David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more
On October 6, 1983, Lotus Development held its very successful IPO worth $5.5 billion. Founded by Mitch Kapor and Jonathan Sachs in 1982, Lotus was the publisher of a spreadsheet called Lotus 1-2-3. Two months after their IPO, they were the second largest software company in the world, becoming one of the first high-flying tech stocks before cooling down later in the decade.
On October 5, 1992, IBM released its first three Thinkpad models. IBM had portable computers before, starting with its luggable Portable PC from 1984 and PC Convertible from 1986. But none of them had the lasting success of the Thinkpad, which IBM designed to compete head to head with Compaq’s LTE, Apple’s Powerbook, and Toshiba’s Dynabook.
About three and a half years ago, I had to make some changes to my format and workflow. It wasn’t the first time I’d done things like that and probably won’t be the last. And usually when I make changes, I don’t say much about it. I usually find it’s better if I don’t. But I think this time it’s worth talking about it a little.
The Home Depot near me stopped doing cull lumber. I don’t know if that’s just a local thing or if the whole chain stopped doing it. That sent me looking for alternatives, and I found one at Menards. Menards does cull lumber a bit differently, but there are a couple of ways to get cheap lumber at discounted prices at Menards. Menards doesn’t call it cull lumber, they call it value lumber. And they also sell an economy grade of lumber.
Activision was the first independent third-party publisher of console video games, founded October 1, 1979 by a group of former Atari developers. Activision proved successful, becoming the largest and most enduring publisher of video games for both game consoles and computers of its era. What happened to Activision was its successor company, Activision Blizzard, was acquired by Microsoft on October 13, 2023, ending a 44-year run.
October 1, 2006 was a good day. It was the day that the last of the patents covering the GIF file format finally expired and GIF became free to use. Today GIF is a staple of social media, but it was also a staple of the early web, and, indeed, telecommunications before the Internet became accessible to the average household.
The IBM PS/2 line, released April 2, 1987, was IBM’s attempt to reinvigorate its aging personal computer line and fight off cloning. The line sold better than we remember. On September 30, 1988, IBM announced it had sold its 3 millionth unit. But the PS/2 failed to hold off cloning and IBM never regained the market dominance it enjoyed in the first half of the decade.
The IBM PS/2 did offer numerous enhancements over the PC line it replaced, but IBM’s customers came to resent the high price and the perception that IBM was trying to lock out third party peripherals. IBM’s decline was slow, but the PS/2 was the beginning of the end for IBM’s personal computer business.
It was on September 28, 1998 that Internet Explorer passed Netscape in market share for the first time. It took just under three years for it to go from an afterthought in the Microsoft Plus pack to the dominant browser. And that was the beginning of the end for Netscape. Internet Explorer held the position until April 30, 2012, when Chrome passed it for the first time. They jockeyed for position until May 14, 2012, when Chrome emerged with the lead.
I keep flip-flopping on whether controlling the browser matters as much now as it did in 1998. But it mattered for different reasons in 1998.
AMD went public September 27, 1972. It issued 620,000 shares at $15.50 per share, raising $7.5 million in capital. Unlike modern tech IPOs, AMD didn’t list on any of the major exchanges, opting to trade over the counter. on October 15, 1979, AMD listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and moved to the NASDAQ on January 2, 2015.
On September 26, 1996, Toshiba announced the first DVD player, the Toshiba SD-3000. It was released in Japan in November 1996 and initially cost ¥77,000, equivalent to about $770 US. It was the first consumer DVD player in the world, and of course, DVD became the successor to VHS. Ironically, the first DVD player was announced very close to 20 years after the first VHS VCR.