The Silicon Underground

David Bunnell, vintage computer magazine publisher

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:00:36 +0000

David Bunnell, born July 25, 1947, was the founder of three of the most successful computer magazines of all time. He even edited two of them simultaneously, straddling two very different worlds. He was not only a pioneer of tech

The post David Bunnell, vintage computer magazine publisher appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The Caldera-Microsoft Lawsuit of 1996

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:00:49 +0000

On July 23, 1996, Novell sold the intellectual property of Digital Research to Linux vendor Caldera. The common thread the two companies had was Ray Noorda. Noorda had been CEO of Novell and was Novell’s largest shareholder, and Caldera was

The post The Caldera-Microsoft Lawsuit of 1996 appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Amiga 1000: Ten years ahead of its time

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:00:23 +0000

On July 23, 1985, Commodore introduced its Amiga 1000 computer. And let’s just say the world wasn’t ready for it yet. Dave Haynie, a Commodore engineer who worked on the later models, has said there was no such thing as

The post Amiga 1000: Ten years ahead of its time appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The First Microsoft Product

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:00:47 +0000

On January 2, 1975, Microsoft announced Altair Basic, their first product. It was a programming language for the MITS Altair 8800 computer, a product that let people write their own software for the new computer. The makers of the computer

The post The First Microsoft Product appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The MCI Worldcom merger, bankruptcy, and scandal

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 11:00:33 +0000

On November 4th, 1997, MCI and Worldcom merged in a deal worth $37 billion. This was an attempt by two large telecommunications companies to to combine and rival AT&T, but instead it turned into one of the biggest scandals and

The post The MCI Worldcom merger, bankruptcy, and scandal appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Digital Research’s 1991 merger with Novell

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:00:14 +0000

On July 17, 1991, Novell bought Digital Research for $80 million, a merger of a pioneer in desktop computer networking with a pioneer in desktop computer operating systems. Novell saw Microsoft coming after its business on multiple fronts, and saw

The post Digital Research’s 1991 merger with Novell appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Intel founded July 18, 1968

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:00:06 +0000

Intel was founded July 18, 1968, by semiconductor pioneers Gordon Moore (of Moore’s law fame) and Robert Noyce and investor Arthur Rock. Intel’s employee #3 was Andrew Grove. Moore, Noyce, and Grove had all worked together at Fairchild Semiconductor in

The post Intel founded July 18, 1968 appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Reasons for Escom’s bankruptcy

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

On July 15, 1996, German PC manufacturer Escom declared bankruptcy. But Escom wasn’t necessarily just an ordinary PC manufacturer. Escom went bankrupt less than 2 years after acquiring the Commodore and Amiga brand names and starting to use their technology.

The post Reasons for Escom’s bankruptcy appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Nintendo Famicom and the secret of Nintendo’s success

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:00:58 +0000

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 the Atari 2600’s record for the most sales worldwide by a game

The post Nintendo Famicom and the secret of Nintendo’s success appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Code Red worm, July 13, 2001

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 11:00:49 +0000

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

The post Code Red worm, July 13, 2001 appeared first on The Silicon Underground.