superbowl

AltaVista-2[1]

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December 15, 1983: AltaVista Launches

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AltaVista
AltaVista

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, CA.

The original name was altavista.digital.com and used a multi-threaded crawler (Scooter). The back-end was running on advanced hardware, therefore it could gather information faster than any other web crawling software out there.

AltaVista was one of the top search engines out there until Google overtook them all. Ultimately, in 2003 AltaVista was purchased by Yahoo! who continued to run it until 2013 when it was shut down.

1984 Apple Superbowl Commercial
1984 Apple Superbowl Commercial

1983 – There is some debate whether this happened on Dec. 15h or 31st. If you were a citizen of Twin Falls, Idaho and up at 1 AM watching<a href="http://www.KMVT.com/”> KMVT channel 11, then you got a treat. You saw an ad that changed the Superbowl. You saw an ad that changed a computer company.That’s right. You were the first to see the famous 1984 Superbowl Advertisement for Apple Macintosh. The Chiat/Day advertising company pre-ran ads to make sure they would be acceptable for a big release. Therefore, 1 AM on Thursday, December 15th – chances of people catching the ad are slim.

Of course, the ad went on to be one of the most influential ads of the 20th century and turned Superbowl commercials into a hot commodity. Interesting note: Apple didn’t put a commercial in the 2012 Superbowl.

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  • ISO C90 is released
  • Fortran 95 is released
  • Twitter rival <a class="zem_slink" title="Pownce” href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pownce” rel=”wikipedia”>Pownce closes down after sale to Six Apart
Apple Superbowl ad 1984
Apple Superbowl ad 1984
Microsoft Logo

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January 22, 1998: Microsoft and US Department of Justice

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Microsoft Logo
Microsoft

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 18, 1998 and go until November 5, 1999.

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  • The Famous Apple Macintosh Superbowl commercial
  • Microsoft releases IE for Mac
  • AOL sues Microsoft on behalf of Netscape for IE
  • Cell Phone Tax rejected
Switchback Railway

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January 20, 1885: the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway Patent

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Switchback Railway
Switchback Railway

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 50 feet and a drop of 43 feet.

It opened on June 16, 1884 and eventually was replaced. But on this day, the roller coaster saw one of its first patents from this ride.

Learn more about Patents: Ingenious Inventions, How they work and How they came to be from Amazon

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  • Robert and Carleen Thomas (Amature Action BBS) were raided
  • Microsoft market value surpasses IBM for the first time to $26.78 Billion
  • Microsoft sells all shares of Comcast
Microsoft Logo

/

January 22, 1998: Microsoft and US Department of Justice

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comments

Play

Subscribe! Spotify | RSS | More

Microsoft Logo
Microsoft

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 18, 1998 and go until November 5, 1999.

Subscribe to the Day in Tech History

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  • The Famous Apple Macintosh Superbowl commercial
  • Microsoft releases IE for Mac
  • AOL sues Microsoft on behalf of Netscape for IE
  • Cell Phone Tax rejected
Switchback Railway

/

January 20, 1885: the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway Patent

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comments

Play

Subscribe! Spotify | RSS | More

Switchback Railway
Switchback Railway

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 50 feet and a drop of 43 feet.

It opened on June 16, 1884 and eventually was replaced. But on this day, the roller coaster saw one of its first patents from this ride.

Learn more about Patents: Ingenious Inventions, How they work and How they came to be from Amazon

Subscribe to the Day in Tech History

Subscribe to Day In Tech History:

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Facebook - 

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  • Robert and Carleen Thomas (Amature Action BBS) were raided
  • Microsoft market value surpasses IBM for the first time to $26.78 Billion
  • Microsoft sells all shares of Comcast
AltaVista-2[1]

/

December 15, 1983: AltaVista Launches

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comments

Play

Subscribe! Spotify | RSS | More

AltaVista
AltaVista

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, CA.

The original name was altavista.digital.com and used a multi-threaded crawler (Scooter). The back-end was running on advanced hardware, therefore it could gather information faster than any other web crawling software out there.

AltaVista was one of the top search engines out there until Google overtook them all. Ultimately, in 2003 AltaVista was purchased by Yahoo! who continued to run it until 2013 when it was shut down.

1984 Apple Superbowl Commercial
1984 Apple Superbowl Commercial

1983 – There is some debate whether this happened on Dec. 15h or 31st. If you were a citizen of Twin Falls, Idaho and up at 1 AM watching KMVT channel 11, then you got a treat. You saw an ad that changed the Superbowl. You saw an ad that changed a computer company.That’s right. You were the first to see the famous 1984 Superbowl Advertisement for Apple Macintosh. The Chiat/Day advertising company pre-ran ads to make sure they would be acceptable for a big release. Therefore, 1 AM on Thursday, December 15th – chances of people catching the ad are slim.

Of course, the ad went on to be one of the most influential ads of the 20th century and turned Superbowl commercials into a hot commodity. Interesting note: Apple didn’t put a commercial in the 2012 Superbowl.

Subscribe to the Day in Tech History

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  • ISO C90 is released
  • Fortran 95 is released
  • Twitter rival Pownce closes down after sale to Six Apart

Apple Superbowl ad 1984
Apple Superbowl ad 1984

1984 Apple Superbowl Commercial

/

January 22, 1984: Apple Macintosh Superbowl Ad Debuts

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comments

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1984 Apple Superbowl Commercial
1984 Apple Superbowl Commercial

1984 – Apple created the opportunity of a lifetime with the Macintosh. It was the first mouse-driven computer and Graphical User Interface (GUI) machine. The machine would have a release date of Jan 24, and held a 8 MHz Motorola 68000 microprocessor. It had 128 KB DRAM and came with a 9″ black-and-white CRT with resolution of 512×342. The price of the machine was $2495But what was key to this computer launch was the ad. This ad ran Nationally only once – If you missed the Superbowl, you would have missed the Ad – that is, unless you watched the news the next day. The ad appeared in the 3rd Quarter of the game.

By the way: Superbowl XVIII pitted the LA Raiders vs. the Washington Redskins. Raiders won 38-9. The average cost for ad space: $368,000. Apple’s budget on the commercial – $900,000. Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) directed it. The Board of Directors did not like the Spot, but Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak did. Woz even stated that if the board was to reject the commercial, he would pay for the spot out of his own pocket.

Wikazine – Full show notes for January 22

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  • Microsoft releases IE for Mac
  • AOL sues Microsoft on behalf of Netscape for IE
  • Cell Phone Tax rejected
Apple Lemmings Commercial

/

January 20, 1985: Apple Lemmings Ad Flop

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Apple Lemmings Commercial
Apple Lemmings Commercial

1985 – When you hear “Apple Superbowl commercial“, you instantly think a woman running down a hall with a sledgehammer ready to destroy oppression. But there was another commercial. The Yang to the Macintosh Ying.The Lemmings commercial was aired for Super Bowl XIX. It was a commercial for Macintosh Office. Blindfolded businessmen marched off the edge of a cliff to a dark rendition of “Hi Ho”. The last guy in line – realizing his blind mouse wasn’t in front of him anymore, peeked to see what happened – only to find he was one step away from oblivion; Another line of Blind mice coming up behind him.

The big difference in this commercial is that it was a horrific failure. The consumer felt insulted more than enlightened. If that commercial would have aired the year before for Macintosh, Apple would have been done. What a difference a year makes, eh?

Wikazine – Full show notes for January 20

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  • Robert and Carleen Thomas (Amature Action BBS) were raided
  • Microsoft market value surpasses IBM for the first time to $26.78 Billion
  • Microsoft sells all shares of Comcast