1926
– The National
Broadcasting Company radio network opened with 24 stations. It was a joint
creation of RCA, General Electric and Westinghouse. AT&T provided the spark
for the network by selling WEAF to RCA.
1971 – The Dawn of the Microprocessor
An advertisement in the magazine
Electronic News announces the Intel 4004, the first commercially available
microprocessor. The 4004 was primarily used in calculators, the first being the
Busicom 141-PF. In fact, it was Busicom that actually developed the design of
what would become the Intel 4004. Busicom approached Intel to help them
finalize the design and manufacture their “calculator engine”. Intel’s
engineers reduced the 12 integrated circuit design Busicom had come up with to
4 ICs and delivered the finished product in January 1971. Busicom had exclusive
rights to that design until later in that year, when Busicom and Intel
renegotiated their contract with Intel lowering their prices to Busicom in
exchange for rights to the design of the microprocessor.
By
offering the first general-purpose programmable processor to the general
market, Intel spurred the rapid development of electronic devices in the 1970s,
culminating in the development of personal computers during that decade.
However, Intel wasn’t the clear leader in the microprocessor market until the
IBM Pc and clones helped catapult Intel to that title in the 1980’s.
2001 – Microsoft entered the game
console war with the first Xbox going on sale in North America. It pitted
Microsoft against Sony’s PS2 just three days before Nintendo’s GameCube went on
sale.
2013 – Sony’s PlayStation 4 game
console went on sale with a big event in New York where Sony rented out the
entire Standard Hotel.
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