Computers
On The First Day …
March 1, 1976
Steve Wozniak completes the basic design for the circuit board of a (relatively) easy-to-use personal computer. The next day he shows it to the Homebrew Computer Club, which Steve Jobs attends. Jobs realizes the potential and convinces Wozniak not to give away the schematics but instead produce printed circuit boards to sell. The two Steves form a company, which they name Apple, and Wozniak’s design becomes the basis of the Apple I computer. The rest, as they say, is history.
V.92 Introduced
February 27, 2001
US Robotics introduces the V.92 modem standard. Given that broadband Internet had begun to take significant hold and that supporting V.92 required ISPs to upgrade their infrastructure, V.92 never really made much of an impact in the marketplace.
First Warrant to Search Computer Data
February 19, 1971
The first warrant is issued to search a computer’s storage. The warrant allowed the searching of:
- Key Punch Computer Cards, punched with a proprietary remote plotting program
- Computer Printout sheets of a proprietary remote plotting program
- Computer memory bank and other data storage devices magnetically imprinted with the proprietary computer program.
This event would lead to increasingly sophisticated methods of encryption to hide computer files from law enforcement agents.
Windows 2000 Introduced
February 17, 2000
Microsoft introduces the latest version of the Windows NT line of operating systems, Windows 2000. While Windows 2000 did bring plug and play to the Windows NT line, it was targeted to the business market and not the consumer. It was not until Windows XP that Microsoft merged the NT line with the Windows 95/98 line. Unfortunately, Microsoft unleashed Windows ME upon unsuspecting consumers in the meantime. Sigh.