The Silicon Underground

When the RIAA sued a 12-year-old for MP3 piracy

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 11:00:32 +0000

On September 8, 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America started suing individuals for pirating MP3 files. One of the people caught up in a lawsuit was a 12-year-old honors student who lived in public housing. Nice MP3 collection ya

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The first VHS VCR: JVC HR-3300

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:00:05 +0000

In 1986, it seemed like everyone was talking about VCRs, especially VHS VCRs. But this was an example of it taking years to become an overnight sensation. The first VHS VCR, the JVC HR-3300, was announced September 9, 1976. JVC

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What happened to Compuserve?

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 11:00:10 +0000

Compuserve was an online service for dialup modems from the 1970s to the 1990s. It was a way of getting online and communicating with others before the Internet was generally available to individuals. Later, it became a primary way for

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The ill-fated HP-Compaq merger

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 11:00:02 +0000

On September 6, 2001, HP announced its intention to acquire Compaq for $25 billion. It was a stunning end for what still seemed to be one of the rising stars of the PC industry. I also think it proved that

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The September that Never Ended

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 11:00:16 +0000

We’re now 33 years into Eternal September. You have to be older than about 52 to know what I’m talking about. But if you started college before the fall of 1993, especially if you were studying computer science, you know

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Microsoft 6502 Basic released as open source Sept 3, 2025

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 11:00:08 +0000

On September 3, 2025, Microsoft released version 1.1 of its 6502 Basic as open source. This code formed the basis for Applesoft Basic on the Apple II series as well as Commodore Basic on all of Commodore’s 8-bit computers, including

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Atari Lynx: The first color handheld game console

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 11:00:37 +0000

What did the original Amiga design team do after the Amiga went to market and Commodore wasted the opportunity? Jay Miner went back to designing medical devices, but three other members of the team designed the first color handheld game

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Commodore 64 released September 1, 1982

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 11:00:10 +0000

On September 1, 1982, the Commodore 64 launched. Its name referred to the amount of memory it had on board: 64 kilobytes. And it was the first computer with 64K of memory to sell for under $600. When the Commodore

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Adobe’s August 1994 acquisition of Aldus

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 11:00:30 +0000

On August 31, 1994, software publisher Adobe bought Aldus for $446 million. Both companies were known for graphics products. Aldus’ most popular product was Pagemaker, a page layout program. Adobe’s most popular products were illustrator and Photoshop. The three products

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Apple prevails over Franklin, August 30, 1983

Dave Farquhar — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 11:00:29 +0000

Prior to August 1983, the concept of copyright applying to computer software wasn’t settled law. Companies had sued one another for copyright violation, but prior to Apple taking Franklin Computer to court for copying the ROMs and the operating system

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