Collaborate Disseminate
DRM, one of the internet’s dark arts, was already in the works—complete with epic patents—years before the existence of Napster gave it a business case. Continue reading The Incredibly Technical History of Digital Rights Management
The lineage of the walkie-talkie reaches from World War II to the modern cell phone, and even inspired a major cell network. Continue reading Roger That: A Short History of the Walkie Talkie
Toys’R’Us, which just filed for bankruptcy, was once essential to the fortunes of the toy industry. But the secret to its rise was that it sold a whole lot of electronics—whether cheap gadgets, hot toys, or (of course) video games. Continue reading How Primitive Electronics and Expensive Video Games Turned Toys’R’Us Into a Consumer Juggernaut
Somehow CGA graphics, the IBM PC’s first take on color, haven’t completely faded into history. Why’s that? Well, those four colors inspire a whole lot of nostalgia. Continue reading Why the IBM PC’s Early Graphics Used Such Ugly Colors
Before hard drives became the main way for us to back up our stuff, they were a key evolution for the business world. They were also huge and costly. Continue reading Hard Drives Started Out as Massive Machines That Were Rented by the Month
Nearly 20 years before Apple popularized the tablet computer, it created a series of prototype devices that in some ways operate closer to the modern-day iPad Pro than the machine it actually released in 2010. Continue reading Apple Has Been Struggling with the Stylus for 20 Years
The iPod Hi-Fi stumbled out of the gate, mocked by audiophiles and announced to the world during perhaps Apple’s weakest Steve Jobs keynote ever. The speaker was nice enough, but it simply didn’t match iPod users’ needs. Continue reading Why Apple’s Last Foray Into Home Speakers Was Such a Fiasco
The iPod Hi-Fi stumbled out of the gate, mocked by audiophiles and announced to the world during perhaps Apple’s weakest Steve Jobs keynote ever. The speaker was nice enough, but it simply didn’t match iPod users’ needs. Continue reading Why Apple’s Last Foray Into Home Speakers Was Such a Fiasco
The US Festival, held in 1982 and 1983, was the kind of music happening where you could watch bands on giant screens while grabbing some shade under a satellite dish. Continue reading Steve Wozniak’s US Festival Predicted the Melding of Tech and Music
It ain’t just about Windows, macOS, or Linux. Also-ran or fairly obscure operating systems, like OS/2, are everywhere—in some cases, hiding under your nose. Continue reading Why Many Old Operating Systems Never Really Die