Built to scale: The 8GHz overclock vs the Commodore 64
A few months ago, engineers from AMD set a world record for processor speed. Using liquid nitrogen and liquid helium cooling, they clocked an FX-8150 processor up to 8.429GHz for just barely long...
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Jackson Pollock Computers
It’s funny how, even in an art museum, where you’d expect people to be hip to such things, I’ll be looking at a Jackson Pollock painting and someone will say “I don’t get it”. So let me sum it up: a...
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Knowledge Navigator is, and always will be true
In 1987, under the direction of CEO John Sculley, Apple produced a vision of the future. It served two audiences, evangelizing the masses with a glimpse of Apple’s market-leading vision, and providing...
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How do you sell a computer to someone who wont type?
In the 1980s, it was expected that every child would learn how to use a computer for word processing, if not programming, so they had a chance in the coming Information Age. But while school boards...
View ArticleErrant Signal — Doom
Ok, I’m slacking off. No Covox/Siri/whatever post yet. But check out this video dissecting the awesomeness of the original Doom twenty years later. I’m probably late to the party in learning about...
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Covox, Siri, and Beyond
In How do you sell a computer to someone who wont type?, I looked at some of the difficulties early computer companies encountered when they tried selling their systems to corporate buyers. To quote...
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Let’s talk about porn — The IBM 1401 (1959)
In light of recent events, I’ve been working on & off trying to write something about sexism in the computer industry. But it’s hard to do the topic justice in a single post. Instead, I’d like to...
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Review: Bartending: Memoirs of an Apple Genius
I was really looking forward to the release of Stephen Hackett’s Bartending: Memoirs of an Apple Genius this month. When I saw it was released early, I couldn’t wait for the first reviews to come out....
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Business is War — Jack Tramiel (1928–2012)
I knew the day was coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Jack Tramiel passed away this weekend at the age of 83. Jack was not a very technical man, but he was the driven leader behind two of...
View ArticleJavascript: The Early Years
Videos about computer history are good. Presentations by Douglas Crockford are great. A presentation by Douglas Crockford on the subject of computer history is like a spaceship full of peanut butter...
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