Jeffrey Powers @geekazine

About Jeffrey Powers @geekazine

http://www.geekazine.com

I love tech history. I enjoy how we evolved from computers that fill a room to computers we wear on our bodies. I have put a full archive of tech history together at Wikazine. You can also talk history at Google +. I am also a podcaster and V-caster at Geekazine and a Podcast Coach at How to Record Podcasts. You can also sign up for a Helpout

Posts by Jeffrey Powers:

Pac Man

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October 10, 1980: Pac Man North American Release

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Pac Man Released in US

1980– The video game that changed it all debut in North America. The infamous yellow pie chart gobbling up little dots and avoiding ghosts for top scores was released to the Japanese arcades in May, but finally made it to North America in 1980. The 80’s era officially was in full swing. Pac Man fever was on the loose.

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for October 10

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  • XP SP1 and SP1a support ends
  • The Metric system is born
  • Happy Tom Cruise Day.
hayes

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October 9, 1998: Hayes Microcomputer Filed Chapter 11

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Hayes Microcomputer Files bankruptcy

1998 – We all remember the modem, right? Dial into the internet through an ISP? Some of you may still have that technology, but if you have dealt with modems for a while, you remember Hayes. The Hayes corporation was pretty big back in the day – giving your Apple II connectivity to the world. Well, that is until 1998 when it’s course ran out. Stocks went from $12 a share, down to almost nothing. Hayes had no choice but to file for bankruptcy. Zoom Technologies (now called (Zoom Telephonics) bought the company out in 1999.

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for October 9

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  • Nino 200 and 500 were discontinued
  • BBC starts programming
  • the TV show Heroes first airs
Apple

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October 8, 1991: Apple vs. Apple is Settled

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Apple

1991– The second lawsuit of Apple vs. Apple was settled: Apple computers vs. Apple records (the Beatles label). The suit was about producing music. Of course there was a fine line between the lawsuit – after all Apple Computers is in the computer business and Apple Records was in the music making business. Nonetheless, the record label felt that Apple computer was starting to infringe on their turf, so they decided to make the attack. This issue went on a few times, later in the form of iTunes and the iPod.

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for October 8

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IBM 608 calculator

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October 7, 1954: Goodbye to Vacuum Tube, Hello Transistor

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IBM 608 calculator
IBM 608 calculator

1954 – IBM created the first calculating machine to use solid-state transistors. This was the first nail in the coffin for vacuum tubes.  The end result was a 2,000 transistor calculator no smaller in size and no faster in speed.However, the transistor counterpart was cheaper, took less power and created less heat. IBM went on to make the IBM 608 calculator

[stock IBM]

2002– Palm – one of the leaders in handheld electronics – announces the first Zire handheld computer. This was called the “consumer grade” brand of Personal Digital Assistants (PDA). They were meant to be low-cost ($99) and something everyone could use. Other versions were the Zire 21, Zire 31, Z22, 71 and Zire 72.

The Zire featured a 16MHz Motorola Dragonball EZ processor, 2MB RAM / 2MB ROM and the Palm OS 4.1. The Zire also had a monochrome display and 160 x 160 resolution (Zire 71 and 72 models had 320 x 320).

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for October 7

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Michael Dell

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October 6, 1997: Michael Dell Says I’d Shut Apple Down

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Michael Dell

1997 – Gil Amelio just was just removed as CEO of Apple. People were calling for Steve Jobs to return, but others thought that would be a bad investment. At a Garner Symposium, Michael Dell was asked what he would do with Apple. He came back in saying:

“I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.” – Michael Dell

Had Apple done that, we might see a completely different market out there. Then again, we might just see the OS X as the NeXT OS on a regular PC – with NeXTpods and NeXTpad (instead of iPad).Steve Jobs had always run a war of words with Dell. However, this comment could have actually been a fuel for Jobs fire. In fact, in 2006, Jobs sent an email to employees after Apple surpassed Dell in market share. It said:

Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn’t perfect at predicting the future. Based on today’s stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. – Steve Jobs

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for October 6

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  • Lotus Development goes Public
  • Windows 2.0 and Excel 2.0 are released
  • AMD splits the company
steve jobs

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October 5, 2011: Steve Jobs Passes Away

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steve jobs
Steve Jobs Passes Away

2011– Steve Jobs passes away in his home at 3 pm Pacific. He went into respritory failure due to the pancreatic cancer he was fighting for over 10 years. Twitter exploded with over 10,000 tweets per second on this event (Osama Bin Laden death was 5,000). Vigils were held in his memory and Cupertino office was plastered with flowers and memories on post-it notes.

1999– The Microprocessor Forum is held in San Jose, California. During the event, Advanced Micro Devices outlines its own x86 64-bit architecture, as well as Lightning Data Transport – Its future system bus. This will become AMD’s eighth-generation microprocessor code-name: Sledgehammer

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for October 5

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  • Monty Python’s Flying Circus first airs
  • First Linux Kernel 0.02
  • Judge halts the sale of RealDVD
HP41c[1]

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October 4, 1979: HP 41c Programmable Calculator

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HP41c Programmable Calculator
Hewlett Packard came out with their first Programmable calculator in 1979. The HP-41c was the first to give alphanumeric display capabilities. It would actually tell you what to do (ex. “ENTER RADIUS”) instead of leaving your wondering. It also had four ports that could be used to expand memory, install a Thermal printer, magnetic reader or bar code scanner.

2011 – Apple Announces the iPhone 4s, with retina display and Siri functionality. The 4s contains the A5 chipset and would be on sale October 10th. Apple also announced iOS5 update, which would be available on October 12th.

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for October 4

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  • Free Software foundation is formed
  • AMD Athlon 700 released
  • George Takai gets an astroid
wings

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October 3: Captain Kangaroo, Mickey Mouse, Buffalo Wings Debut

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wings
Buffalo Wings

This is an especially Geeky day, for not only in 1955 was Captain Kangaroo and the Mickey Mouse Club debuting on CBS and ABC, but in 1964 the first Buffalo Wings were made in Buffalo, New York. Hence the name – buffalo wings. There are four different versions of how they came to be. I think we all need to take an evening off and enjoy a beer and wings with your friends.

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for October 3

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  • Patent for the Transistor
  • TASCC is opened
  • Bill Gates on Browsing extensions
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