#techhistory — Public Fediverse posts

Steve Jobs dreamed of campus AI in the ’80s—years ahead of its time. The NeXT computer flopped not for flaws, but for cost: $10k was a fortune for schools. Innovation often stumbles on timing, not vision.

A poignant look at ambition vs. reality 👇

https://youtube.com/shorts/kuET30GT2k4

#TechHistory #AI

Wer von euch hätte gewusst, dass die Ursuppe von Java mal Oak hieß? Und ursprünglich gedacht war für interaktives Kabelfernsehen? Zur Wochenendunterhaltung habe ich für euch heute eine gute Stunde Java-History mit den Menschen, die von Anfang an dabei waren, enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqGSg4b_cZA #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #java #techhistory

Wer von euch hätte gewusst, dass die Ursuppe von Java mal Oak hieß? Und ursprünglich gedacht war für interaktives Kabelfernsehen? Zur Wochenendunterhaltung habe ich für euch heute eine gute Stunde Java-History mit den Menschen, die von Anfang an dabei waren, enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqGSg4b_cZA #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #java #techhistory

Jobs left Apple reckless and difficult. He came back with patience and focus. Failure built what success never could.
#books #bookreview #SecondComingOfSteveJobs
#techhistory https://smpl.is/am5ne

Jobs left Apple reckless and difficult. He came back with patience and focus. Failure built what success never could.
#books #bookreview #SecondComingOfSteveJobs
#techhistory https://smpl.is/am5ne

🚀 Breaking news from 1994: the groundbreaking discovery that finite state machines can exist in Forth without a labyrinth of IF clauses! 🎉 Read on as our hero, J.V. Noble, valiantly types out a dissertation on programming techniques as old as the punch card, all while reveling in the complete lack of modern syntax highlighting. 📜🔍
https://www.forth.org/literature/noble.html #BreakingNews #FiniteStateMachines #ForthProgramming #JVNoble #TechHistory #HackerNews #ngated

🚀 Breaking news from 1994: the groundbreaking discovery that finite state machines can exist in Forth without a labyrinth of IF clauses! 🎉 Read on as our hero, J.V. Noble, valiantly types out a dissertation on programming techniques as old as the punch card, all while reveling in the complete lack of modern syntax highlighting. 📜🔍
https://www.forth.org/literature/noble.html #BreakingNews #FiniteStateMachines #ForthProgramming #JVNoble #TechHistory #HackerNews #ngated

Finite State Machines in Forth (1994)

https://www.forth.org/literature/noble.html

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49223964

#HackerNews #FiniteStateMachines #Forth #1994 #Programming #ComputerScience #TechHistory

Finite State Machines in Forth (1994)

https://www.forth.org/literature/noble.html

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49223964

#HackerNews #FiniteStateMachines #Forth #1994 #Programming #ComputerScience #TechHistory

When people grieved the loss of GPT-4o models, it showed how convincing AI’s performance has become. But history repeats itself: from 1966's ELIZA to 2011's IBM Watson, we repeatedly mistake statistical pattern matching for a soul. Modern frontier LLMs optimize next-token prediction; they don't experience life. The danger isn't that machines feel, but that we act like they do.

https://medium.com/@chribonn/ddf273b5d327

#TTMO #AI #TechHistory #Sentience #GenerativeAI

When people grieved the loss of GPT-4o models, it showed how convincing AI’s performance has become. But history repeats itself: from 1966's ELIZA to 2011's IBM Watson, we repeatedly mistake statistical pattern matching for a soul. Modern frontier LLMs optimize next-token prediction; they don't experience life. The danger isn't that machines feel, but that we act like they do.

https://medium.com/@chribonn/ddf273b5d327

#TTMO #AI #TechHistory #Sentience #GenerativeAI

🎉 Oh, the nostalgia! A riveting tale of ancient computing relics so thrilling, you'd think #UNIVAC was the latest iPhone. 🙄 But really, who wouldn't want to spend their day reading about #Skeduflo while surrounded by six modern devices just screaming for attention? 📱💻🤦‍♂️
https://uniqueatpenn.wordpress.com/2026/08/05/come-for-eniac-stay-for-univac-and-skeduflo/ #nostalgia #ancientcomputing #techhistory #moderndevices #HackerNews #ngated

🎉 Oh, the nostalgia! A riveting tale of ancient computing relics so thrilling, you'd think #UNIVAC was the latest iPhone. 🙄 But really, who wouldn't want to spend their day reading about #Skeduflo while surrounded by six modern devices just screaming for attention? 📱💻🤦‍♂️
https://uniqueatpenn.wordpress.com/2026/08/05/come-for-eniac-stay-for-univac-and-skeduflo/ #nostalgia #ancientcomputing #techhistory #moderndevices #HackerNews #ngated

I think it was the BrowserID/ Persona thing that first made me realise something fishy was going on at Mozilla.

I thought BrowserID was a well-considered design - at least from a UX perspective - and I was pleased to see Mozilla funding a reference implementation; Persona. I talked to the guy who was working on it at a few conferences, and convinced at least one web platform (Loomio) to implement support for BrowserID login.

(1/?)

#MozillaPersona #BrowserID #Mozilla #TechHistory

I think it was the BrowserID/ Persona thing that first made me realise something fishy was going on at Mozilla.

I thought BrowserID was a well-considered design - at least from a UX perspective - and I was pleased to see Mozilla funding a reference implementation; Persona. I talked to the guy who was working on it at a few conferences, and convinced at least one web platform (Loomio) to implement support for BrowserID login.

(1/?)

#MozillaPersona #BrowserID #Mozilla #TechHistory

People keep comparing the "AI" bubble to the DotCom bubble. This is misleading.

What drove the DotCom bubble(s) was speculation on the transition from broadcast media to network media. Which was, and is, a decentralisation of media power. The emergence of #MOLE Training is exactly the opposite, a global re-centralisation of media power.

It's more comparable to the emergence of proprietary software, DataFarms and "the cloud";

https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html

#AI #DotComBubble #Speculation #TechHistory

People keep comparing the "AI" bubble to the DotCom bubble. This is misleading.

What drove the DotCom bubble(s) was speculation on the transition from broadcast media to network media. Which was, and is, a decentralisation of media power. The emergence of #MOLE Training is exactly the opposite, a global re-centralisation of media power.

It's more comparable to the emergence of proprietary software, DataFarms and "the cloud";

https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html

#AI #DotComBubble #Speculation #TechHistory

🎉🎂 Wow, the IBM PC is 45! Time to dust off your floppy disks and celebrate with a futile attempt to navigate a labyrinthine website that makes #DOS look user-friendly. 🔍🔄🎈
https://sharktastica.co.uk/articles/pc-fxt-45 #IBMPC45 #FloppyDisks #Nostalgia #Celebration #TechHistory #HackerNews #ngated

🎉🎂 Wow, the IBM PC is 45! Time to dust off your floppy disks and celebrate with a futile attempt to navigate a labyrinthine website that makes #DOS look user-friendly. 🔍🔄🎈
https://sharktastica.co.uk/articles/pc-fxt-45 #IBMPC45 #FloppyDisks #Nostalgia #Celebration #TechHistory #HackerNews #ngated

Happy 45th Birthday to the IBM PC and Model F/XT

https://sharktastica.co.uk/articles/pc-fxt-45

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49280103

#HackerNews #IBMPC #ModelFXT #45thAnniversary #TechHistory #RetroComputing

Happy 45th Birthday to the IBM PC and Model F/XT

https://sharktastica.co.uk/articles/pc-fxt-45

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49280103

#HackerNews #IBMPC #ModelFXT #45thAnniversary #TechHistory #RetroComputing

Obituary: AmigaDOS developer Dr. Tim King has passed away

https://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2026-08-00070-EN.html

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49272655

#HackerNews #AmigaDOS #TimKing #Obituary #TechHistory #GameDevelopment #RetroComputing

Obituary: AmigaDOS developer Dr. Tim King has passed away

https://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2026-08-00070-EN.html

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49272655

#HackerNews #AmigaDOS #TimKing #Obituary #TechHistory #GameDevelopment #RetroComputing

Fascinating episode of the vergecast tonight about Eliza, a "chatbot" from the 1960s

How people reacted to it has parallels with AI today, and the guy who created it had a fascinating life

Worth a watch

Eliza Demo: https://elizaemulator.com/

https://youtu.be/vDq1y4wozqk?is=GicMMnv1LTtucU51

#daveknowstech #TechHistory #tech

On October 1, Broadband Breakfast will gather historians, policymakers, and industry leaders at the National Press Club to trace that history from the telephone to the internet to artificial intelligence, and to ask what 150 years of precedent can teach us about the debates shaping policy now.

https://broadbandbreakfast.com/telecom150/

#live #irl #in-person #tech #technology #techhistory #history #historian #panel #america #usa #politics #law #ai #ArtificialIntelligence

On October 1, Broadband Breakfast will gather historians, policymakers, and industry leaders at the National Press Club to trace that history from the telephone to the internet to artificial intelligence, and to ask what 150 years of precedent can teach us about the debates shaping policy now.

https://broadbandbreakfast.com/telecom150/

#live #irl #in-person #tech #technology #techhistory #history #historian #panel #america #usa #politics #law #ai #ArtificialIntelligence

Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM. I read that in high school and thought it was dumb. What if IBM sucks. The sentence is not advice about IBM. It is advice about being safe from blame, which is not the same as being right.

#TechHistory #Leadership #DecisionMaking #Stories

Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM. I read that in high school and thought it was dumb. What if IBM sucks. The sentence is not advice about IBM. It is advice about being safe from blame, which is not the same as being right.

#TechHistory #Leadership #DecisionMaking #Stories

New episode of Podcast Awesome digs into the actual history of the Mac's "beach ball of death" cursor: Xerox PARC, Susan Kare, a failed $10,000 NeXT computer, and Steve Jobs's years outside of Apple.

Watch → https://youtu.be/MothoHNhc7E?si=6GAlUXvu5eT06NfE
Listen → https://www.buzzsprout.com/2092855/episodes/19626534

#Apple #DesignHistory #TechHistory #MacOS #PodcastAwesome

New episode of Podcast Awesome digs into the actual history of the Mac's "beach ball of death" cursor: Xerox PARC, Susan Kare, a failed $10,000 NeXT computer, and Steve Jobs's years outside of Apple.

Watch → https://youtu.be/MothoHNhc7E?si=6GAlUXvu5eT06NfE
Listen → https://www.buzzsprout.com/2092855/episodes/19626534

#Apple #DesignHistory #TechHistory #MacOS #PodcastAwesome

Recycle – Floppydisks

https://www.floppydisk.com/recycle

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49252462

#HackerNews #Recycle #Floppydisks #TechHistory #VintageStorage #DataPreservation

Recycle – Floppydisks

https://www.floppydisk.com/recycle

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49252462

#HackerNews #Recycle #Floppydisks #TechHistory #VintageStorage #DataPreservation

Finally, today the most recent book by @jeffjarvis arrived in Germany. Looking forward reading about Linotype. #techhistory

Finally, today the most recent book by @jeffjarvis arrived in Germany. Looking forward reading about Linotype. #techhistory

I have watched the industry decide hardware is cheap, then expensive, then cheap again, roughly every eight years. The constant is that whichever one is currently believed, someone is quietly making money on the other. #TechHistory

Resurrecting the SuperH Architecture (2015)

https://lwn.net/Articles/647636/

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49243193

#HackerNews #SuperH #Architecture #Resurgence #RetroComputing #TechHistory #EmbeddedSystems

Resurrecting the SuperH Architecture (2015)

https://lwn.net/Articles/647636/

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49243193

#HackerNews #SuperH #Architecture #Resurgence #RetroComputing #TechHistory #EmbeddedSystems

🤯 Ah, the "Parametron," a groundbreaking piece of tech from 1954 that boldly shunned both transistors and vacuum tubes, proving once and for all that you can be #obsolete before you even start. 🚀 The article meanders through a labyrinth of irrelevant links and milestones, desperately trying to make ancient tech seem exciting—spoiler alert: it’s not. 📚🙄
https://ethw.org/Milestones:Parametron,_1954 #Parametron #Innovation #TechHistory #HackerNews #HackerNews #ngated

🤯 Ah, the "Parametron," a groundbreaking piece of tech from 1954 that boldly shunned both transistors and vacuum tubes, proving once and for all that you can be #obsolete before you even start. 🚀 The article meanders through a labyrinth of irrelevant links and milestones, desperately trying to make ancient tech seem exciting—spoiler alert: it’s not. 📚🙄
https://ethw.org/Milestones:Parametron,_1954 #Parametron #Innovation #TechHistory #HackerNews #HackerNews #ngated

📱 Part 1/4: From Dumb Phones to the Digital Screen - What #Apple Got Right and Got Wrong | https://bit.ly/4gkvkqu | Circa 2007, phones did phone things - calls, texts, maybe Snake. Jan 9, 2007, Steve Jobs introduced #iPhone. #TechHistory #Branding #ProductStrategy #DigitalMarketing #BrandBuilding #iOS

📱 Part 1/4: From Dumb Phones to the Digital Screen - What #Apple Got Right and Got Wrong | https://bit.ly/4gkvkqu | Circa 2007, phones did phone things - calls, texts, maybe Snake. Jan 9, 2007, Steve Jobs introduced #iPhone. #TechHistory #Branding #ProductStrategy #DigitalMarketing #BrandBuilding #iOS

John C. Lilly on solid state intelligence and the elimination of man (1978)

https://kibotronics.net/unlisted/lilly-machines/

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49231397

#HackerNews #JohnCLilly #SolidStateIntelligence #EliminationOfMan #1978 #TechHistory

John C. Lilly on solid state intelligence and the elimination of man (1978)

https://kibotronics.net/unlisted/lilly-machines/

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49231397

#HackerNews #JohnCLilly #SolidStateIntelligence #EliminationOfMan #1978 #TechHistory

🎉🍾 Behold! A riveting #exposé on a 1998 #CPU that you can't actually read! The real #innovation here is not the Alpha 21264, but a #firewall so mighty it blocks even your #curiosity. Want access? Submit your soul (and Request ID) for judgment. 🙈🚫
https://halfhill.com/byte/1998-12_alpha.html #Blocked #TechHistory #HackerNews #ngated

🎉🍾 Behold! A riveting #exposé on a 1998 #CPU that you can't actually read! The real #innovation here is not the Alpha 21264, but a #firewall so mighty it blocks even your #curiosity. Want access? Submit your soul (and Request ID) for judgment. 🙈🚫
https://halfhill.com/byte/1998-12_alpha.html #Blocked #TechHistory #HackerNews #ngated

Computer history is rarely as clear-cut as labels like “the first computer” suggest. The story of programming ENIAC shows how new evidence, changing definitions, and overlooked technical details can complicate familiar historical narratives:
https://computerhistory.org/blog/programming-the-eniac-an-example-of-why-computer-history-is-hard/
And the handwriting looks about as readable as mine.
#ComputerHistory #ENIAC #HistoryOfComputing #Computing #TechHistory

Computer history is rarely as clear-cut as labels like “the first computer” suggest. The story of programming ENIAC shows how new evidence, changing definitions, and overlooked technical details can complicate familiar historical narratives:
https://computerhistory.org/blog/programming-the-eniac-an-example-of-why-computer-history-is-hard/
And the handwriting looks about as readable as mine.
#ComputerHistory #ENIAC #HistoryOfComputing #Computing #TechHistory

A paradox of genius: Jobs could glimpse 20 years ahead for everyone else, yet often missed the breakthrough sitting on his desk. Geoffrey Cain, author of Steve Jobs in Exile, unpacks this vision‑vs‑blind‑spot tension. How does a reality‑distortion field both propel and blind? Dive in. https://youtube.com/shorts/vnqxatJagbg #SteveJobs #RealityDistortionField #TechHistory

A paradox of genius: Jobs could glimpse 20 years ahead for everyone else, yet often missed the breakthrough sitting on his desk. Geoffrey Cain, author of Steve Jobs in Exile, unpacks this vision‑vs‑blind‑spot tension. How does a reality‑distortion field both propel and blind? Dive in. https://youtube.com/shorts/vnqxatJagbg #SteveJobs #RealityDistortionField #TechHistory

Isaacson's big idea — innovation is always teamwork. One person has the vision. Another writes the code. A third builds it.
#books #bookreview #TheInnovators #techhistory
https://thisgrandpablogs.com/digital-revolution-pioneers-book-review/

Following my article in the series *The AI Revolution — History Repeating Itself*, discussing sentience (https://www.alanbonnici.com/2026/07/the-ai-revolution-history-repeating.html), meet ELIZA, the chatbot from the 1960s.

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/9IlwsvcAbFI

#ArtificialIntelligence #TechHistory #AISentience #MachineLearning #GenerativeAI #TTMO

The ultimatum that saved Pixar: when Steve Jobs took over, he was told ‘you’re not allowed in creative meetings.’ That rule may have sparked Toy Story and the whole Pixar magic. ‘They knew he’d destroy Pixar,’ says Geoffrey Cain, author of Steve Jobs in Exile. Watch the story ▶ https://youtube.com/shorts/1Nis_4tJMVU #Pixar #SteveJobs #TechHistory #SteveJobsInExile