Latest posts
- How Donkey Kong toppled AtariJul 08, 2026Dave Farquhar
In July 1981, at the height of Pac-Man fever, Nintendo released its third stand up arcade game. This game, Donkey Kong, took over as the most popular arcade game in the world, but it had a lasting repercussions. It irreversibly The post How Donkey Kong toppled Atari appeared first on The Silicon Underground.
- Ray Kassar, former Atari CEOJul 07, 2026Dave Farquhar
Raymond Edward Kassar was born January 2, 1928 and died December 10, 2017, aged 89, in Vero Beach, Florida. Ray Kassar was president, and later CEO, of Atari Inc. from 1978 to 1983. Atari’s parent company, Warner Bros, hired him The post Ray Kassar, former Atari CEO appeared first on The Silicon Underground.
- Why IBM bought LotusJul 06, 2026Dave Farquhar
On July 6, 1995, IBM bought Lotus Development for $3.5 billion. Lotus had once been the second largest software publisher in the world and was worth $5.5 billion at its IPO. Its flagship product, the spreadsheet Lotus 1-2-3, had been The post Why IBM bought Lotus appeared first on The Silicon Underground.
- Compute!’s Gazette magazine, 1983-1995Jul 03, 2026Dave Farquhar
In July 1983, one of my personal favorite Commodore computer magazines of all time, Compute!’s Gazette, was born. An offshoot of the general computer magazine Compute!, Gazette’s first issue was dated July 1983 and quickly proved successful, closely following the The post Compute!’s Gazette magazine, 1983-1995 appeared first on The Silicon Underground.
- Jack Tramiel and AtariJul 02, 2026Dave Farquhar
On July 2, 1984, Atari got a new owner. After a disastrous 1983, its owner, Warner Communications, wanted out, just a year and a half after Atari had $2 billion in sales. It went from being called the greatest acquisition The post Jack Tramiel and Atari appeared first on The Silicon Underground.
- The earliest surviving Tom’s Hardware Guide articleJul 01, 2026Dave Farquhar
The earliest dated article still active on Tom’s Hardware Guide is dated July 1, 1996. It was an article about CPU softmenus, something we pretty much take for granted today, but at the time was only available on select Abit The post The earliest surviving Tom’s Hardware Guide article appeared first on The Silicon Underground.
- Apricot Computers: An underrated British brandJun 30, 2026Dave Farquhar
You hear a lot about Sinclair and Amstrad and Acorn computers. But when it comes to British brands, it seems like we don’t hear a lot about Apricot. But thanks to a television program that aired in early 1990, we The post Apricot Computers: An underrated British brand appeared first on The Silicon Underground.
- What happened to AltavistaJun 29, 2026Dave Farquhar
For as long as I can remember, my home page has been about:blank. But for a good chunk of the 1990s, I would have done well to set it to altavista.digital.com. Here’s what happened to Altavista, the search engine that The post What happened to Altavista appeared first on The Silicon Underground.
- Spyglass: A web browsing pioneer’s IPOJun 26, 2026Dave Farquhar
Quick: Who was the first browser manufacturer to hold an IPO in the dotcom era? Netscape? WRONG! Its competitor Spyglass beat it out, holding its IPO June 27, 1995. Its IPO did rather well too, issuing two million shares at The post Spyglass: A web browsing pioneer’s IPO appeared first on The Silicon Underground.
- VA Linux’s transformation after leaving the hardware businessJun 25, 2026Dave Farquhar
In the wake of the dotcom bubble bursting, the record-setting startup VA Linux made a difficult decision. On June 26, 2001, it exited the hardware business. It was a curious decision but probably the right decision, because it survived nearly The post VA Linux’s transformation after leaving the hardware business appeared first on The Silicon Underground.