1973 – 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.
Full Day in Tech History podcast show notes for May 22
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.
Robert Metcalfe describes a new device called the Laser Printer
1999 – In an effort to fix some minor issues, improve USB support and upgrade Internet Explorer, Microsoft launched Windows 98 SE (Second Edition). The upgrade version also improved WDM audio and modem support, shell updates and Web Folders (WebDAV). This was the last release of the 9x series.
Windows 98 SE were officially retired on July 11, 2006.
Full Day in Tech History podcast show notes for May 5
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.
1981 – The first vinyl video record, a.k.a. the videodisc, hit stores in the U.S. The “Capacitance Electronic Disc” looked just like any other vinyl record protected in a plastic caddy and held 60 minutes of NTSC video. That is approximately 27,000 frames per second.
However, the CED players did not make the impact RCA had hoped. Only 100,000 were sold by the end of the year. The “BetaMax vs. VHS” war was in full swing and the tapes were considerably smaller than the discs. Laserdisc was also available to the public, which led to a lot of confusion of formats.
The RCA Selectavision was retired in 1984 with the last discs released in 1986
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.
First Pentium Processor
The first laser was patented to Bell Telephone Laboratories
1979 – for the first and only time in recorded history, it snowed in the Sahara Desert. It was in Southern Algeria and the storm only lasted a half hour. The snow melted off quickly.
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.
“I heard Bill and Steve speaking heatedly in Bill’s office and paused outside to listen in. It was easy to get the gist of the conversation. They were bemoaning my recent lack of production and discussing how they might dilute my Microsoft equity by issuing options to themselves and other shareholders. Unable to stand it any longer, I burst in on them and shouted, ‘This is unbelievable! It shows your true character, once and for all!!’ “
Allen had just been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. After eavesdropping on that conversation he decided to leave Microsoft. Gates also tried to get his stake in the company back at $5 a share (which was low), but Allen chose to keep his shares.
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.
May 22, 1980: Pac Man was installed in a movie theater in Tokyo.
1980 – The first Pac-Man machine was installed. Namco installed the first Pac-Man machine in a movie theater in Tokyo. Created by Toru Iwatani, the game has been one of the most popular in Arcades around the world. Of course, Pac-Man was one of the most popular games in history and created many spin-offs including Ms. Pac-Man. Pac-Man was released in North America October of that year.
Full Day in Tech History podcast show notes for May 22
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.
Robert Metcalfe describes a new device called the Laser Printer
May 5, 1995: Chris Lamprect was the first banned from the Internet
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
1995 – Most people didn’t even really know what the internet was at this point, but Chris Lamprecht did – And he got banned for life from using it. Funny thing is, he didn’t do a crime on the internet. He sold stolen circuit boards belonging to Southwest Bell. He would be banned from the Internet until 2003 (which he got out of in 2002). Lamprecht did write a program called ToneLoc. The movie War Games used this program as a basis to the movie.
Full Day in Tech History podcast show notes for May 5
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.
1993 – The first Pentium processors get shipped out. The 80586, invented y Vinod Dahm, ran at 60 and 66 MHz clock speeds. 3.1 million transistors and 4 GB of addressable memory. It was fabricated in a 0.8 µm BiCMOS process. It was replaced by the P54C.
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.
The Vinyl version of the DVD – the CED – was patented
The first laser was patented to Bell Telephone Labratories