1915 – Neon Lighting Tube
Patented
The
neon-lighting tube was patented by Frenchman Georges Claude. In 1923, Georges
Claude and his French company Claude Neon, introduced neon gas signs to the
United States, by selling two to a Packard car dealership in Los Angeles for
$1,250 apiece. Neon lighting quickly became a popular fixture in outdoor
advertising.
1983 – Apple Lisa Introduced
At an
introductory price of $9995, Apple introduces the Lisa computer – the first
computer with a GUI. The computer featured a 5 MHz 68000 microprocessor, 1 MB
RAM, 12” monochrome monitor, dual 5.25” 860 KB floppy drives, a 5MB hard drive
and more. Lisa cost Apple Computer US$50 million to develop. The software for
it cost Apple Computer US$100 to develop. “Lisa” is an acronym for Local Integrated
Software Architecture.
1986 – Brain became the first computer virus
released into the wild. It was a boot sector virus transmitted by floppy disks.
The Farooq Alvi Brothers of Lahore, Pakistan created the virus.
1993 – IBM Loses $5 Billion
IBM announces a nearly $5 billion loss
for fiscal year 1992. Several years of losses in the early 1990’s were the
result of sweeping changes to the computer industry in the 1980’s that IBM was
slow to recognize. Ironically, the biggest catalyst to this change was the rise
of the personal computer. IBM helped create the most popular personal computing
platform, but lost control of the platform to Microsoft and “IBM-compatible”
clones of their original design. The monster they created in the PC industry
nearly caused their own collapse. One indicator of this shift was the phrase
“no one ever got fired for buying Microsoft”. IBM eventually reorganized its
business, focused on its core strengths, and has recovered.
1999 – BlackBerry Introduced
RIM introduces the BlackBerry.
The original BlackBerry devices were not phones, but instead were the first
mobile device that could do real-time e-mail. They looked like big pagers. I
should know. I had one on my hip for two years while working at Anheuser-Busch
in the early 2000’s. In 2001, I visited the BlackBerry production facility in
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It was surprisingly small at the time. They way I
heard it, the name “BlackBerry” came from the similarity that the button on the
original device had to the surface of a blackberry fruit. Those crazy
Canadians!
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