Commodore’s purchase of Amiga, August 14, 1984

Commodore’s purchase of Amiga, August 14, 1984

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 one of the more interesting might-have-beens of 1980s computing.

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IBM 5170 PC/AT

IBM 5170 PC/AT

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 IBM PC. It wasn’t the fastest PC in its category. Compaq took care of that. But if you wanted true blue IBM, this was the machine. It was also controversial, both in its heyday and even today. Let’s talk about why.

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IBM PC introduced, August 12, 1981

IBM PC introduced, August 12, 1981

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 gamma a bit inaccurate. In this blog post, I will explore the inspiration of the IBM PC and talk about some of the legends that emerged from its wake. I think it’s a pretty good story. Some of it is even true.

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Red Hat’s successful 1999 IPO

Red Hat’s successful 1999 IPO

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 Hat was one of the survivors of the dotcom era, exiting as a result of an acquisition more than 20 years later. Investors may have initially been divided on the company but in the end the naysayers were wrong.

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The first pirated MP3

The first pirated MP3

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 that the first pirated MP3 was a Metallica song, given Metallica’s litigious attitude toward MP3s just a few short years later.

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Netscape: The IPO that went boom on its way up and down

Netscape: The IPO that went boom on its way up and down

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 fell, it went boom hard and loud. Its IPO on August 9, 1995 launched the dot-com bubble. In this blog post, I’ll explain why it was pretty much doomed by the time it went public.

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Why Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple in 1997

Why Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple in 1997

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 vibe to it and probably was just as confusing today as it is now. In this blog post, I’ll explore what was in the deal for both of them.

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Ebay’s 1995 debut

Ebay’s 1995 debut

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 Ebay, was a side project. From these humble beginnings came one of the few survivors of the dotcom era.

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Radio Shack’s TRS-80: Introduced Aug 3, 1977

Radio Shack’s TRS-80: Introduced Aug 3, 1977

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 mouth was, paying $100 to get on a waiting list to buy one.

At the time, the median price of a Radio Shack product was $30. A TRS-80 bundled with a CRT display and tape drive cost $599 and was the most expensive product they had ever sold.

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The Caldera-SCO merger of 2000

The Caldera-SCO merger of 2000

On August 2, 2000, a second-tier Linux vendor acquired a struggling Unix vendor. The merger received some press, but if you weren’t really following Linux at the time, it would have been easy enough to miss. But the merger of Caldera and SCO created a litigation monster.

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