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 called Quicktime X but there are signs the technology is either moving a new direction or possibly retired.
This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for December 2
2013 – Jeff Bezos is interviewed on the show “60 Minutes” on CBS with Charlie Rose. During his interview he unveils a project Amazon has been working on – Flying drone delivery. This secret R&D project called “Octocopter” will have drones fly the packages from outposts in each city to the homes.
In a project Amazon is calling “Prime Air”, they expect the delivery system to be available in the next 4-5 years.
Charlie Rose’ reaction summed it up. “Oh, my God!”.
1999 – It was the most expensive internet domain name. Business.com was first bought in 1997 for $150,000 by Marc Ostrofsky. You might think that is pretty expensive, but economically, it was a great deal. On 12/01/99, Buisness.com was sold to Jake Winebaum for $7.5 million. At that point, buisness.com was officially founded.Jake was a chairman of the Walt Disney Internet group.This domain barely made it through the dot com bubble. They went through 2007 when R.H. Donnelley Corporation acquired the site for $345 million. R.H. Donnelley filed for bankruptcy in June 2009.
1959 – Want to see a 2.9 million dollar computer? That was the IBM 7090 – a transistorized mainframe computer that was designed for scientific research and tech applications. It replaced the 709 series, which used vacuum tubes. The first two were delivered – one of the 7090’s would be used for the Mercury and Gemini space missions. Check out more on the IBM 7090
This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for November 30
1972 – Andy Cappa’s tavern in CA was the site for the first Pong game was wheeled into the establishment. The coin-operated game was put in by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell and game designer Al Alcorn. The duo decided that making their own game – rather than having 3rd parties do it – would help keep costs down. They then turned an old Roller rink and converted to a production line. Pong was the first successful video game system.
This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for November 25
1983 – To counter IBM, Tandy releases the Tandy TRS-80 Model 2000 computer. It housed the 80186 processor and 128 KB of RAM. There were 2 – 720 KB floppy drives and the MS–DOS Operating System. The prices ranged from $2,750. For an additional fee you could get a Monochrome graphics card, optional color monitor and extra RAM.
The Tandy 2000 was considerably faster than the IBM PC models.
This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for November 25
2001 – One problem with technology is that you hit limitations, mostly due to materials used or how small machines can make parts like transistors. For instance, today’s multi-core x86 processors will eventually be replaced because we won’t be able to put anymore transistors on the die – It’s called “Moores Law“. Intel and AMD work hard to get around this law – which is why x86 technology has been around since the 90’s.One thing scientists do to circumvent is to change the restructure the transistor. In 2001, Intel did just that. They launched the TeraHertz – a new transistor, using several new materials – including Zirconium Dioxide (which is used to reduce leakage issues). The new THz transistors brought processing to a new level; High process tasks like facial recognition could be achieved. The TeraHertz also worked on 0.6 Volts, so it vastly reduced power needs.
Intel expected this technology to be implemented by 2005. However, as to this date, the TeraHertz transistor has not been, nor seems to be planned for implementation in processors.
This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for November 26
2008 – After a long court battle with the Santa Cruz Operations (SCO) group, a judge rules that Novell is the owner of UNIX and UNIXWare copyrights. In 2003 – just after SCO changed their name from Caldera– had made a claim that the SCO IP was incorporated into Linux and that they should get a cut from each copy sold. Novell states that they own the code to UNIX and therefore this claim was not valid. Battles still goon to this day, with SCO group dwindled down to a shell (no pun intended). Part of the rulings on this case have been reversed since. Currently, SCO has lawsuits with IBM and Linux.
This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for November 24
1889 – Congratulations to the first commercial jukebox which was installed in San Francisco, CA. It was called the “Nickel-in-the-Slot”, and played wax cylinder records. Within 6 months it would earn $1,000. The word “Juke” – by the way – means ‘disorderly house’ – therefore this is a disorderly box of music.Put another nickel in – in the Nickelodean – All I want is having you – and Music, music, music.
This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for November 23