Author: Dave Farquhar

Nintendo Famicom and the secret of Nintendo’s success

Dave Farquhar Retro Gaming
Nintendo Famicom and the secret of Nintendo’s success

On July 15, 1983, the Famicom, or Family Computer, launched in Japan. Despite the name, the Family Computer was a game console, and it went on to shatter Atari’s record for the most sales worldwide by a game console. The Famicom remains one of the most successful and popular game consoles of all time, even if you know it better as the Nintendo NES, and even if it wasn’t as popular in Europe as it was in other parts of the world.

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Code Red worm, July 13, 2001

Dave Farquhar security
Code Red worm, July 13, 2001

Code Red was a computer worm that exploited one of the earliest notorious Microsoft vulnerabilities, a buffer overflow in Microsoft IIS. It is credited as the first large scale mixed threat attack against enterprise networks. Code red was released July 13, 2001 although it was first observed July 15, 2001. Infections peaked July 19, 2001, infecting 359,000 servers worldwide.

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Gary Kildall’s death investigation

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Gary Kildall’s death investigation

Gary Kildall’s death investigation, or the seeming lack thereof, has taken on mythical proportions. Gary Kildall’s story seems to have that effect on people. Just like the story of Kildall allegedly going flying instead of meeting with IBM, the story of Gary Kildall’s death on July 11, 1994 spiraled out of control.

While Gary Kildall died under unclear circumstances, his death was less unusual than early accounts made it seem. That’s why the investigation seemed to fizzle out with less fanfare than it deserved.

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How Donkey Kong toppled Atari

Dave Farquhar Retro Gaming
How Donkey Kong toppled Atari

In July 1981, at the height of Pac-Man fever, Nintendo released its third stand up arcade game. This game, Donkey Kong, took over as the most popular arcade game in the world, but it had a lasting repercussions. It irreversibly changed the course of the home console market, and whether you know it or not, you are still feeling those effects today. Donkey Kong played a direct role in Nintendo toppling Atari.

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Ray Kassar, former Atari CEO

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Ray Kassar, former Atari CEO

Raymond Edward Kassar was born January 2, 1928 and died December 10, 2017, aged 89, in Vero Beach, Florida. Ray Kassar was president, and later CEO, of Atari Inc. from 1978 to 1983. Atari’s parent company, Warner Bros, hired him as president of Atari’s consumer division in February 1978 after he spent 26 years at Burlington Industries, a textile maker.

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Why IBM bought Lotus

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Why IBM bought Lotus

30 years ago this week, on July 6, 1995, IBM bought Lotus Development for $3.5 billion. Lotus had once been the second largest software publisher in the world and was worth $5.5 billion at its IPO. Lotus wasn’t trending in the right direction, but IBM had plans and thought Lotus fit into them.

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Compute!’s Gazette magazine, 1983-1995

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Compute!’s Gazette magazine, 1983-1995

In July 1983, one of my personal favorite Commodore computer magazines of all time, Compute!’s Gazette, was born. An offshoot of the general computer magazine Compute!, Gazette’s first issue was dated July 1983 and quickly proved successful, closely following the trajectory of the Commodore 8-bit computers it covered.

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Jack Tramiel and Atari

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Jack Tramiel and Atari

On July 2, 1984, Atari got a new owner. After a disastrous 1983, its owner, Warner Communications, wanted out, just a year and a half after Atari had $2 billion in sales. It went from being called the greatest acquisition in history in the New York Times to a toxic asset in about 18 months. Warner found a buyer in Jack Tramiel, the exiled founder of Commodore.

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The earliest surviving Tom’s Hardware Guide article

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
The earliest surviving Tom’s Hardware Guide article

The earliest dated article still active on Tom’s Hardware Guide is dated July 1, 1996. It was an article about CPU softmenus, something we pretty much take for granted today, but at the time was only available on select Abit and QDI motherboards. I’m not 100% certain that Tom’s Hardware Guide made its debut on July 1, 1996. In fact, I’m pretty sure it didn’t. But without a firm birth date, today’s as good of a day as any to look back at the very early days of a venerable PC hardware website.

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Apricot Computers: An underrated British brand

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Apricot Computers: An underrated British brand

You hear a lot about Sinclair and Amstrad and Acorn computers. But when it comes to British brands, it seems like we don’t hear a lot about Apricot. But thanks to a television program that aired in early 1990, we know a fair bit about Apricot’s triumphs and struggles in the highly competitive PC market of the 1980s and 90s. It was on June 30, 1999 that Apricot closed its factory in Scotland and wound down its brand.

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