In this episode we finish up our look at the birth of the transistor. But to do that we have to go back to 1880, the crystal radio detector, and examine the development of semiconductor devices. Once created the transistor would change not just how computers worked, but change how they could be used. That change didn't happen over night, and it would take even longer for the transistor to move from theory to reality. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include ...
Jun 14, 2020•46 min•Ep. 32
The transistor changed the world. It made small, complex, and cheap computing possible. But it wasn't the first attempt to crack the case. There is a long and strange lineage of similar devices leading up to the transistor. In this episode we take a look at two of those devices. First the vacuum tube, one of the first components that made computing possible. Then the cryotron, the first device purpose built for computers. You can find the full audio of Atanasoff's talk here: https://www.youtube....
May 31, 2020•51 min•Ep. 31
In the current day Linux is the most widely used UNIX-like operating system. It's rise to prominence has been an amazing success story. From it's humble beginnings Linux has grown to power everything from super computers to car stereos. But it's not the first UNIX clone. A much earlier system existed, called Coherent. And as it turns out both Linux and Coherent share a lot of similarities. The biggest difference being that Coherent was closed source. Like the show? Then why not head over and sup...
May 17, 2020•47 min•Ep. 30
In this byte sized episode I take a look at a pack in that came with the first Macintosh. Along side Apple stickers, manuals, and the computer itself there was a single cassette tape labeled "A Guided Tour of the Macintosh". The purpose? It's a strange addition to the Mac's packing, but a great example of Apple's attention to detail and ingenuity. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers: https://www.patreon.com/...
May 10, 2020•9 min
Every day we are inundated with digital audio: phone calls, music, even this podcast. Digitized sound has become so ubiquitous that it often fades into the background. What makes this all possible is a technology called Pulse Code Modulation, or PCM. This isn't new technology, its roots trace all the way back to 1937. So how exactly did digital audio come into being well before the first digital computers? Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early acces...
May 03, 2020•45 min•Ep. 29
It's easy to think of Apple and Microsoft as bitter rivals, but that's not always the case. The two companies have a very complicated relationship, and a very long history. This connection goes all the way back to the 1970s and a product called Applesoft BASIC. It would become stock software on nearly every Apple II computer ever sold, it kept Apple competitive in the early home computer market, and it may have saved Microsoft from bankruptcy. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me...
Apr 19, 2020•40 min•Ep. 28
The 1980s were a turbulent and fast-moving decade for the video game industry. There were huge success stories, rapid advancements in technology, and the North American Video Game Crash. Caught up in all of this was an ambitious machine called the Vectrex. In an era dominated by pixelated graphics the Vectrex brought higher resolution vector images and early 3D to market. But ultimately it would be swept away during the market's crash. Today we are taking a dive into the development of the Vectr...
Apr 05, 2020•43 min•Ep. 27
The widespread use of the internet has shaped our world, it's hard do imagine the modern day without it. One of the biggest featured would have to be the hyperlink. But despite the modern net feeling so new, links actually date back as far as the 1930s and the creation of the Memex: a machine that was never built but would influence coming generations of dreamers. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers: https:/...
Mar 22, 2020•42 min•Ep. 26
The floppy disk is one of the most iconic pieces of technology. While not in use in the modern day there was a period of 40 years where the floppy disk was synonymous with data storage. Today we pick up where we finished in the last episode, with the rise and fall of the 5 1/4 inch disk. We will be looking at the creation and spread of the 3 1/2 inch floppy disk. How did Sony, a non-player in the computer market, create this run away success? And how did Apple contribute to it's rise? Like the s...
Mar 08, 2020•39 min•Ep. 25
The floppy disk was a ubiquitous technology for nearly 40 years. From mainframes to home computers, the plastic disk was everywhere. And in the decades it was around there were very few changes made to how it fundamentally worked. So how did it get so popular? What made the floppy disk so flexible? And how did it finally fall out of favor? In this episode we will look at the technology's early days. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to fu...
Feb 24, 2020•42 min•Ep. 24
Our modern world is full of software, it's what makes everything tick. The sheer amount of code that goes into something like keeping the internet running is staggering. Programming isn't the easiest profession, but there was a time when it was much much harder. It took a huge shift in thinking, and some impressive feats of software development, to make complicated programming possible. And that shift started in the 1950s. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks in...
Feb 10, 2020•51 min•Ep. 23
Many video games today make use of randomized content, some more than others. It may seem like an obvious feature, but it turns out that procedural generation didn't really catch on in video games until the 1980 release of Rogue. The game itself never saw much commercial success, but was wildly popular among UNIX users. In this episode we look at Rogue, how it was created, and the legacy that we still see today. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early...
Jan 26, 2020•45 min•Ep. 22
It's time to continue our deep dive into the legacy of Intel's processors. This episode we will be looking at the 8008, the second microprocessor produced by Intel and the progenitor of the x86 family. Along the way we will see how an innovative terminal from 1969 inspired the chip, how Intel lost a contract, and discuss some of the first personal computes. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers: https://www.pa...
Jan 13, 2020•32 min•Ep. 21
In this mini episode we will look at the Y2K bug, and some of the recipes it spawned. That's right, we are talking about Y2K cookbooks! You can find all more Y2K compliant food here: https://web.archive.org/web/19991012032855/http://y2kkitchen.com/ Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers: https://www.patreon.com/adventofcomputing Important dates in this episode: 1999: Y2K Kitchen Hits Shelves...
Jan 06, 2020•12 min
In the conclusion to our discussion of PLATO we look at the final incarnation of the system: PLATO IV. How did an educational machine turn into one of the earliest online communities? What was it like to use PLATO at it's height? Along the way we will look at the software, hardware, and video games that made PLATO so special. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers: https://www.patreon.com/adventofcomputing Impo...
Dec 30, 2019•37 min•Ep. 20
In the 1960s a small project started at the University of Illinois. This project, called PLATO, would go on to pioneer a truly impressive amount of new technology, including the first plasma screen, MMO video games, and time-sharing. However, PLATO remains relatively unknown today. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers: https://www.patreon.com/adventofcomputing Important dates in this episode: 1952: ILLIAC Bec...
Dec 16, 2019•38 min•Ep. 19
The computer mouse is a ubiquitous device, it's also one of the least changed devices we use with a computer. The mice we use today have only seen small incremental improvements since the first mouse was developed. So how did such a long lasting design take shape, and how did it travel the decades up to now? Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers: https://www.patreon.com/adventofcomputing Important dates in thi...
Dec 02, 2019•33 min•Ep. 18
In this mini-episode we look at a strange event in Microsoft's early history and their first case of piracy. Along the way you will learn about the best advetrizing campaign in history: the MITS MOBILE Computer Caravan! Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers: https://www.patreon.com/adventofcomputing Important dates in this episode: 1976: 'Open Letter to Hobbyists' Written by Bill Gates http://tee.pub/lic/4jnwv...
Nov 25, 2019•10 min
In 1086 William the Conqueror commissioned a survey of England that would come to be known as the Domesday Book. 900 years later the BBC would create a similar survey, called the Domesday Project. This new survey spanned two LaserDiscs holding over a gigabyte of data and 200,000 images, most of which were collected by students. It presets an amazing time capsule of the UK in 1986. Also contained within the disks were 3D virtual walks of the country side, and an entire computer generated gallery....
Nov 18, 2019•33 min•Ep. 17
Intel is one of the dominant forces in the computer industry today, they may be most well known for their line of microprocessors. These chips have powered computers going back to the early days of microcomputers. How did Intel become so entrenched in the field? Well, it all started with the 4004 CPU, the first "one-chip" computer. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers: https://www.patreon.com/adventofcomputin...
Nov 04, 2019•30 min•Ep. 16
Colossal Cave Adventure is one of the most influential video games of all time. Originally written for the DEC PDP-10 mainframe in 1975 the game has not only spread to just about any computer out there, but it has inspired the entire adventure/RPG genera. In this episode we are going to look at how Adventure got it's start, how it evolved into a full game, and how it came to be a lunch title for the IBM PC. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early acce...
Oct 20, 2019•29 min•Ep. 15
Computer viruses today pose a very real threat. However, it turns out that their origins are actually very non-threatening. Today, we are going to look at some of the first viruses. We will see how they developed from technical writing, to pulp sci-fi, to traveling code. I talk about The Scarred Man by Gregory Benford in this episode, you can read the full short story here: http://www.gregorybenford.com/extra/the-scarred-man-returns/ Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreo...
Oct 06, 2019•29 min•Ep. 14
Today I am joined by Julien Mailland and Kevon Driscoll, co-authors of Minitel: Welcome to the Internet and proprietors of the Minitel Research Lab(minitel.us). We talk about their book, how they first started working on Minitel terminals, and the ongoing work to preserve Minitel.
Sep 29, 2019•34 min
Today we are dipping back into the deep and complex history of the proto-internet. We are going to be looking at Minitel, a France-Wide-Web that was built in the 1980s as a way to help the country stay relevant in the digital age. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers: https://www.patreon.com/adventofcomputing Important dates in this episode: 1980: Minitel Program Networks France...
Sep 22, 2019•29 min•Ep. 13
Today we are going to be traveling back to the late 1970s to take a look at the early days of the home computer. And specifically how Microsoft found a foothold at just the right time and place. And for Bill Gates and Paul Allen that would come in the form of BASIC. Along the way we will cover the Altair 8800, vaporware, and how Bill Gates violated Harvard student conduct. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers...
Sep 08, 2019•32 min•Ep. 12
It really seems like in the last decade video games have gone from a somewhat niche hobby to a widespread part of our culture. Nowadays, there are a multitude of ways to get out gaming fix. Consoles, handheld game systems, and even smartphones make video games more accessible than ever. But when and how exactly did video games start to creep into the modern consciousness? In this episode we look at some of the earliest video games and how they came to be. Like the show? Then why not head over an...
Aug 25, 2019•25 min•Ep. 11
In this mini-episode we look at the Jargon File, an early primary source about hacker culture. The most recent version of the file lives here: http://catb.org/jargon/html/ If you want more of my voice, I was also recently on the What Do You Do With That podcast talking about restoring an IBM PS/2 Model 25. You can find all their episodes here: https://wdydwt.blubrry.net/
Aug 18, 2019•11 min
In this episode we are going to explore the ARPANET. This is a companion to the last episode, which covered contemporary Soviet attempts to create an early internet. Like with last time, today we are still in the Cold War era. Now, this won't be a point by point comparison of Soviet to US networks. They are totally different beasts. Instead, what I want to do is look at how ARPANET was developed, what influenced it, and how it would kick start the creation of the internet.
Aug 11, 2019•28 min•Ep. 10
Often times people assume the US is the homeland of the internet. Funded by the US Department of Defence, the first attempts at a large-scale network were started during the height of the Cold War, and a large part of it's design was redundancy and robust-ness. Some of the researchers were quite frank about it's purpose: to create a network that could survive an upcoming nuclear war. This military-hardened infrastructure was known as ARPANET. But that's only part of the story, and the US wasn't ...
Jul 28, 2019•28 min•Ep. 9
The Raspberry Pi had been a huge success at its stated goals, and continues to be. But, this isn't the first time a British company would design and develop a computer as an accessible platform for learning programming. In fact, if you've read much about the Pi then you've probably seen people calling it a "BBC Micro 2". So what was the BBC Micro? What did the BBC have to do with creating a new computer? And how is any of this connected to the 21st century version? Today I want to share the stor...
Jul 14, 2019•31 min•Ep. 8
