Archive for March 26, 2024
Bill Gates Announces First Tablet PCs
March 26, 2001
A little over 4 months after announcing that Tablet PCs would be the future, in his keynote at the 2001 Windows Hardware and Engineering Conference (WinHEC) Bill Gates announces Tablet PC support from Acer, Compaq, Fujitsu, Sony and Toshiba. Microsoft’s Tablet PC initiative made a lot of noise and had hardware manufacturers salivating at the thought of a new category of computers to sell after the post Y2k downturn in sales, but for a variety of factors never gained mainstream acceptance. It was not until Apple introduced the iPad in 2010 that mainstream tablet computing actually became a reality.
Melissa Unleashes
March 26, 1999
The first e-mail virus to cause widespread damage and one of the fastest spreading viruses in history, Melissa was released into the wild on an early Friday morning and within three days would infect between 100,000 and 250,000 computers around the world. Targeting Microsoft Word and Outlook, the virus did not directly cause any damage, but the sheer volume of e-mail that it generated crashed many corporate *cough* Microsoft *cough* e-mail servers.
The malware first showed up on the alt.sex usenet group and was apparently named by its creator, David L. Smith, after an exotic dancer. He was arrested a few days later on April 1st, 1999 and accused of causing $80 million worth of damages. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
First Personal Computer Convention
March 26, 1976
The First Annual World Altair Computer Convention is held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Altair 8800 is considered the world’s first popular “microcomputer”, which essentially was the first popular personal computer. Created by MITS which was headquartered in Albuquerque, this Altair convention is also known for being the world’s first major microcomputer or personal computer convention. Over 700 people from 46 states and 7 countries attended. The next day at the opening address, a young Bill Gates gives a talk about software piracy. Bill Gates and Paul Allen had moved to Albuquerque about a year earlier to write the BASIC programming language for the Altair, founding Microsoft.