunchedIn a study by the US Atomic Energy Commission in 1970, they connected a computer across the transatlantic to see how a database could transfer overseas. One computer was in Paris at the European Space Resource Organization, the other in Palo Alto, CA. The group concluded that this was a success and anyone could get access the world over.
1981 – Music Television launched. This changed the way we consumed music. A 10 minute long hello from the staff of MTV at 12:01 on August 1st, was followed by the first music video – Video Killed the Radio Star.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** _}Microsoft releases Office for Mac * First Yahoo Shareholder’s meeting since the Microhoo bid
July 31, 1980: TRS-80 pocket was releasedRadio Shack released a few new TRS-80 line computers in 1980. One was the introduction of Model III. It contained a Zilog Z80 processor and 4 kb of RAM> The price was only $699.Then again, you could get the TRS-80 for $399 with the Motorola 6809E CPU, or the TRS-80 Pocket computer for $230
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History *Windows NT 4.0 Released * Sprint Early Termination Fees * Hotmail changes their mail name to Outlook
July 30, 1996: Atari merges with JTSIn a four minute meeting, the stockholders voted 42 million to 11 thousand in favor to the merge Atari and JTS in 1996. Because of the decision, Sam Tramiel picks up the severance checks, but agrees to stay in office while the company transitions. JTS held the Atari name until March 1998 when Hasbro bought the brand for 5 million dollars.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History The Lisa Project starts * The PowerPC alliance * Time Warner joins the WiMAX* revolution
July 29, 2009: Yahoo! sells search assets to MicrosoftWe dealt with the big buyout bid fight between Microsoft and Yahoo back in 2008. Of course, the outcome was that Yahoo’s CEO Jerry Yang stepped down and Carol Bartz took the reigns. However, Carol did make a bold move in 2009 as she agreed to a deal with Steve Ballmer. Microsoft would get Yahoo Search engine technologies and create a search engine for Yahoo. In return, Yahoo would handle advertising for premium search advertisers. This was a ten year deal.BTW – Recent news stated that Yahoo.jp is using Google in Japan. While it did put a snag in the agreement this week, Yahoo Japan Chief Exec. Masahiro Inoue said Microsoft didn’t localize the service in Japan, therefore, they went with Google.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History *WindowsNT 4.0 RTM is released * 100-nanosecond 64 kbit DRAM * Sirius and XM finish their merger
July 28, 1858: First prints used as evidenceSir William James Herschel was using it for more of a signature than anything in 1858 as he was requiring palm prints from people he met. After collecting several prints, though, he started realizing there were unique identifiers that could be used in identifying a person. The Palm prints would eventually change to fingerprints for Forensics to use.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History *Apple invests in Samsung for LCD technology * Sprint acquires Virgin Mobile and the Boost Mobile brand * Dell Workstation 400 is announced
July 27, 1993: Windows NT 3.1 was released1993 – Microsoft released another Operating System to focus the business. NT 3.1 was the first release in the NT series. NT stood for “N-Ten,” the codename of the Intel i860 XR processor for which NT was initially developed.The NT kernal was different than the Windows 3.x version. It implemented the Win32 API, or 32 bit programming. Windows NT also was for the business. It didn’t push multimedia like it’s home counterpart.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History *Tandy 1000 SL is released * OJ Simpson launches askoj.com * Cuil Launches to rival Google
2012 – Google ran a contest for people to tell them why they should have fiber installed in their city. After millions of entries and a lot of interesting videos trying to convince the judges, Google decided that Kansas City KS would be the first fiber city. On this same day, Google also showed off Fiber TV service.
Napster2000 – The Recording Industry Association of America was after Napster ever since the site came on-line. It was the promotion of illegally searching and downloading music and sometimes video. in 2000, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel issued a preliminary injunction against Napster, ordering the company to cease operation by July 28th.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would stay the injunction and raise questions to judge Patel and the injunction.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History *Cyrix and Texas Instruments part ways * The auction of Quokka.com assets * The Google – Digg acquisition talks were reported to have fallen through.
July 25, 2005: Violent Video Games LawThe sale of Video Games began to really heat up in 2005 as Illinois Governer Rod Blagojevich signs a bill into law restricting the sale of violent video games to minors. You could be fined up to $1,000 for selling games with adult ratings. Immediately, video game groups sued, claiming the law is a restriction on free speech.The law would be deemed unconstitutional and repealed by US District Judge Matthew Kennelly.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Ericsson purchases Nortel‘s CDMA and LTE assets * Sinclair Radionics is founded * Duck Dodgers and the 24 1/2 Century is first aired
Chromecast2013: Google put on a “Secret Town Hall” meeting. Nobody knew what was going on, although some speculated it had to do with the TV. In their major announcement, Google introduced Chromecast – the HDMI-based set top box that was small enough to plug into the TV and not see it. The 2.83 inch dongle could stream YouTube or Netflix (at the time), along with a feature that turned your Android or iOS device into the remote.
The video would push to the TV while the mobile device could continue on searching, playing games, and more.
Chromecast debuted at $35 with 3 free months of Netflix.
Credit CardsIt’s whats known as “Data Pass”. You went up to Orbitz, Buy.com, Fandango, Shutterfly, Priceline or Continental Airlines and purchase something. You are then asked if you want to be a part of the loyalty program. If you say yes, the credit card would be passed to a 3rd party affiliate, like WebLoyalty, Vertue and Affinion. They would then continue to bill your card. This issue broke lose in 2009 and the US Senate commerce Committee started looking into the issue.On Aug 10, 2010, Affinion (parent company to Data Pass) agreed to pay 8 million in damages. An additional $2 million would be paid between 5 – 3rd party companies that included Classmates.com and FTD. A small amount to the millions they swindled for years…
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History *Caldera International buys DR-DOS from Novell * AMD acquires ATI Technologies * Podcaster Leo Laporte walks over to record the first show from their new TWIT Brickhouse.
Gottlieb Daimler CarBack in 1886, Gottlieb Daimler gets into his new invention. It looks like a horse-drawn buggy, but it has a one cylinder 1.1 HP engine mounted in the back seat. The first car got up to 16 km/h
Seventeen years later, in 1903, Ford Motor company sells it’s first car. A Model A to Dr. Ernst Pfenning of Chicago. It was a twin cylindar combustion engine.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History *IBM goes Open-Source * Palm launches the Tungston T2 * Commodore unveils the Amiga 1000
July 22: Arrests of 3 hacking organizationsThe Secret Service made some major breakthroughs in Hacking circles in 1989 as three members of the Legion of Doom were arrested. They were charged with hacking into Bell South’s Telephone Networks in 1988.
Franklin Darden, Adam grant and Robert Riggs would be sentenced to time in Federal prison.
The Secret Service also find out who “Fry Guy” is – the employee who hacked McDonalds mainframe for raises. It was part of the “Hacker Crackdown”.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History Mac OS 8.0 is released * *Bill Gates and Paul Allen sign the MITS agreement * Amazon purchases Zappos
July 21, 1925: John Scopes found guilty for teaching evolutionJohn Scopes was an activist and a teacher. In what was called the “Scopes Monkey Trial“, John was charged on May 5th, 1925 of teaching evolution in his Tennessee classroom. On July 21 he was found guilty and fined $100. The central argument in the case was the Butler Act, prohibiting that human evolution, or any Biblical account of origin could be taught.Scopes verdict was overturned, but only because of a technicality. The Judge fined Scopes and not a jury.
The Butler Act was repealed in 1967.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Xerox leaves the computer market * Blueberry iBook Computer announced * Apple announces a worker at Foxconn commits suicide for loosing an Apple 4G prototype
July 20, 1999: Y2k bill signed into law2012 – At the premier of the Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, CO. James Eagan Holmes opened fire in one of the theaters. Holmes killed 20 people and injured many. He is currently being evaluated for insanity with a court date of Feb 13, 2014.
In a step to protect companies from any post Y2K problems, in 1999, President Bill Clinton signs a bill into law protecting companies from legal action.
Today I have signed into law H.R. 775, the “Y2K Act.” This is extraordinary, time-limited legislation designed to deal with an exceptional and unique circumstance of national significance—the Y2K computer problem.
In signing this legislation, I act in the belief and with the expectation that companies in the high technology sector and throughout the American economy are serious in their remediation efforts and that such efforts will continue. Many have worked hard to identify the potential for Y2K failures among their systems and products, taken reasonable measures to inform those who might be injured from Y2K failures of steps they could take to avoid the harm, and fixed those systems and products, where feasible. If nonetheless there are significant failures or disruptions as we enter the Year 2000, plaintiffs will turn to the courts seeking compensation. Responsible companies fear that they will spend millions or more defending Y2K suits, even if they bear little or no responsibility for the harm alleged. Frivolous litigation could burden our courts and delay relief for those with legitimate claims. Firms whose productivity is central to our economy could be distracted by the defense of unwarranted lawsuits.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Hasbro scraps Virtual Reality game * Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas gets a new rating * CTSS is first demonstrated
July 19, 2000: Apple released PowerMac G4 CubeApple released a series of new items in 2000, including a new “button less” mouse, iMovie2 and the iMac DV series with the PowerPC G3 processor. But they also introduced the PowerMac G4 Cube – a 450 or 500 MHz computer with Velocity Engine – A Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) which operates concurrently with existing integer and floating-point. Add with it 2 Firewire ports, 10/100BaseT Ethernet, Modem and 20 GB hard drive and you had a serious system at the time. The cube could not take cards because of it’s case sizes and the DVD drive was located on the top of the device. It was designed with a case that made it possible to eliminate the fan.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Palm introduces the IIIe * The iPhone app “cannabis” is released * TWA introduces in-flight movies
Intel LogoHungarian immigrant Andy Grove, along with Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce founded Intel in 1968, as Integrated Electronics Corporation. Intel was actually the trademark of a hotel – They ended up buying out the name.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger’s last movie, hits theaters * Video of Titanic’s remains were released * US DOC permit’s export of computers to the Soviet Union
Arco IdahoDuring a one-hour test in 1955, Arco, Idaho became the first town to be fully electrically run on nuclear power. The small community was powered by the National Reactor Testing Station” (NRTS). NTRS later became the Idaho National Laboratory.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History Apple redesigns the iMac, 20 GB iPod * Accenture purchases Symbian* Professional Services
Amazon.comFluid Concepts & Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought. That was the first book Amazon sold on July 16th, 1995. The company ran from their garage in Bellevue, Washington. 3 SPARC machines was all they had and a cool little mechanism that rung a bell every time a book was sold. The business model was set to make profit in 5 years. It was a good thing, because that may have helped it survive the dot com bubble.
17 years later, Amazon is going strong. Purchases of companies like WOOT! and Zappos!, along with the introduction of Kindle e-reader and Amazon Prime, the company is one of the largest resellers of product on the web.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech HistoryOther today in technology historical facts:
- Happy Birthday Dan Bricklin and Orville Redenbacher
- Michael Dell steps aside as CEO
- Yahoo! Hires Marissa Mayer as CEO
July 15, 2006: Twitter Launches2006 – Biz Stone, Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass and Evan Williams launch this 140 character “What are you doing” social network. The group first started production in March of 2006, but it launched on the 15th. Currently, over 200 million users are on Twitter.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Microsoft releases C# * iTunes 8.2.1 blocks Palm Pre * Nintendo launches the “Famicon” * “Gangnam Style” by Psy releases
Enigma MachineThe Enigma machine was the first electronic cipher machines, producing encrypted messages. German engineer Arthur Scherbius created this device in 1928 to turn a message into a jumble of code. Therefore, if the message got in the wrong hands, it could not be read.Of course, though time, the encryption was broken by British intelligence. However, it proved that we could put a level of security to a simple text message. Something we continue to strive for even today.
Spotify2011 – The US waited for this Swedish music streaming service, and on this day, we got it. Founded in 2006, Spotify announced after exhaustive negotiation with four major US record labels, they were given the green light to launch. It came with much praise from the online community. Since then, Spotify was integrated with Facebook, and launched their own apps and app finder.
Meanwhile, in 1995, after 15 million lines and 3 years of programming, Microsoft announces Windows 95 (a.k.a. Chicago) was deemed “Golden“.That meant Microsoft could not make any more fixes or adjustments would be made until it’s release on August 24th. Of course, Microsoft Windows 95 was their first 32-bit operating system and considered a major game changer in the world of computers.
Geekazine Fact: Jeffrey Powers got his IT career as a support agent for Windows 95.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History 386BSD is released * A girl falls into a manhole while texting * PalmOne changes back to Palm*
Netflix2011 – CEO Reed Hastings announced a bombshell that, in turn, brought on Netflix’s single worst year ever. He announced that they were splitting Netflix streaming from DVD rentals. With that, the price would be doubled – $8 for 2 DVD rental plan and $8 for streaming. If you were an existing customer, you would be grandfathered in until September. This news caused their stock to fall, which continued when Hastings announced the DVD division was to be rebranded as Qwikster, and sold (which, of course, didn’t happen).
1923 – HollywoodLand Sign is dedicated to the people in Los Angeles CA. The sign was shortened to Hollywood where it stands overlooking LA.
1985: Live Aid was first held. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for Ethiopian famine releif. Over 175,000 people attended what was called the global jukebox. The concert was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was one of the first and largest shows broadcast on satellite in 1985.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Microsoft is found to violate the Sherman Antitrust Act * Staten Island girl falls into a manhole after IMing on her phone
July 12, 1960: Etch A Sketch Debuts in USIt is the famous drawing tool that became a cult classic. A toy that is as collectable as the LEGO or Star Wars memorabilia. The Etch A Sketch was first brought out on shelves in 1960. Of course, since then it has taken its popularity to many levels. Some people create masterpieces, while others just play with the dials. I have an Etch A Sketch attached to a pencil, but its size is about the same as an iPad or other Tablet.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History IBM 3663 released * Atari is approved to merge with JTS * 100 millionth iTunes* song
July 11, 2007: Oracle 11g released2007 – Oracle releases what they called the $10 billion / year Database software in Oracle 11g. It was the first update since 2004. Oracle’s what as refered to as an object-relational database management system (ORDBMS). It is produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History 1969 – David Bowie releases Space Oddity * 1987 – World population hits 5 billion * 1991 – the Eclipse of the Century * 2005 – PowerPC 970MP * 2008 – iPhone* 3G goes on sale
Michael ScottNo, this isn’t a case of the office and this is not how Michael Scott (Steve Carell) leaves the show…
In a case that was refered as “Black Wednesday”, CEO Michael Scott felt that there was a lot of redundancy. Therefore he decided to fire 40 employees, including half of the Apple II engineering team. The move caused Apple to replace Scott almost imediately. On July 10, 1981, Scott officially resigned from Apple stating that this was a “Learning experience” for him.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Mel Blanc, the major voice of Looney Tunes characters passes away * The “Monkey Trial” with John Scopes, takes place * Commodore resurfaces with gaming machines
July 9, 1982: Both the movie and video game Tron were releasedIt was a movie that became a cult classic. Tron – The story of Kevin Flynn who tries to figure out if ENCOM stole his game ideas. While hacking into the mainframe, the company sets a trap where Flynn gets sucked into the video game.
The movie debuted in 1982 along with the video game by Bally. Tron starred Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan. It took 17 million to make the movie, it grossed 33 million in return. Tron’s sequel of sorts – called Legacy – was released on Dec 17, 2010. Unfortunately, it did not receive the same status as the original did.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History 1997 – Gibert Amelio resigns from Apple * 2008 – Secret Diary of Steve Jobs shuts down * 2009 – Microsoft releases Silverlight 3*
July 8, 2007: A major DNS patch was released after a bug Dan Kaminsky foundIn 2007, developer Dan Kaminsky found a flaw in the addressing of the Domain Name System, or DNS. DNS is found on home to commercial routers around the world. The issue was so severe, that they were not divulging the issue until a patch could be implemented on a wide scale. On March 31st, Kaminsky – along with 16 other developers – gathered at Microsoft to work on a massive patch and synchronize the release so all details could be released as well. The Patch was released in July 8th, 2008. For more information, see the Explaination of the DNS Flaw
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Yahoo! stock split * Sega releases the Saturn in Europe * The first ice cream sundae!
In 1881, a man walked into Edward Berner’s drug store in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Since it was the Sabbath, the customer couldn’t have the flavored soda water for religious reasons. As he sat at the soda fountain counter, Berner comes to a compromise. Berner put ice cream in a dish and poured chocolate syrup on top. They then named it Ice Cream Sunday. The name will become “Sundae”, the next day.
July 7, 1994: Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits released MP3 format1994 – The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS) released I3enc – otherwise known at MP3. This is also known as MPEG-3. The MP3 moniker did not get chosen until July 14, 1995 (it was .bit before .mp3). MP3 is still licensed to Fraunhofer Institute – therefore, you must pay a license fee to use the popular .mp3 format. There is an open source format .ogg vorbis.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* PSOne is released * TI-99/4a is demonstrated on the Mike Douglas Show * A Legal version of Scrabble hits Facebook
Jack TramielIn a very bold move, Jack Tramiel laid off the majority of his staff outside of engineering. This comes in 1984, 3 days after Tramiel buys Atari for $240 million in 10 and 12 year notes.
The employees note that it wasn’t a Hard layoff. One employee stated that no one cared if they looted the building, so they did.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* ABC joins Hulu * Microsoft’s first corporate president * Source code of e-mule was released
Not the email version. In 1937, Hormel came out with the first can of SPAM. The Luncheon meat. Spam was derived from the words Spiced Ham. It is pre-cooked meat that contained chopped pork, ham mean, salt, water, potato starch, and sodium nitrate. So if you have high blood pressure, you might want to stay away from this stuff.
SpamSpam comes in many varieties, including Hot & Spicy, Less sodium (25%), Spam Lite, Oven Roasted Turkey, and others.
SPAM is made in SpamTown, USA – or Austin, Minnesota. McDonalds uses Spam in Guam, hawaii and Saipan. Spam is known as “poor people food”, however, in Hawaii, it is a common meat served.
For their 75th anniversary, Spam introduced Sir Can a Lot.
“The introduction of Sir Can-A-Lot provides an engaging presence that highlights the playful and down-to-earth personality that makes the SPAM brand both unique and timeless,” said Nicole L. Behne, product manager of SPAMfamily of products. “The campaign features him ridding not only mealtimes of boredom, but also helping consumers ‘Break the Monotony.’”
Monty Python‘s version of SPAM came out December 15, 1970 – The first email SPAM happened on May 3, 1978
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History Junction transistor is created * First Excel* macro virus * Dolly the sheep is born
July 4, 1996: Hotmail Launches“Happy Independence Day. In return, we are going to give you a great new way to get email. It’s called “Hotmail“. Be free from your internet service provider!”
That was the call to action on 1996. Hotmail launched their email service as “HoTMaiL” (HTML is upper-case). It is the first web-based email that was later named MSN Hotmail, then Windows Live Hotmail.
Hotmail had many features since its start. Unlimited storage was one big feature. In 1997, Microsoft purchased Hotmail for $400 million, and changed the name to MSN Hotmail. They paired with the Microsoft Instant Messanger, then built items like the calendar, SkyDrive, and more.
After getting stiff competition from Google in 2004, Microsoft changed the service to Live Hotmail. The service continues on with many updates to compete with Google and Yahoo mail.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History Major BBS is released * Who is the President of the Internet * 1 euro ebay* baby goes home * Stranger Things Season 3 Launched
IBM Apple1991 – IBM’s Jim Cannavino met with John Sculley of Apple. They worked out a deal and signed a sharing agreement. It would allow Mac to integrate with IBM enterprise systems. It would also allow Apple to use the PowerPC with their RISC based Mac to work together.Power PC stands for Performance Optimization with Enhanced RISC. It is also known as PPC. The RISC architecture processor was first meant for personal computers, yet embedded machines adopted them for use. Computers such as the AmigaOS 4, POSIX, BeOS all used PowerPC. Even Windows machines used PowerPC for their NT 3.51 and NT 4.0 OS.
Power PC came in 32 and 64 bit versions. Sony Playstation, Nintendo Wii and XBox 360 all have PowerPC inside.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History 1886 – Karl Benz drives the first automobile * 2000 -AOL completes Mapquest Acquisition * 2009 – McAffee anitvirus wipes out some Windows Machines * 2012* – A lost Steve Jobs interview was discovered and posted to iTunes
July 2, 2001: Napster Shuts DownNapster, the file sharing service (started by John & Shawn Fanning, and Sean Parker) that was up since 1999, had a series of trials and tribulations until 2001. After lengthy legal battles with artists like Madonna and Metallica, Napster began to realize their business model is not going to work. They shut down the entire network to comply with an injunction.
This case was partially settled on September 24, 2001, where Napster was ordered to pay $26 million in damages and $10 million in future royalties.Eventually, Napster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, right before Napster 3.0 was ready to be deployed. On May 17, 2002, German company Bertelsmann purchased for $85 million, however, it was blocked on September 3.
Ultimately, Roxio purchased the company and re-branded it. They owned it until 2008 when Best Buy would purchase Napster for $121 million. They owned until December 1, 2011 when Rhapsody purchased the service.
Napster was named after a hairstyle.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History Atari is sold * Yahoo* is redesigned * Lori Drew’s verdict was overturned
Trillian2011 – HP announced the TouchPad, their entry into the tablet market. Using the WebOS software they purchased from Palm back in 2010, the TouchPad introduced some new features, including the ability to sync with the upcoming Pre3 phone by touching the two together. However, the tablet was squashed in September by then CEO Leo Apetheker.
Since then, HP abandoned WebOS, making it open source. They have put out another tablet in early 2013 using the Android software.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History2000 – Remember the days of the Instant Messenger? Yahoo IM or Microsoft Messenger, ICQ, AIM and many more. In 2000, a company called Trillian tried to capitalize on the market by making a IM client that could connect to all of these instant messengers. Only problem is that Yahoo! and Microsoft didn’t want to allow this to happen. They tried to block the software. However, new patches were installed and Trillian was able to access the messengers again.
Trillian (www.trillian.im) is still in existance to this day. You can download for your Mac, PC, Android, iPhone, Blackberry, and more!
Funny thing, in 2004, Microsoft put out a multiple – IM software called IM2.
- FORTRAN is released
- BASIC ships
- The first X-Ray photograph
Dr. Alan Chow2000 – Dr. Alan chow and brother Vincent announced they successfully placed a silicon microchip beneath human retinas. The chip is smaller than the head on a pin and only microns thin. These chips also contain solar cells to help power the chip.
In what is called “Optobionics”, the ASR chip is inserted behind the retina in the “subretinal space”. This is a 2 hour procedure and the chip can last up to 8 years after (depending on care).
Full Day in Tech History podcast show notes for June 30
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History IBM unbundles software from Hardware * President Bill Clinton e-signs the first bill into law * Global Gaming Factory X announces they will be buying the Pirate Bay*
ASCI White2000 – IBM unveiled the ASCI White – their fastest computer yet. This supercomputer was based on IBM’s commercial RS/6000 SP computer. 512 computers were connected to make this supercomputer. over 8 million processors, 5 Terabytes of memory and 160 TB of disk storage.
The computer was completed on this day in New York, and would go on-line on August 15, 2001 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Compuserve acquires TheSource, a major competitor * Gigabit Ethernet standard is set * Max Butler pleads guilty to stealing 2 million credit cards
Aereo2014 – Trying to be the first provider of over-the-air channels, Aereo was told to shut down completely after a supreme court decision went against the company.
The idea was simple – take the over-the-air network channels and offer them on the Internet. Based in New York, the company opened services in 24 different cities. You could only watch the programming of your area on your PC, Mac or Linux. There were around 28 channels you could choose from and pricing was simply $1 a day.
Aereo was faced with many legal issues, including the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition act. The rebroadcast through the service undermined cable re-transmission fees.
It was also a wake-up call as after the fact, many cable providers started offering live streaming options.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* 1999 – HydraBBS software was released * Williamette – a.k.a. Pentium 4 – is announced * AMD files antitrust suit against Intel * Motorola introduces the 16 MHz 68020 processor
Bill Gates2008 – Microsoft CEO Bill Gates officially steps down from office. He hands the reigns over to Steve Ballmer, and stays on as Chairman of the Board.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Gillette makes the Erasermate – the first erasable pen * Atari is established
iphone1997 – Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Unwired Planet create a partnership to start and build on the Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP) as a non-profit organization. The industry group was formed to keep wireless devices on track, bring Internet connected devices to all who need it, create a wireless protocol that works on all network technologies, make scalable applications and content, and work with existing standards to expand as wireless needs grow.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Microsoft retires support for MS-DOS * The First Barcode was scanned * IBM Blue Gene/P * Apple Mac G4 Computers were released
Microsoft1981 – Microsoft goes through a restructure to incorporate in Washington. Bill Gates would become president, Paul Allen was Executive Vice President. Steve Ballmer would come on full-time with a $50,000 year salary.
The reason why they incorporated? On this same day, Paul Allen sends a proposal to Rod Black of Seattle Computer Products for Microsoft to purchase all rights to 86-DOS for $30,000. At that point, they had only a non-exclusive license (since September 22, 1980). This was a strategic move because Microsoft had a relationship with IBM, and wanted to re-license for the IBM PC.
After a month of negotiations, Seattle Computer agreed to the purchase for $50,000. However, that was not the end of it, as they found out of the IBM deal. They finally settled years later for $1 million.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Michael Jackson brings Social Media Down * Geocities was hacked * AOL hits 30 million users
Symbian2008 – Nokia announced they have purchased Symbian outright. They originally owned 46% of the company, and bought out the remaining 54% for $410 million. But then the company turned around and created the Symbian Foundation – a group that would house and give away the software code.
The group and software would remain functioning until 2010. Symbian Foundation then closed, citing that it would change to a legal entity, responsible for licencing software and intellectual property. The transition completed in 2011.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History Symantec acquires Ghost software * Florida Judge grants Apple permission to continue lawsuit against Psystar* * Who Framed Roger Rabbit releases
DNS1983 – Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel run the first successful test of the distributed Domain Name System (DNS). This automated process was to take over failing Arpanet and CSnet protocols because those relied on address books.
DNS uses a hierarchical distributed naming system for the Internet or any private network. It associates the domain names with numerical IP addresses.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History Nintendo* 64 is launched * The Typewriter is patented
Kodachrome Film2009 – Kodak announced they would ended the production of Kodachrome color film. Once the leftover film is distributed, there will be no more made. That lasted until December, 2010.
Kodak created their iconic Kodachrome film in 1935. This is a non-substansive, color reversal film was used in still photos and cinematography. It used the subtractive color method – which required a complex chemical system to make the negative.
Kodachrome was invented by John Capstaff, who worked for a competitor until Eastman bought the company out.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History Dean Fox leaves Atari * IBM and NNSA announce Blue Gene/L * Kodak* ends production of Kodachrome film
Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)1948 – What was first expected to be a practical use computer, the SSEM, or Small-Scale Experimental Machine became the first stored-program computer. Basically, it stores program instructions into it’s electronic memory. This 32-bit word length, cathode-ray tube computer was designed to only run subtraction and negation through hardware. Other functions could be run, but only through software.
The first program was run on this day. It was written by Professor Tom Kilbum. The seventeen-instruction stored-program took 52 minutes to run. The program was tasked to find the highest proper factor of 218 (262,144).
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Start of the Summer Solstice * Congress Robot Caucus * SSEM runs first program * Final Cut Pro 10 was released to very negative reviews * Google and Nest Acquire Dropcam
Microsoft2014 – Microsoft and Google agree to the Kill switch technology. In a California bill SB-967, Smartphones built after July 1, 2015 will consist of a hardware or software option to “kill” the phone. Further, a $500 to $2,500 fine will be issued to anyone selling a stolen phone.
Once switched, the device will not be able to turn on, even during a hard reset.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History 1926 – First wireless phone is demonstrated * 1989 – Lotus 1-2-3 version 3.0 is released * 2000 – IBM 1GB Microdrive * 2003 – Wikimedia Foundation is founded * 2009 – Nokia purchases Nortel*
X Window System1984 – Jim Gettys and Bob Scheifler announced collaboration of a new operating system in the X Window System. This gives the basic framework for a GUI. Currently, it is refered to as X11, R7.7.
I’ve spent the last couple weeks writing a window
system for the VS100. I stole a fair amount of code
from W, surrounded it with an asynchronous rather
than a synchronous interface, and called it X. Overall
performance appears to be about twice that of W. The
code seems fairly solid at this point, although there are
still some deficiencies to be fixed up.We at LCS have stopped using W, and are now
actively building applications on X. Anyone else using
W should seriously consider switching. This is not the
ultimate window system, but I believe it is a good
starting point for experimentation. Right at the moment
there is a CLU (and an Argus) interface to X; a C
interface is in the works. The three existing
applications are a text editor (TED), an Argus I/O
interface, and a primitive window manager. There is
no documentation yet; anyone crazy enough to
volunteer? I may get around to it eventually.Anyone interested in seeing a demo can drop by
NE43-531, although you may want to call 3-1945
first. Anyone who wants the code can come by with a
tape. Anyone interested in hacking deficiencies, feel
free to get in touch.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* AOL Software glitch * Apple iPhone 3G S is released * X Window System is released
Terry Semel2007 – Terry Semel was under pressure by the board because of dissatisfaction of his compensation. Terry was brought in to create a partnership with Hollywood, which really didn’t happen. He handed the reigns over to Jerry Yang, who started promising revitalized talks with Microsoft. There are a few that even speculate that was when the buyout of Yahoo began. Jerry Yang stepped down in 200
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History 1999 – Palm announces the m100 * 2009* – Jammie Thomas-Rasset was found guilty of copyright infringement and ordered to pay 1.92 million to the RIAA. * Microsoft announced the Surface Tablet
Head of the Statue of Liberty at the Paris World’s Fair, 18781885 – Arriving in over 200 crates, the Statue of Liberty is fully delivered to New York City. French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, along with Gustave Eiffel, created this statue for America to be a symbol of freedom and friendship between the US and France.
Yet, it almost didn’t get assembled due to an argument on who would pay for the pedestal at Ellis Island. President Cleveland finally dedicated the statue on October 28, 1886.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Linus Torvolds announces he will leave Transmetta to work for the Open Source Development Labs * Flickr co-founders leave the company * Compaq announces the Armada line of computers
Compaq Deskpro 4000N – the first NetPC1997 – Several computer companies banded together to help create the NetPC. A disk-less computer that got all information, including install – from a corporate server or the Internet.
Basically, these would be similar to thin clients or “Dumb terminals” for work computers. No CD drive, no floppy disc and limited disk space. Cases were sealed so nobody could get inside to reconfigure the computer. Installs would be handled via the Internet, therefore, no personal software could be installed.
Microsoft and Intel unveiled the system at the PC Expo trade show. NetPC would work with Compaq, Dell, IBM, HP, Acer, Gateway 2000, Mitac, Misubishi, NEC, Pionex, and Groupe Bull computer companies to make the first group of NetPC computers.
The sub-$1,000 computer was a great idea that would work better today than in 1997. IBM dropped out of the project before the first NetPCs came out. They decided to make something their customers would use.
Microsoft finally pulled the plug at the Windows Engineering Conference in 1998 when John Frederiksen, lead project manager for thin clients acknowledged the phase-out process.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History 1657 – The first Pendulum Clock * 1884 – Coney Island’s first gravity powered Roller Coaster * 1988 – Intel releases the i386DX * 1999 – Windows 98 SP1 is released * 2008 – Google Docs gets PDF Support * 2009 –iPhone* OS 3.0
FreetheNipple campaign2014 – After a major protest from #FreetheNipple, Facebook decided to adjust their stance on photos of breastfeeding mothers. Facebook implemented the initial ban on December 30, 2008.
The new rule became: Any baby fully engaged in feeding where nipple was covered could remain posted. However, Facebook did have the right to pull down photos if enough complaints were lodged.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History 1752 – Benjamin Franklin flies a Kite * 1983 – Microsoft eXtended Basic (MSX) * 1982 – Arcades and the First Amendment * 2006* – Bill Gates announces he is stepping down from CEO of Microsoft
Action Comics Introduced Superman1938 – It is one of the geekiest days for people like me. Creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster introduced one of the comic heros in Action Comics. Interesting enough, Superman was suppose to be a bad guy.
The first form of him appeared in “Science Fiction #3” in 1933. He looked more like Lex Luthor than the caped crusader. But with a little re-tooling, Superman made the comics and a piece of geek history.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History 1938 – The First Superman comic * 1985 – Apple lays off 1,200 employees * 1997 – Tamapittchi, a cellular phone with a Tamagotchi built into it, is released in Japan * 2006 – Google Maps for Enterprise * 2009* – #CNNFail
June 13, 1993: Microsoft and Time-Warner Create Interactive TV1993 – Microsoft teamed up with Tele-communications and Time Warner to start the revolution known as “Interactive TV”. The ability to buy product right through the set during a show. iTV would give users a Digital Set Top Box in which they would use to browse, go back and watch video. It even connected to a telephone to let you know who is calling and possibly get SMS messages.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History 1983 – Pioneer Crossed Neptune * 1986 – Activision finalizes the merger with Infocom * 2003 – 2.4.21 of LINUX kernal released * 2003 – IE for Mac is shut down * 2005 – Fedora Core 4 is released * 2006 – Vincent Ferrari tries to cancel his AOL account, but the agent wouldn’t * 2007* – Jeffrey Goodin is the first to be sentenced because of the CAN-SPAM act. He was posing as an AOL billing agent
3Com1997 – Back in February, it was announced that US Robotics be acquired by 3Com Corporation in a $6.6 billion stock swap. This would add to 3Com’s computer networking company against Cisco as they would become the second largest networking company.
The merger did go through a series of corporate evaluations before the shareholders agreed to the merger.
Eventually, Hewlett-Packard acquired 3Com in 2010 and the companies products were merged into the HP name.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Swiss Army Knife is patented * Mr. Wizzard passes away * First 500,000 watt power radio station – W8XAR – begins tests
Steve Ballmer1980 – Otherwise known as “The 24th Man” (to join Microsoft, that is), Steve Ballmer came on as Microsoft’s first Business Manager. He made only $50k and stock options. Of course 30 years later, Steve succeeded Bill Gates as CEO of the Redmond based software company.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*
First Cameraphone pictureSpeak and Spell debuts
- Compaq purchases DEC for $9 million
- The first cameraphone photo – Philippe Kahn taking a picture of his newborn daughter
- Apple releases Safari for Windows
- 1st generation iPhone gets put on the Obsolete list
June 10, 1998: The Ruputer was released1998 – Seiko introduces the world’s first wearable PC watch called the Ruputer. It was marketed under the OnHand PC name. The Ruputer had a 3.6 MHz processor and 2 MB of non-volitile storage. The 102×64 monochrome LCD could display data or play games. a joystick with six function buttons were on the Ruputer. This watch could download pictures and had three applications that ran on Windows 95. Ruputer cost $285
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Intel releases the 200 MHz pentium processor * Microsoft announces they will discontinue MS Money * IBM and Microsoft sign a joint development agreement
June 9, 1986: Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center opens1986 – The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center opens. It links 5 supercomputer centers together – Princeton, San Diego, Illinois, and Cornell University. PSC is a leading partner in the TeraGrid, the National Science Foundation’s cyberinfrastructure program.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Linux Kernel 2.0 is released * iPhone 2.0 launches * MessageMedia and Revnet join to become North America’s largest e-mail marketer
United Online2001 – To compete with AOL, Internet Service Providers NetZero and Juno Online Services announce they will merge to become United Online. The company would eventually acquire other assets to keep afloat, including the purchase of the FTD group in 2008.
Of course, NetZero had changed their business model to a Wireless plan in 2012 and operates a broadband and dial up service nation-wide.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Intel introduces the 8086 processor * Yahoo acquires Viaweb * Apple introduces the iPhone 3GS
Sony Betamax1975 – Sony releases the first home videocassette recorder in the US. Japan first saw the Betamax on May 10, 1975, which was not uncommon. The magnetic tape media was the first to be on the market, as VHS didn’t come around until 1976.
Many believed Betamax was the better of the two in quality. Many TV and professional recording companies used the format almost til the end of their lifetime. Of course, in 1984, the players were under major fire for copyright infringement from Universal. However, it was ruled that although they could record the content, it was not their responsibility if someone used it for illegal activity.
Sony finally stopped producing the player and tapes on August, 2002.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Commodore Executive 64 is released * Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson orders the breakup of Microsoft into two companies
June 6, 2011 Steve Jobs gave his last keynote for Apple2005 – Steve Jobs spoke in front of the masses at the WWDC announcing that Apple will switch their processors from PowerPC to Intel. He then showed off the Mac OS X running on aPentium 4 CPU. The reasoning was that PowerPC chips took too much power to run and also ran hotter than an Intel chip.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* TI 99/8 is introduced * The first Internet connection * Palm releases the Palm Pre
Coleco Adam1983 – Coleco announced at the Consumer Electronics Show the Coleco Adam. It was their first attempt at a computer hybrid system – gaming and desktop computing. The $725 price tag didn’t hurt, either.
With a Zilog Z80 processor and 80 kB RAM with 16 kB video RAM, the Adam could do what you needed. Also available was a printer, tape drive, and spots for 3 expansion cards.
Unfortunately, the computer didn’t do as well as the company wanted. They expected a half-million sold by December, but didn’t reach that goal. Ultimately, the Coleco Adam was discontinued in 1985.
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Apple II goes on sale * Bob Hope was declared dead on the Internet – which was not true * Jeff Moss joined the Homeland Security Advisory Council
June 4, 1896: Henry Ford tests the Quadricycle1896 – Henry Ford gets ready to test drive the first Quadricycle (a.k.a. Car). Only one problem – They didn’t make the garage door big enough. Out comes the Ax – A couple chops and a wider door was created. The car ran 2 speed, but could not go in reverse.
It’s all in the book – the ford century
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Patent for DRAM * Nintendo introduced the Game Boy * Packard Bell and NEC merge
Intel Core i72009 – Intel introduces the Nehalem Core i7 processor, code-named “Lynnfield”. The i7-950 and 975 models are 4-core processors with a speed of 3.06 GHz. The processor ran 64-bit instruction set and could take up to 24 GB of RAM at DDR3 800/1066. Price: $294.00
Subscribe to the Day in Tech HistorySubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Nintendo sues Lewis Galoob over the Game Genie * AT&T offers Wi-Fi at Starbucks * Microsoft releases “Nehalem” Core i7
IBM Model 701988 – While not the first version of the PS/2, the Model 70 was introduced with the 80386 processor. 16, 20, and 25 MHz clock speeds. The Model 70 also used a 25 MHz Intel 486 processor in a complex called the Power Platform.
If you wanted to upgrade to the 80486, you would have to replace the PS/2’s BIOS chip along with the processor board.
The model 70-A21 sold for $11,295 and included 2 MB of RAM, 120 MB ESDI hard drive, MS-DOS and OS/2. If you wanted a monitor for it, you would have to put down an additional $595 for the 8512 VGA.
Model 70 was a desktop case and Model 80 was a tower. IBM also introduced the PS/2 Model 25 LS and PS/2 Model 50 Z.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* IBM PS/2 Model 70 * The CIH Computer Virus surfaces * Safari Carpet Bomb attack
Intel 80881979 – Intel released the successor to the 8086 processor in the Intel 8088 chip. With a clock rate of either 4.77 MHz or 8 MHz, this 16-bit chip had an external bus of 8 bits and 29,000 transistors. It was used in IBM PC and PC-XT computers during the 80’s.
Descendants to the 8088 are the 80188, 80186, and what would become the 386, 486 and Pentium chips.
Also in Tech History* Steve Jobs becomes the major apple shareholder with 1.5 million * MN city makes Google remove Street view pictures * The first batch of Scotch Whiskey is made by Friar John Cor * Google Launches Google+ Local
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the Pirate Bay2006 – Swedish police raid the host of the Pirate Bay BitTorrent. On the same day, the Pirate Bay political party increased their numbers by 500, with an additional 930 joining the following day.
The site stayed down for 3 days, but came back to double the traffic due to the media coverage.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Apple restructures, removes Steve Jobs * Microsoft Office XP is released * Swedish Police raid the Pirate Bay
CD-V format1987 – North American Phillips Company introduced the compact disc video format. Using the same technology as LaserVision, the “CD’s with Pictures” would be gold in color and the same size as an audio CD. They could hold up to 800 MB – which would allow for a full length movie in SD, or a video music album.
The CD-V didn’t last that long, dissolving by 1991.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* TurboLinux OS 7 released * Windows NT 3.51 released (adding Power PC support) * The Pennsylvania Evening Post was the first paper in the US
believeinkids1999 – Believeinkids.com became the five-millionth domain name in the world. At the time, a domain name cost $70 for the first year, $35 a year thereafter.
The domain name was abandoned and is still available to this day.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Vim 4.0 is released * IEEE 1394 officially becomes “Firewire”
Beats Music2014 – Rumors flew high on this one, so when it happened, many people were not surprised. Apple announced they were going to acquire Beats Music and Electronics in a $3 billion deal. As part of the acquisition, co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine would join Apple.
Beats subscription service would continue to work as part of the service would be integrated with iTunes. Currently, Beats has a 20 million song library, and is available for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone for a $9.99 subscription.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Steve Jobs is removed as General Manager of Macintosh Division * Yahoo! completes Acquisition of Geocities * 3DO gaming filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy * Time Warner separates from AOL. * The first graphene-based circuits to break the gigahertz barrier
WordPress2003 – Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little created a Fork of B2/cafelog. From there, WordPress was born. Since its release, WordPress has taken over Content Management Systems (CMS) with its ease of use and plethora of programmers that have made plugins, themes and other tweaks to the system since. The current version is 3.5.1 which has been downloaded over 18 million times.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech HistoryOther Events in the Day in Technology History* Wang introduces: Wang Personal computer * Batman Debuts in Detective comics #27 * Google gives away 4,000 Android phones at Google I/O * Digital currency Liberty Reserve is shut down
AMD K6-21998 – At the beginnings of the AMD / Intel battle, AMD brought out a processor to dual with Pentium II. The AMD K6-2 processor was a Super Socket 7 pin structure, which also was compatible with older Socket 7 motherboards.
With 9.3 million transistors, the K6-2 had a CPU clock rate of 266 to 550 MHz. Of course, these were single-core processors and had front side bus of either 66 or 100 MHz. The K6-2 also featured the MMX and 3DNow! instruction set.
The K6-2+ was added to keep up with Pentium III processors. The processor line only lasted a year and was ultimately replaced with K6 III.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* AMD released the K6-2 processor * Samsung announces the 256 SSD * Psystar files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
wordperfect office1999 – A program first developed by Brigham young University for Data General minicomputers, WordPerfect was the word processing application for anyone using a computer in the 80’s and 90’s. I remember writing reports and papers using this software growing up, along with Quattro Pro for bookkeeping and printing daily reports at work. However, in 1994, WordPerfect started to gain some major competition when computers turned to GUI, and DOS was getting put on the back burner.
Corel, the owners of WordPerfect since 1996, wanted to ramp up production of not only the word processor, but also their other products in Quattro Pro, Presentations, Paradox and Corel Central. They company always said they wanted to be the “Pepsi version of MS Word (Coke)”.
Therefore, WordPerfect Office 2000 was released. It was not their first attempt of a suite (first rel. 1993), but was the first version released by Corel, and a path to their current version of the WordPerfect Office X7.
Like MS Office, WordPerfect Office can be purchased in Home and Student, Standard and Pro versions. Other features in the pack are Corel WinZip, Nuance Paperport, and NaturallySpeaking 3.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Phillips electronics released the Laservision * CERN holds the first World Wide Web conference * Google Street view is launched in the US * A signed Steve Wozniak Apple I sells for $671,000
May 24, 1985: Quantum Computer Services was founded (AOL)1985– Quantum Computer Services was founded. Technically, it was a reorganization of Control Video Corporation, a company that started in 1983. The company was selling online service “Gameline” to Atari 2600 users. You would pay $49.95 for the modem and also a one-time $15 setup fee. With the reorganization, Jim Kimsey became Chief Executive Officer and Marc Seriff took the CTO role. Ninety employees quit, ten remained. The company changed to sell Quantum Link for Commodore 64 and 128 consoles. Eventually, they would get into AppleLink and PC Link. Quantum Computer Services eventually (October 1989) changed their name to America Online (AOL).
Jim Kimsey left AOL in 1995, where he stayed under the limelight. He was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by President George W. Bush.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* MIDAS II * Sega introduces a rating system for games * Microsoft launches Windows NT 3.1
MySQL1995– MySQL releases their SQL database program for web pages. This is known as a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). MySQL uses C and C++, the SQL parser used yacc and a hybrid of lexer called “sql_lex.cc”. Many different websites to this day use versions of MySQL, including us at Geekazine and the Day in Tech History.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Windows Vista Beta 2 is released * Kevin Mitnick is arrested * NEC gets into the home video game market * Twitter purchased Tweetdeck
Robert Metcalfe’s Sketch of Ethernet1973 – Robert Metcalfe writes a thirteen-page memo describing a new type of data transmission method. His memo was entitled “Ether Acquisition”, which would connect Hawaii’s ALOHA Network.
Alto Ethernet was born on paper, but didn’t see operation until November 11, 1973 when it was implemented.
Metcalfe was awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1996 for his work on inventing Ethernet. He was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2007.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Robert Metcalfe describes a new device called the Laser Printer * Adobe ships Illustrator 7.0 * Apple splits Newton into it’s own division * SpaceX Launched and docks with Space Station
OS X Server2001 – Apple released the Mac OS X Server, based on Rhapsody, which was a hybrid of NeXT OPENSTEP. The server ran file services, Macintosh Manager, Quicktime Streaming Server, WebObjects, NetBoot and more.
Each new version of OS X Server then coincided with the desktop release name – Jaguar, Panther, Leopard, etc.
“Built on Mac OS X’s incredibly stable and robust foundation, Mac OS X Server has the power of UNIX, yet is simple and easy to install, administer and maintain,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Mac OS X Server is Apple’s most powerful server ever and can easily integrate into Mac, Windows and UNIX networks.”
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* The IBM 701 is announced * Atari stock splits 2-for-1 * Apple releases Mac OS X Server
Tumblr2013 – In a $1.1 billion deal, Yahoo acquired the blogging site Tumblr. This caused many concerns for those using the service – especially those who curate blogs with pornographic content. However, Yahoo insisted they will be running Tumblr as a separate company and will not interrupt any account unless it breaks laws (such as child pornography).
Yahoo did de-list a lot of those blogs in their search a couple months later to give others a clean-search experience.
In 2017, Verizon bought Yahoo, and all remaining assets thereof. Tumblr is an “Oath Subsidiary”, meaning it works independent to Verizon. In March, 2019, Tumblr removed any adult content, trying to boost their SEO, and advertising options.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* AppleLink is created * Microsoft and Intuit discontinue their merger due to Antitrust issues * Intel makes the Pentium processor available
Star Wars I: the Phantom Menace1999 – Sixteen years after “Return of the Jedi”, George Lucas finally moves his vision forward with “Star Wars: Episode I – the Phantom Menace”. The story of young Anakin Skywalker and how Obi-Wan Kenobi brought him in, trained him, and ultimately lost him to the dark side.
Episode I grossed over $924.3 million worldwide and became one of the highest-grossing films of 1999. The 2nd set trilogy would continue with Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
The movie was received with warm reviews. The general consensus was the character development lacked while the scenes, characters, and landscapes were breathtaking. Even Roger Ebert gave it three-and-a-half stars.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History*** Star Wars Episode I * Apple opens the first Apple Stores * Intel debuts the pineview Atom chip
May 18, 2001: Shrek is released2001 – The computer animated movie “Shrek” hits theaters. The 90 minute movie was produced on a $60 million budget and although it’s first weekend only saw $42 million , the overall theatrical run brought in $487 million. Shrek was the first computer animated film to win an Academy Award (Best Animated Feature).
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Sony establishes: Sony Computer Entertainment of America * Dell add AMD processors * Facebook adds OpenID
1902 – The Antikythera mechanism was found off the coast of Greece. They only found a part of it, and wasn’t really sure what it did. Eventually, this device was declared to be the oldest known analog computer. The device was used to predict eclipses and astronomical events so ships could plan accordingly.
The device was found by archaeologist Valerios Stais. British science historian Derek de Solla Price dated the device to 87 BCE. He concluded the device was lost only a few years after it’s production.
The low-tin bronze device (5% tin, 95% Copper) made the corrosion impossible to try and start up, so the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project was created to study, and possibly recreate the machine for a better understanding. Especially since the device was in fragments.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Ars Technica sold to Conde Nast * Lawrence Welk passes away * Intel Introduced the Pentium III 55o
SpaghettiOs1965 – The Campbell soup company, under their Franco-American brand, introduce SpaghettiO’s pasta in a can. The ring-shaped pasta and cheese blend was an easy way (and less messy) to make the kids a meal. Simply open the can and pour into the pan!
The idea was created by Donald Goerke – known as “Daddy-O of SpaghettiO’s”. The company tested out many shapes before they decided the “O” was the least messy to serve and eat.
Jimmie Rodgers sang the famous “Uh-Oh! SpaghettiOs” at the time.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Sugar Labs extends Sugar OS to EeePC * OS X Tiger vs. Tiger Direct ruling.
McDonalds1940 – The first Corporate McDonalds restaurant opened in San Bernardino, CA by Richard and Maurice McDonald. “Speedee” was the mascot back then – a hamburger-chef that was poised upon the McDonalds sign. The “Golden Arches” dawned on the sides of the restaurant.
In 1955, Ray Kroc took notice and partnered up with the brothers. They created the corporate version of McDonalds at that time. He opened the 9th store in Des Plaines, IL and eventually took the headquarters there.
The original McDonalds was demolished in 1976.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* The Love Bug strikes * Carl Icahn officially launches a Proxy fight against Yahoo * CBS Acquired CNet * Supposed Coca-Cola recipe sold on eBay for $15 million
Playstation 32011 – Hackers took down the Sony Playstation network on April 20th, 2011. Around 77 million accounts were comprimised and gamers couldn’t play online for over a month. On May 14, Sony started bringing the services back online on a country-by-country basis. North America was the first, and people could sign-in, play PS3 and PSP games, access rented content, play music already purchased, and use approved 3rd party apps such as Hulu and Netflix. A firmware update 3.61 was also available to update security for the users.
When it was all said and done, Sony had lost $171 million on this outage.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Texas Instruments starts to compete with IBM * ZDTV (TechTV, G4) Channel begins operation * Google suffers a 1 hour outage * George Lucas Birthday
May 13, 1987: Turbo-C Programming Language Released1987 – Version 1.0 of the Turbo C programming language is released. It offers the first integrated edit-compile-run development environment for the C programming language for IBM-compatible personal computers. Turbo C was developed by Bob Jervis as “Wizard C”. It runs on just 384KB of memory and is capable of inline assembly with full access to C symbolic names and structures.
Support the Day in Tech History PodcastSubscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Android - Spotify - iHeartRadioFacebook - - RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial- Join me on Patreon and support Day in Tech History* Digital Equipment, Intel, and Xerox jointly announce the Ethernet network specification. * HP Acquires EDS * Iranian police close down more than four hundred Internet Cafes
FTC1914 – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is formed to regulate business in the US. President Wilson issued this to “Trust bust”. The FTC is controlled by a 5 member panel that serve in 7 year terms. They govern all fair trade practices.
Companies like Microsoft and IBM have been under the microscope with the FTC and the FCC.
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- 414’s testimony
- Kentucky shuts down 141 gambling domains
- Iomega Zip across america
Fortran1954 – Fortran is a blend from the IBM Mathematical Formula Translating System that started as the assembly language for the IBM 704. A general-purpose, procedural programming language that is suited to numeric computation and scientific computing.
Subscribe to Day In Tech History:RSS Feed - iTunes - Google Play - SpotifyTwitter - Facebook- RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day TrialBe a Part of the Sconnie Geek Nation!In Wisconsin, friends are called "Sconnies". Even if you're not from Wisconsin, you can be part of the Sconnie Geek Nation through my coverage! By pledging, you join the Geek Sconnie Nation! Plus, you help me cover costs so I can continue the coverage of Gadget tech, music tech, and geek culture through the shows.
- Purple Codes broken
- Red Hat 2.0 released
- Large Hadron Collider to shut down
1984 – Apple announced they would split up the Cupertino based company into three divisions – Apple II (handling all Apple III computers as well), the Apple 32 division (Lisa, and new Macintosh line of computers) and Accessory Products (Printers, keyboards, etc). Delbert Yocam led the Apple II group which Steve Jobs would take care of […]
Gateway computer makes a bold move and purchases rival eMachines for 50 million shares of Gateway common stock and $30 million in cash. eMachines was a company founded by Lap Shun Hui along with South Korean companies Korea Data Systems, and TriGem. Their strategy was to put a PC in every house starting at $399. […]
Google owned Motorola Mobility for only 2 years before deciding to sell it off. They chose to sell to Lenovo for $2.91 billion. A major change in the $12.5 billion acquisition they made in 2011. But of course that was after Google striped the company down a little and sold items like their cable modem […]
1984 – One billion points on one quarter. That was the reason for Tim McVey Day. At the Twin Galaxies arcade back on January 17th, Tim scored 1,000,042,270 points on one quarter to the game “Nibbler” – a hybrid Pac-Man and Centipede game. McVey got his name in Computer Games Magazine for it, and so he […]
2006– Founded in 1851, Western Union was responsible for getting the important messages from point A to B. Whether through telegram or commercial messaging, Western Union was synonymous with the service. But on January 27, 2006, that all ended. As Western Union wrote: “Effective 2006-01-27, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. […]
2006 – Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was a game that changed perception of the industry. The grit and cruelty of the GTA franchise has not only brought controversy, its also brought the fans. One bit of controversy was the “Hot Coffee” minigame within GTA. Hot Coffee was a euphemism for sex. In the minigame, the […]
1881 – Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison establish the Oriental Telephone Company of New York and the Angle-Indian Telephone Company Ltd. These companies were licensed to sell telephones in other countries such as Greese, Turkey, India, Japan, China and more. Countries recieving phones would have 3-digit numbers, which changed to 4, 5, then finally 7. […]
1948 – At IBM world headquarters, IBM dedicated the Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator (SSEC). The machine – otherwise known as Poppa – was the first computer to combine electronic computation with stored instruction. The 13,500 vacuum tube computer contained 21,000 relays. The 1,800 square foot computer room had a large glass window so the public could […]
1896 – Although he was not the only person to be working on the technology and not the first X-ray, Wilhelm Roentgen gave the first public lecture and demonstration of his device. He photographed Dr. Albert von Kolliker’s hand at the Wurzburg Physical Medical Society. The first X-ray he ever took was of his wife’s hand (with […]
1998 – Microsoft reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice regarding Internet Explorer on Windows 95. In the agreement, computer manufacturers could have the IE link removed. This was a small step in the antitrust suit against Microsoft and using bundled software and drive out competition. The Microsoft antitrust trial would begin on May […]
1981 – While getting this up to 88 miles per hour doesn’t take you back in time, it was still a cool car to have. The First production Delorean DMC-12 was built. A prototype was made back in 1976 and all Deloreans were made in Ireland. 9,000 Deloreans were made before financial issues got to […]
1885 – Sounding like anything but a roller coaster, the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway was the first American designed amusement coaster designed by LaMarcus Adna Thompson. Only 5 cents to ride, the Switchback was a simple coaster that took you about 600 feet to the next tower at six miles per hour. It had a height of […]
Happy Birthday to me. 1983 – at an introductory price of $9995, Apple introduces the Lisa computer – the first computer with a GUI (Graphical User Interface). The computer featured a 5 MHz 68000 microprocessor, 1 MB RAM, 12″ monochrome monitor, dual 5.25″ 860 KB floppy drives, a 5 MB hard drive and more. Lisa […]
1983 – During the CP/M Show, Franklin Electronic Publichers revealed the Franklin Ace 1200 computer. The main feature of this computer (like the other Franklin computers before) was the fact they copied Apple’s ROM and operating system code. The Ace 1200 came with a Zilog Z80 processor a 1 MHz, 48K RAM, 16K ROM,2 – 5.25 […]
2012 – Yahoo! had some turbulent times from 2007 when founder Jerry Yang was CEO. Of course the big debacle being the Microsoft bid, which took over 9 months to settle with Carl Icahn being a major instigator. Add to that the 2007 incident of the arrest of Shi Tao and Yahoo’s stance. Tao was arrested for […]
1956 – The U.S. Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was disclosed to the public. SAGE is a computer that connected hundreds of radar stations in the US and Canada as a one-stop monitoring of the sky. SAGE was commissioned and developed by MIT. The project started in 1950 and SAGE became fully operational on June 26, […]
1990 – AT&T suffers the oddest outage nationwide. A switch in New York crashed, then rebooted. This caused the other switches linked to the New York switch to also reboot. The cascade continued on until all 114 switches were rebooting on 6 second intervals. The continued failure lasted for 9 hours, leaving 60,000 customers without long […]
1973 – Elvis is broadcast via satellite to over 1 billion viewers in over 40 countries. That is, except for the U.S. because Superbowl VII was being played. The U.S. finally got to see the concert on April 4, 1973 on NBC. The show, entitled “Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite”, cost $2.5 million to produce. Presley […]
2000 – Microsoft CEO Bill Gates announces he will be stepping down from his role but remain on the Board and embrace a new role as Chief software architect. Steve Ballmer will take over the CEO role and also remain president. Love him or hate him, Ballmer kept Microsoft running and helped raise annual revenues. Ballmer would […]
1966 – Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson entered our lives via ABC on Wednesdays. The television series “Batman” debuted with the episode Hi Diddle Riddle. Each half hour episode contained either part 1 or part 2 of the dynamic duo’s fight against the criminal of the week. Get Batman: The Complete Television Series (Limited Edition) [Blu-ray] […]
2001– Dave Weiner added a new functionality to the RSS feed called “Enclosure“. It was defined as passing any audio file (mp3, wav, ogg, etc), video file (mpg, mp4, avi, mov, etc), PDF, or ePub (electronic publication) into the syndicated feed. Weiner demonstrated by enclosing a Grateful Dead song in his website at Scripting News. […]
1996 – Texas Instruments announced it would release the TI-83 and became one of the most popular calculators. The TI-83 had many graphing modes including polar, parametric, sequence and function graphs. It could also run statistics, trigonometry and algebraic functions. The TI-83 was replaced by the 83 Plus in 1999 which added flashable memory for upgrades. […]
At MacWorld 2001, Steve Jobs announced Mac OSX – the base OS for Apple for the next couple decades. With Darwin, an open source BSD Unix service, 2D (Quartz), 3D (OpenGL) and Quicktime (QT5). The programming language of Classic, Carbon and Cocoa allowed programs from OS9 to run. Cocoa is an object oriented API for […]
1940 – a full-scale relay calculator designed by Bell Labs engineer Dr. George Stibitz, becomes operational. The machine was first designed in February 1938, and construction began in April, 1939. Although the device was ready by October, 1939, it didn’t go into operation until this day. The Complex Computer used 400-450 binary relays and initially could […]
Born in 1856, Nikola Tesla was the inventor of alternating current. Tesla even worked for Edison from 1882 to 1886. He then started the Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing company in where he worked more on AC electricity. This started the “War of Currents”, which we talked about on January 3rd when Edison electrocuted Topsy, the […]
2001– It was CES where Microsoft unveiled the XBox video game system. The system had a 733 MHz processor, hard drive and 250MHz graphics processor. The console didn’t release until November 15, 2001. XBox was the first American gaming system since the Atari Jaguar, which folded in 1996. XBox live was added to the unit […]
1984 – Richard Stallman quit his job at MIT to begin the writing of GNU software. GNU – a recursive acronym for “Not Unix” and reference to the song “the Gnu” – is an operating system that is compatible with Unix software. Stallman wanted to bring a free software operating system for the masses to use […]
1904– To show the effects of how dangerous Nikolai Tesla’s Alternating current was, Thomas Alva Edison filmed the electrocution of the elephant, Topsy. This was falsely advertised as the first Elephant to be born in America by the Forepaugh Circus. Topsy was named after a slave girl in the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Topsy was […]
1977 – Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak officially incorporate the Apple Computer Corporation. Mike Makkula jr. invests $250,000 in venture capital and becomes the first chairman of Apple. They also decided to move operations of the company outside of Steve Jobs parent’s garage and rent a building in Coupertino. This was so they could improve production of the […]
1975 – Bill Gates and Paul Allen write a letter to the Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry System (MITS) stating they have BASIC language for the Intel 8080 processor and would like to incorporate on the Altair computer in exchange for royalty payments. MITS agrees and Micro-soft was born. Later it would become Microsoft. Coleco sells Adam […]
Happy New Year! 1994 – It was a 6 year office romance that ended in marriage. Best part – where we hear marriages dissolve, this one has continued on for over 20 years. So we wish Bill and Melinda (French) Gates a happy and joyous wedding anniversary. Since then the couple has been active in world […]
On this day, we basically crunch numbers. This is where you will see companies let you know how much of their products are out there. How many copies of Windows have been sold, how many PC‘s were bought – how much shareware has been downloaded. These stats will drive how the next year is to […]
2008 – Facebook made an initiative to remove any picture showing breastfeeding. In return, 11,000 women posted pictures in protest. On June 15, 2014, after the #FreeTheNipple campaign brought success, Facebook officially changed their stance on the subject. According to their “Does Facebook Allow Breastfeeding” FAQ page: Yes. We agree that breastfeeding is natural and […]
2004 – Once Commodore dropped from the market in the 80’s, it pretty much started bouncing around the world from company to company. Ultimately it landed in the lap of KMOS – a Deleware company. However, on this day, Dutch Manufacturer Tulip sells the company to Yeahronimo Media Ventures for about US$32.7 million. Virtual Hydlide
1995 – Compuserve blocks access to over 200 sites that have explicit content. They do it to avoid issue with the German Government. The sites would be blocked until Feb 13, 1996 when all but 5 sites were restored. IBM 1420 Bank Transit System is released Windows 7 Beta 1 Nintendo Wii runs Linux
2001 – Yahoo announces that they will acquire 98.6 percent of the outstanding stock to Sun Microsystems discontinues
2007 – With iTunes just signing a deal with FOX and their content for iTunes, stocks pushed upward to $200 a share. It was the first time Apple hit that barrier, and promptly dropped after. The company has been up and down, and in mid-2008 were at only $90 a share. However, after March 6th, […]
1998 – during the last couple years of the 20th century, the race was on to fix an oversight in multiple computer systems. The problem was dubbed “Y2K” or the Millennium bug. Bottom line was that all computers worked on a 2 digit year system instead of 4. Because of this, once the clock rolled, […]
An interesting fact: Russian folklore believed that December 24th was the day people could be turned into Werewolves. Any child that is born on December 24th would be considered a werewolf. There are many ways to detect a werewolf – bristles under the tongue was one way to check. Fox-Linux 1.0 Released Verizon awarded $33 million against […]
2008 – Santa Claus is spotted on Google Earth. Of course the story of St. Nicholas is an interesting one that doesn’t really involve religion. But now we know where he resides, thanks to Google! Of course, watching Santa’s route is big for children, who know they should be going to sleep before he gets […]
1845 – Today, we’re travelling to the Geek side of things. It’s not everyday that I get to talk about my other passion – Music. The Euphonium – often mistaken for a Tuba – was created. It was also coined in later years as “P.T. Barnums’ Euphonium. The word itself comes from the Greek word […]
2000 – President Bill Clinton signs the Child Internet Protection Act into law. The law is implemented to set rules for the web to expose them to pornography and sexual content. In 2003 the law will be challenged, but will be upheld. COPA required websites with “material harmful to minors” to restrict their sites access […]
1996 – Steve Jobs started Apple. When he left Apple, he started NeXT. When Apple started to fall, Steve Jobs came back. Of course, having 2 computer companies is not a good idea – So why not buy it out?That is what Apple did. In a $400 Million deal, they got a new OS and […]
1974 – Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) puts out the first ever “Do it yourself” Altair 8800. You would get it through Popular Mechanics Magazine, then assemble it yourself. This is a turning point in home computer setup. The price for an Altair 8800 kit – $397 – and it included Microsoft Altair BASIC. […]
1926 – The term “Photon” is coined. Of course a photon is the basic “unit” of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation. Newton Lewis is the one who coins the term. HTML 4.0 is published .au goes back to auDA Dan Hesse becomes CEO of Sprint.
1989 – The first full episode of the Simpsons airs on FOX TV network. 21 years and 1 movie later, the show still continues on strong. The cast stayed pretty much the same since 89. The Simpsons started on FOX as an animated short on the Tracy Ullman Show. It was on that show for […]
1994 – Although its only been in mainstream news for a couple years, the Large Hadron Collider has actually been around for many years now. On this day, for example, MacWorld
1995 – At the turn of the Internet age, researchers at Digital Equipment Corporation, led by Paul Flaherty, Louis Monier and Michael Burrows, created a web crawler and indexer algorithm. The web program was launched on December 15th and called “AltaVista”. The name was chosen because of the surrounds of their company in Palo Alto, […]
1994 – The World-Wide Web Consortium (W3C) held its first meeting at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Albert Vezza and
1982 – After a decent success of the Atari 400/800 line the company noticed the console was looking a little “old”. After all, the Atari 400 actually discolors upon UV light. The 400’s non-tactile keyboard was replaced with the 800’s raised key keyboard. Still, Atari felt they needed to bring this personal computer into the […]
1980 – Apple Computer goes up for their Initial Public Offering and makes a statement in the market. Using the symbol “FidoNet #1 Hard drive failure Gawker.com is hacked and full email, password information was up on the Pirate Bay
1967 – The Concorde was a British and French venture. It wa the first supersonic airliner. The prototype (Concorde 001) was rolled out to 1100 present. British technology minister Anthony Wedgwood Benn coined it Concorde on that day. The last “e” would stand for excellence. The first flight would not happen until March 1969. creditcards.com […]
1993 – 20 years ago, a Shareware copy was uploaded through a server at the University of Wisconsin (and although I was going to school there at the time, it wasn’t me – HONEST). The end result was the beginning of the first-person shooter. For those who do not want to read the Doom Bible, […]
2002 – The trial of Jon Lech Johansen, better known as “DVD Jon,” begins with Johansen pleading not guilty. DVD Jon has been a pioneer in “Reverse engineering”. O.K, so that is a fancy way of saying “Pirating”, but without his efforts, advances might not have been made. He was acquitted on January 7, 2003. […]
2004 – It was an interesting day in the Tech community when we heard the news. IBM was getting out of the desktop and laptop markets and focus on server and infrastructure. They started by selling all their assets to Lenovo – China’s largest computer manufacturer. Lenovo wasn’t a household name in the US, but […]
1978 – It is one of the most infamous pictures in tech today. This is the Microsoft crew. Can you guess which one is Bill Gates? The picture was updated in 2008 when the group (except Bob Wallace, who passed away in 2002) got back together for Bill Gates last few days at Microsoft (below). […]
1768 – Encyclopedia Britannica began publishing the first print – otherwise known as “part I”. It was the brain child of Colin Macfarquhar, and Andrew Bell, and was a conservative reaction to the French Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot. The first volume would be completed Edinburgh, Scotland by 1771. The 3rd edition would become popular and also expand for the first […]
1965 – Richard Wexelblat was the first candidate to complete his doctoral dissertation, hence giving him a degree in “Computer Science“. It was presented at the University of Pennsylvania – Moore School of Electrical Engineering. Richard went on to write the “History of Programming Languages” (ISBN:0-12-745040-8) Today is the official birth of the Transistor Amazon Crashes […]
1985 – The Cray X-mp/48 Supercomputer begins operation in San Diego Supercomputer Center in California. The $15 million dollar supercomputer could process 400 megaflops (200 per processor). It was a shared-memory parallel vector processor and supported 2 or 4 million 64-bit words of main memory in 16 or 32 banks. The first Cray didn’t get installed until October […]
1991 – What was first a Multimedia add-on for System 6, Quicktime has spent 21 years being Apples’ proprietary player. The original version contained graphics, animation and Video codecs – What was refered to as “Road Pizza”. Since then Quicktime had developed on both Mac and Windows sides (starting in 1992). The current version is […]