Explore every episode of the podcast Day in Tech History

1948 – What was first expected to be a practical use computer, the SSEM, or Small-Scale Experimental Machine became the first stored-program computer. Basically, it stores program instructions into it’s electronic memory. This 32-bit word length, cathode-ray tube computer was designed to only run subtraction and negation through hardware. Other functions could be run, but only […]

2014 – Microsoft and Google agree to the Kill switch technology. In a California bill SB-967, Smartphones built after July 1, 2015 will consist of a hardware or software option to “kill” the phone. Further, a $500 to $2,500 fine will be issued to anyone selling a stolen phone. Once switched, the device will not […]

1980 – Otherwise known as “The 24th Man” (to join Microsoft, that is), Steve Ballmer came on as Microsoft’s first Business Manager. He made only $50k and stock options. Of course 30 years later, Steve succeeded Bill Gates as CEO of the Redmond based software company. Speak and Spell debuts Compaq purchases DEC for $9 […]

1998 – Seiko introduces the world’s first wearable PC watch called the Ruputer. It was marketed under the OnHand PC name. The Ruputer had a 3.6 MHz processor and 2 MB of non-volitile storage. The 102×64 monochrome LCD could display data or play games. a joystick with six function buttons were on the Ruputer. This […]

1986 – The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center opens. It links 5 supercomputer centers together – Princeton, San Diego, Illinois, and Cornell University. PSC is a leading partner in the TeraGrid, the National Science Foundation’s cyberinfrastructure program.

2001 – To compete with AOL, Internet Service Providers NetZero and Juno Online Services announce they will merge to become United Online. The company would eventually acquire other assets to keep afloat, including the purchase of the FTD group in 2008. Of course, NetZero had changed their business model to a Wireless plan in 2012 and […]

1975 – Sony releases the first home videocassette recorder in the US. Japan first saw the Betamax on May 10, 1975, which was not uncommon. The magnetic tape media was the first to be on the market, as VHS didn’t come around until 1976. Many believed Betamax was the better of the two in quality. Many TV […]

2005 – Steve Jobs spoke in front of the masses at the WWDC announcing that Apple will switch their processors from PowerPC to Intel. He then showed off the Mac OS X running on aPentium 4 CPU. The reasoning was that PowerPC chips took too much power to run and also ran hotter than an […]

1983 – Coleco announced at the Consumer Electronics Show the Coleco Adam. It was their first attempt at a computer hybrid system – gaming and desktop computing. The $725 price tag didn’t hurt, either. With a Zilog Z80 processor and 80 kB RAM with 16 kB video RAM, the Adam could do what you needed. Also […]

1896 – Henry Ford gets ready to test drive the first Quadricycle (a.k.a. Car). Only one problem – They didn’t make the garage door big enough. Out comes the Ax – A couple chops and a wider door was created. The car ran 2 speed, but could not go in reverse. It’s all in the […]

2009 – Intel introduces the Nehalem Core i7 processor, code-named “Lynnfield”. The i7-950 and 975 models are 4-core processors with a speed of 3.06 GHz. The processor ran 64-bit instruction set and could take up to 24 GB of RAM at DDR3 800/1066. Price: $294.00

1988 – While not the first version of the PS/2, the Model 70 was introduced with the 80386 processor. 16, 20, and 25 MHz clock speeds. The Model 70 also used a 25 MHz Intel 486 processor in a complex called the Power Platform. If you wanted to upgrade to the 80486, you would have to […]

1984 – Jim Gettys and Bob Scheifler announced collaboration of a new operating system in the X Window System. This gives the basic framework for a GUI. Currently, it is refered to as X11, R7.7. I’ve spent the last couple weeks writing a window system for the VS100. I stole a fair amount of code from […]

1979 – Intel released the successor to the 8086 processor in the Intel 8088 chip. With a clock rate of either 4.77 MHz or 8 MHz, this 16-bit chip had an external bus of 8 bits and 29,000 transistors. It was used in IBM PC and PC-XT computers during the 80’s. Descendants to the 8088 are the […]

2007 – Terry Semel was under pressure  by the board because of dissatisfaction of his compensation. Terry was brought in to create a partnership with Hollywood, which really didn’t happen. He handed the reigns over to Jerry Yang, who started promising revitalized talks with Microsoft. There are a few that even speculate that was when […]

1885 – Arriving in over 200 crates, the Statue of Liberty is fully delivered to New York City. French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, along with Gustave Eiffel, created this statue for America to be a symbol of freedom and friendship between the US and France. Yet, it almost didn’t get assembled due to an argument on who […]

1997 – Several computer companies banded together to help create the NetPC. A disk-less computer that got all information, including install – from a corporate server or the Internet. Basically, these would be similar to thin clients or “Dumb terminals” for work computers. No CD drive, no floppy disc and limited disk space. Cases were sealed […]

2014 – After a major protest from #FreetheNipple, Facebook decided to adjust their stance on photos of breastfeeding mothers. Facebook implemented the initial ban on December 30, 2008. The new rule became: Any baby fully engaged in feeding where nipple was covered could remain posted. However, Facebook did have the right to pull down photos if […]

1938 – It is one of the geekiest days for people like me. Creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster introduced one of the comic heros in Action Comics. Interesting enough, Superman was suppose to be a bad guy. The first form of him appeared in “Science Fiction #3” in 1933. He looked more like Lex Luthor […]

1993 – Microsoft teamed up with Tele-communications and Time Warner to start the revolution known as “Interactive TV”. The ability to buy product right through the set during a show. iTV would give users a Digital Set Top Box in which they would use to browse, go back and watch video. It even connected to […]

1997 – Back in February, it was announced that US Robotics be acquired by 3Com Corporation in a $6.6 billion stock swap. This would add to 3Com’s computer networking company against Cisco as they would become the second largest networking company. The merger did go through a series of corporate evaluations before the shareholders agreed to […]