The Silicon Underground

Max Toy, embattled Commodore president

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:00:56 +0000

Commodore went through a revolving door of executives after Jack Tramiel resigned due to conflicts with Irving Gould. On October 6, 1987, it was Max Toy’s turn. On that day, Commodore hired him. And for a while, it seemed like

The post Max Toy, embattled Commodore president appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

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

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:00:50 +0000

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 post Lotus: Second largest software publisher in the world (in 1983) appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The IBM Thinkpad’s 1992 debut

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 11:00:45 +0000

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,

The post The IBM Thinkpad’s 1992 debut appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Weekend content through the end of 2026

Dave Farquhar — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 13:00:26 +0000

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,

The post Weekend content through the end of 2026 appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Cull lumber at Menards

Dave Farquhar — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 11:00:28 +0000

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

The post Cull lumber at Menards appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

What happened to Activision

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000

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

The post What happened to Activision appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The day GIF became free to use, forever

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 11:00:03 +0000

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

The post The day GIF became free to use, forever appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

IBM PS/2 series

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 11:00:40 +0000

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

The post IBM PS/2 series appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

When Internet Explorer passed Netscape for the first time

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:00:54 +0000

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.

The post When Internet Explorer passed Netscape for the first time appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

AMD’s IPO, September 27, 1972

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 11:00:25 +0000

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

The post AMD’s IPO, September 27, 1972 appeared first on The Silicon Underground.