Author: Dave Farquhar

Commodore’s knockoff Atari joystick from 1982

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Commodore’s knockoff Atari joystick from 1982

When Commodore released its VIC-20 computer in 1981, one of the peripherals it also released was a matching joystick. Cast in white plastic like the VIC-20, the Commodore VIC-1311 looked like an albino Atari joystick from the same time period. The resemblance was uncanny, and Atari took notice. On October 11, 1982, Atari sued.

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When Apple Records sued Apple Computer

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
When Apple Records sued Apple Computer

On October 9, 1991, Apple Records settled one of its many lawsuits with Apple Computer. It wasn’t the first time the two companies tangled. Nor would it be the last. Apple Records was the Beatles’ record label. Apple Computer was, of course, a maker of computers. It was the nature of one of those computers that got Apple Computer into trouble.

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AI’s parallels with the dotcom bubble

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing

As someone who lived through the dotcom bubble, experiencing the breakthrough of the Internet in the early 1990s and worked in technology during the boom later in the decade, I’ve been asked what I think of the AI phenomenon going on in the mid 2020s. Yes, I chose that wording for a reason. Time will tell if it’s best called an AI boom, an AI bubble, or something worse like an AI scam.

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Lotus: Second largest software publisher in the world (in 1983)

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Lotus: Second largest software publisher in the world (in 1983)

41 years ago this week, 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, and two months after their IPO, they were the second largest software company in the world.

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The IBM Thinkpad’s 1992 debut

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
The IBM Thinkpad’s 1992 debut

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.

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When Nova introduced hacking to the mainstream

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
When Nova introduced hacking to the mainstream

35 years ago, a young system administrator named Cliff Stoll shared a story on Nova, a PBS documentary program. Stoll introduced his audience to a brave and unfamiliar world of computers, networks, and hackers. Movies about computers and hackers were nothing new, but this wasn’t a movie, and I wasn’t the target audience. This was real, and the target audience was middle-aged people like my dad.

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What happened to Activision

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
What happened to Activision

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.

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The day GIF became free to use, forever

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
The day GIF became free to use, forever

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.

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IBM PS/2 series

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
IBM PS/2 series

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.

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When Internet Explorer passed Netscape for the first time

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
When Internet Explorer passed Netscape for the first time

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.

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