Day in Tech History

Day in Tech History Podcast, Blog 365 Days a Year!

March 18, 2019

March 19, 1997: First Consumer DVD Player Released in U.S.

1997 – Toshiba – a member of the DVD consortium – put out the first consumer DVD player on November 1, 1996 in Japan as the SD-3000. After some initial changes (and having to change the DVD region code for U.S. based DVD players), Toshiba debuted two U.S. models – the SD-2006 and the SD-3006. The SD-3006 had two more analog outputs and a Y-Cr-Cb video out with selector. Both players could run in 16:9 or 4:3 mode, but had to be selected when not in use. The SD-2006 sold for $599 and the SD-3006 sold for $699. There are questions...

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Day in Tech History / Music

March 17, 2019

March 18, 2008: LimeWire Tries to go Legal

2008 – The free peer-to-peer file sharing program who was under major fire decided to set up a fully legal DRM music store. With over 500,000 MP3’s from artists who are not on any major labels, the store allowed you to get lossless versions of this music. They planned a party at SXSW 2008 . Downloads were on a pay-per-track pricing – from 30 cents (on up) per song. There were no mention of how much an artist could get from those prices. The RIAA was still going after the software itself at this point. Ultimately on October 2010, an injunction...

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Apple / Day in Tech History / HP / Microsoft

March 16, 2019

March 17, 1988: Apple Sues Microsoft, HP over GUI

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 1988 – The Graphical User Interface (GUI) is what we use daily to open up email, our web browser and even those apps on your smartphone or tablet. With the first real GUI came the first copyright infringement for it as Apple sued both Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard for stealing features from Macintosh’s interface. Hewlett Packard was also named for their New Wave desktop environment. Missing from the suit is Microsoft Presentation Manager, which became the interface for IBM’s OS/2. The lawsuit got muddied when Xerox sued Apple for the same thing. That instance got thrown out rather...

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Robert Goddard and the liquid fueled rocket

Day in Tech History / Science

March 15, 2019

March 16, 1926: First Liquid-Fueled Rocket Launched

1926 – Robert Goddard became the first man to launch liquid-fueled rocket. The liquid oxygen and gasoline mixture launched the 10 foot rocket, travelling at 60 MPH, to an altitude of 41 feet. The rocket was dubbed “Nell” and was launched in the cold climate in Auburn Massachusetts. The New York Times picked up on Goddard’s experiment, but wasn’t kind to him. They denounced his work, ultimately swaying public opinion. An unwavered Goddard put together a team and in 1930 continued his research. He made some great strides until 1945 when he passed away. His work and 214 patents gave way for scientists...

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Commodore / Day in Tech History

March 14, 2019

March 15, 1989: Amiga Plus Magazine

1989 – Antic Software publishes the first issue of Amiga Plus Magazine. It was the April/May edition and included an AMIGA Plus disk, which included the graphic programs created. Articles included everything from creating graphics, to your 1988 Federal Income Tax, Lattice C++ review to a Tetris review and more. Nat Friedland was the Editor and Arnie Cachelin the assistant editor. The Magazine had a short life – closing its doors in 1991. IBM 1050 Data Communications System First Unix manual page for cc Cisco acquires Webex for $3.2 Billion Twitter Launches Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe! Apple Podcasts...

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Apple / Day in Tech History

March 13, 2019

March 14, 1994: Apple Power Macintosh

1994 – Apple computer released a new line of MacIntosh computers in the Power Macintosh 6100. With a 60-66 MHz PowerPC 601 RISC processor – the first time Apple used this processor line – up to 32 MB of RAM, and options such as a composite and S-Video input/output, along with full 48 kHz 16-bit DAT resolution sound processing, this was the computer for the mulitmedia professional. The basic Power Macintosh 6100 was priced at $2,209 Apple also introduced the Power Macintosh 7100 for $3,379 and the 8100 with a 68LC040 emulation ROM for $4,869 It was codename: Piltdown Man Microsoft...

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Mark Zuckerberg's first Interview after Facebook IPO

Day in Tech History / Facebook

March 12, 2019

March 13, 2013: Zuckerberg Calls President Obama

2014 – Mark Zuckerberg told the press he called President Barak Obama to bring his concerns to the table. The Facebook post talked about trust on the Internet, keeping it a shared space and how we should work together to create a secure environment. “I’ve called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform.” The NSA stated they do not use their technical abilities to impersonate US company websites. The refuted all reports. Post by Mark...

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Day in Tech History / Geek

March 11, 2019

March 12, 1998: V-Chip Becomes Mandatory

1998 – The FCC announced they have come to a finalization on the video programming rating system and have fulfilled all requirements for the proposed “V-Chip”. Along with NAB, NCTA and MPAA, the chip will follow the TV Parental Guidelines and each program will be rated as follows: TV-Y (All Children — This program is designed to be appropriate for all children.) Whether animated or live-action, the themes and elements in this program are specifically designed for a very young audience, including children from ages 2-6. This program is not expected to frighten younger children. TV-Y7 (Directed to Older Children — This program...

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Day in Tech History / Geek

March 10, 2019

March 11, 2007: The Move of Daylight Savings Time

2007 – The Energy Policy Act of 2005 ammended Daylight savings time 3 weeks . The theory was to move clocks forward 1 hour 3 weeks earlier than usual and Fall back in the first week of November (instead of last week in October). From a previous study, it was concluded this change would save households 1% of energy each day of DST. The history of Daylight Savings Time dates back to Benjamin Franklin. He noticed people had their shutters closed to keep out the morning sun, then burned more candles in the evening. Through time he convinced others to change the...

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