David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more
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Microsoft QuickBasic was a commercially available programming language for MS-DOS, initially released August 18, 1985. Qbasic, the Basic interpreter included with MS-DOS versions 5 and 6, was a cut-down version of QuickBasic. Most notably, the bundled version lacked the ability The post Microsoft QuickBasic remembered appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
On August 20, 1986, Adobe Systems held its initial public offering. Priced at around $11 per share, Adobe has split its stock six times since. Adobe: The sleeper tech stock of 1986 1986 was a good year for tech stocks. The post Adobe Systems IPO August 20, 1986 appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
On August 19, 1974, Chuck Peddle, Bill Mensch, Rod Orgill, Harry Bawcom, Ray Hirt, Terry Holdt, Wil Mathys, and Mike Janes quit their jobs at Motorola to venture out on their own, founding MOS Technology. The eight had worked on The post MOS Technology founded August 19, 1974 appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
Egghead Software was a US retail store that sold computer software from 1984 to 2001. It declared bankruptcy 25 years ago this week, on August 18, 2001, after an attempted reinvention as a dotcom selling online failed. Why did Egghead The post What happened to Egghead Software appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
August 17, 2000 was a major milestone for the Internet. You could argue it’s the day the Internet went mainstream, completing the transition from something computer science students used in college to something their parents would use to buy books The post When the Internet reached half of US households appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
The IBM PC Compact Printer is a bit of a misnomer, as it was really intended for the PCjr. But it ended up working with a bunch of other computers as well as part of its second act. Here s the The post IBM PC Compact Printer model 5181 appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
On August 14, 1984, Commodore International purchased Amiga Corporation for $27 million, with the expectation of bringing Amiga s multitasking computer with high-color graphics and sound to market within a year. It took a little longer than that, and it created The post Commodore s purchase of Amiga, August 14, 1984 appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
The IBM 5170 PC/AT, launched August 14, 1984, is a very popular retro PC, for several reasons. It was the last of the open architecture IBM PCs. And from 1984 to about mid-1987, it was the fastest and most expensive The post IBM 5170 PC/AT appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
45 years ago today, IBM introduced the original IBM PC. This computer changed the industry and change the world. There is no shortage of analysis about its impact, but I find a lot of it self-serving and, in some cases The post IBM PC introduced, August 12, 1981 appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
It was 27 years ago this week, on Aug 11, 1999, that Red Hat, the Linux vendor, conducted its IPO. It was not the biggest IPO of 1999, and it wasn t even the biggest Linux-related IPO of 1999. But Red The post Red Hat s successful 1999 IPO appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
MP3 piracy was born August 10, 1996. That day, a pirate using the handle of Netfrack released a copy of Metallica s Until it Sleeps for free download on IRC, an Internet protocol intended for chat, not file sharing. It s appropriate The post The first pirated MP3 appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
The early star of the dot-com boom wasn t Amazon or Ebay, it was Netscape, a company who produced a web browser of the same name. It went boom high and it went boom fast as it rose. And when it The post Netscape: The IPO that went boom on its way up and down appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
On August 6, 1997, Apple and Microsoft reached a truce, to the tune of $150 million. At an Apple event, the two companies announced Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple, leaving everyone wondering why. The whole event had a weird The post Why Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple in 1997 appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
The eBay domain name was registered 31 years ago today, on August 4, 1995. But the site we know today as Ebay didn t launch until almost month later, September 3, 1995, under a different name. Auctionweb, the original name for The post Ebay s 1995 debut appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
When Radio Shack announced its TRS-80 Model 1 on Aug 3, 1977, designer Steve Leininger thought they could sell 50,000 units. Tandy executives didn t believe him. But the response overwhelmed the company, and 250,000 people put their money where their The post Radio Shack s TRS-80: Introduced Aug 3, 1977 appeared first on The Silicon Underground .
