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The Byte Shop Opens
December 8, 1975 Paul Terrell opens the Byte Shop, one of the first retail computer stores in the world. Besides that important distinction, Paul Terrell and the Byte Shop are most famously known for ordering the first 50 computers from Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak’s fledgling Apple Computer company in 1976. As the story goes,…
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RIAA Sues Napster
December 7, 1999 The Recording Industry Association of America sues the peer-to-peer file sharing service Napster alleging copyright infringement for allowing users to download copyrighted music for free. The RIAA would eventually win injunctions against Napster forcing the service to suspend operations and eventually file bankruptcy. In the end the RIAA and its members would…
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Apple Sues over QuickTime
December 6, 1994 Apple sues the San Francisco Canyon Company alleging they helped Intel and Microsoft steal code developed under contract for QuickTime for Windows. Apple first released QuickTime for the Macintosh in December 1991 and then contracted the San Francisco Canyon Company to port QuickTime to Windows in 1992. Microsoft’s competing Video for Windows…
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Initial ARPANet Completed
December 5, 1969 The University of Utah becomes the fourth node on the ARPANet*. This completed the planned original nodes on the experimental network that would eventually evolve into what we now know as the Internet. *Some sources claim this date as December 1st. I can not yet find a definitive source. The post Initial ARPANet…
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Goner Worm Hits Internet
December 4, 2001 Disguised as a screen saver and spread through an infected user’s Microsoft Outlook e-mail software, the Goner worm spreads through the Internet at a pace second only to the Love Bug virus the previous year. Goner was estimated to cause about $ 80 million dollars in damage. The post Goner Worm Hits…
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Segway Unveiled
December 3, 2001 Inventor Dean Kamen unveils the Segway self-balancing, battery-powered vehicle on the TV show Good Morning America. The Segway uses computers and motors in its base to keep itself upright while the user is riding it. Users shift their weight to control the Segway. While not considered a commercial success, the Segway has…
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Apple Releases QuickTime
December 2, 1991 Apple releases version 1.0 of QuickTime, a multimedia extension for playing color video, transforming the capabilities of personal computers. Before QuickTime, only specialized computers could play color video. QuickTime allowed anyone with a personal computer to do so and it changed the history of computing – in more ways than one. It…
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Business.com is Big Business
November 1, 1999 The domain name business.com sells for $ 7.5 million. At the time, it was the most expensive domain name sold in history and still ranks in the top 10 all-time most expensive domain names. The post Business.com is Big Business appeared first on This Day in Tech History. This Day in Tech…
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Atari Introduces Pong
November 29, 1972 Atari introduces their first product, Pong, which would become the world’s first commercially successful video game. The popularity of Pong sparked the beginning of the video game industry with Atari being the leader in both arcade and home video gaming industries through the early 1980’s. The post Atari Introduces Pong appeared first…
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Polaroid Instant Camera Goes on Sale
November 28, 1948 Just in time for the Christmas shopping season, 57 units of the first commercial instant camera, the Polaroid Land Camera Model 95, go on sale at the Jordan Marsh department store in Boston. Producing sepia toned photographs in about one minute, the Model 95 became a hit almost as quickly. Polaroid believed that 57 units would be…