David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more
On September 25, 1928, Motorola was founded. Retro computer enthusiasts think of Motorola as a CPU manufacturer, and to a lesser degree, perhaps as a computer manufacturer. But its primary line of business for the majority of its existence was another electronic device: radio.
On September 24, 1998, Ebay held its IPO at $18 per share, reaching $53 per share in its first day, making founder Pierre Omidyar and president Jeffrey Skoll instant billionaires. Ebay’s first annual report listed the company’s dependence on the continued strength of the Beanie Baby market as a risk factor. Needless to say, Ebay overcame both the Beanie Baby bubble bursting and the dotcom bubble bursting, coming out on the other side as one of the few survivors of the dotcom era.
22 years ago, on September 23, 2003, AMD changed the game for x86 once and for all. They released the Athlon 64 CPU, a chip that did something Intel didn’t want. Intel didn’t want to extend x86 to 64 bits. But when AMD did it, it forced Intel to clone AMD, rather than the other way around.
The NEC V20 was an Intel 8088-compatible CPU that ran slightly faster. It was a niche CPU in the 1980s and 1990s but had a following as a cheap upgrade for power users, especially in instances where motherboard swaps were impractical. It’s popular with retro computing enthusiasts today, as a period-correct upgrade. On September 22, 1986, NEC prevailed over Intel in court, clearing the way to sell it.
The NEC V20 was pin-compatible with the Intel 8088 but included some unique forward and backward compatibility features. It included the 80186 instruction set and could also emulate the Intel 8080, in addition to being faster than the 8088.
On September 15, 1998, Diamond Multimedia introduced an MP3 player, the Diamond Rio PMP300. It wasn’t the first MP3 player, but it made the MP3 player mainstream. I had one. It wasn’t exactly great, but I understand why the RIAA was afraid of it. That’s one of the main reasons I spent $200 to get one. I got mine so early the RIAA hadn’t been able to sue Diamond Multimedia yet.
Apple fired Steve Jobs on September 16, 1985. Apple appointed him interim CEO exactly 11 years later, on September 16, 1996. Of course, Jobs later became permanent CEO, a position he held until 2011 when he resigned for health reasons.
On September 17, 1993, just seven and a half months before it went bankrupt, Commodore trotted out one last new product: the Amiga CD32. It was a 32-bit game console based on the Amiga 1200. Was this yet another case of Commodore ineptitude, or did Commodore actually have a good idea this time that failed for other reasons?
On September 16, 1975, the 6502 CPU made its debut. It was a simple, inexpensive processor designed and priced for everyone. The 6502 cost $25 when Intel’s closest equivalent cost $370. Unsurprisingly, its low price made it an immediate success and it ended up powering numerous computers and game consoles from the 1970s and 1980s.
On September 12, 2007, the music pirate group Rabid Neurosis, or RNS, started unraveling with an FBI raid on 35-year-old Bennie Lydell “Dell” Glover, of Shelby, North Carolina. They weren’t the first MP3 pirate group, but they were one of the most prolific. Nearly two years later, on September 9, 2009, four members were indicted with conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.
The Atari 2600 was first released on September 11, 1977, along with nine titles. It wasn’t the first home video game console to connect to a TV and it wasn’t even the first one to use cartridges, but it was the first one to gain widespread success, selling 30 million units over its long lifetime. Let’s take a look at the nine Atari 2600 launch titles.