History OlderThanTheyThink / Technology

* UsefulNotes/{{Compact Disc}}s (CD) were released in Japan in 1982, United States in 1983, having their cultural moment in the second half of the 1980s through the early 2000s. The main push to develop it branched off from the first mass-market optical format (the LD analog videodisc) that was made public in 1972 and released in 1978. (Why were they so pricey? Here's Music/{{Negativland}}'s own Don Joyce with [[https://urbigenous.net/library/negativland_shiny.html a little history]].)

** "The Cloud" isn't new either, just the name is. It's fundamentally the same system in use thirty to forty years ago: all the data is stored on a mainframe, and the users have terminals that can fetch it when they want it. Ask any [[http://thinkofit.com/plato/dwplato.htm PLATO user]] about this, or about computer communities and social networks.[[note]]Read ''The Friendly Orange Glow'' by Brian Dear for the full story of PLATO.[[/note]]

* S-Video was invented in 1987, but the concept was already supported by the [[Platform/Atari8BitComputers Atari 800]] in 1979 and the UsefulNotes/Commodore64 in 1982.

* S-Video was invented in 1987, but the concept was already supported by the UsefulNotes/Commodore64 in 1982.

** The underlying design of the Windows NT kernel has roots in VMS back in 1970s. Microsoft hired several VMS enginners to rewrite NT kernel from OS/2 to Windows.
*** Same goes for the Windows 9x kernel, which is based on MS-DOS in 1981 (itself based on 86-DOS (and that ''itself'' takes cues from the CP/M as far back as in '''''1974!''''')).

** Support for non-x86 processors didn't begin with Windows RT supporting ARM (neither is 2000 and XP with IA-32), but rather with NT 3.1 supporting Alpha, MIPS, Motorola 68000, i860 and [=PowerPC=].

** Although Windows Vista inherited the Aero design in 2007, the theme was experimented in pre-reset Longhorn builds as far back as in 2002-2004.

** Windows Mobile started in 1999 as [=PocketPC=], not in 2007-2009 and had even further roots in [=WinPad=] in early 90s.

** Using Windows for tablets isn't new either, Windows 3.1 first supported with a special edition (For Pen Computing) as far as back in 1993.
** Enabling UNIX-like functionality did not start with Windows Subsystem for Linux, but rather with Microsoft POSIX subsystem from 1993. Before that, Microsoft even marketed its own version of Unix, dubbed XENIX, before they started work on OS/2 and eventually NT.
** The Windows 11's taskbar design originated from Windows 10X, which was tested on 2019.

* The S-Video is invented in 1987. However, the concept of S-Video was already shipped in home electronics before its introduction and what home electronic exactly? The UsefulNotes/Commodore64, as it supports the S-Video since 1982, ''five years'' before the latter even exists.

*** Instead, tilting windows were used, a feature that wouldn't be seen again until in ''2009'' with Windows 7.

* Mac OS X wasn't the first UsefulNotes/{{Unix}} system that could run on the UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh. That would be A/UX, released in 1988. You might count SCO Xenix for the Apple Lisa as well, released in 1983.

* When one mentions multi-display setups on a PC, most people think the capability originated in 1997 with the first version of Windows 98. However, truth is, the capability has been available since the inception of the PC- it was possible to connect two displays to a OG IBM PC, by fitting it with both a CGA card and a MDA card, and this was back in 1981. The only reason the capability is not well known is because the setup was expensive, difficult to configure and operate (there was no wizard or setup program to guide you through the process, which additionally was undocumented), and required relatively more desk space than other single display setups since you needed to have two CRT displays, and additionally only professional grade software supported the configuration. Even worse was that many games will not run properly if at all if both graphics cards are installed, either because they did arcane things in the memory space reserved for MDA cards, or because they were poorly programmed and didn’t know what to do other than to error out if more than one graphics card was detected (or if the first detected card was the MDA one). This led to the misconception that a dual display setup was not possible until Windows 98 premiered. It's even possible to connect [[https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/c1z3si/i_have_ascended_triple_monitor_xt_setup/ three displays]] to an XT (CGA, MDA and PGC). That goes firmly into AwesomeButImpractical territory, because there's no software in existence that supports such a configuration. Multi-monitor setups were also seen on UsefulNotes/{{Unix}} workstation computers in the '80s.

** Enabling UNIX-like functionality did not start with Windows Subsystem for Linux, but rather with Microsoft POSIX subsystem from 1993.

* The S-Video is invented in 1987. However, the concept of S-Video was already shipped in home electronics before its introduction and what home electronic exactly? The UsefulNotes/Commodore64, as it supports the S-Video since 1982, ''five years'' before the latter even exists.

* The Talk Box used to manipulate voices has its roots in 1939 when Alvino Rey used a carbon throat microphone wired in a way to modify his electric steel guitar sound, and also in 1939, the Sonovox was invented and some of the notable recordings include the ''Rusty In Orchestraville'' and the ''Sparky'' series of childrens recordings issued on Capitol Records. Pete Drake used a similar device for his "Talking Steel Guitar" recordings including his million selling hit single, "Forever," from 1964. These devices were literally hoses connected to a speaker.

* The Talk Box used to manipulate voices has its roots in 1939 when Alvino Rey used a carbon throat microphone wired in a way to modify his electric steel guitar sound, and also in 1939, the Sonovox was invented and some of the notable recordings include the ''Rusty In Orchestraville'' and the ''Sparky'' series of childrens recordings issued on Capitol Records. Pete Drake used a similar device for his "Talking Steel Guitar" recordings including his million selling hit single, "Forever," from 1964.

** In fact, the lyrics of the Rupert Holmes song ''Answering Machine'', which hit the charts in 1979, shows that many of the cliches associated with such machines -- getting cut off in the middle of a message, two people playing "phone tag" with each other because they're never at home when the other one calls, etc. -- were already sufficiently well-established in pop culture that a pop artist could safely write a song about them and assume everyone who heard it would get the point.

** Many people think the battery is a relatively new invention, no older than the early 20th century or late 19th century. However, a few clay jars with structures strongly resembling modern batteries (and have been tested to produce an electric charge) known as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery Baghdad Battery]], date back to anywhere from 250 BC to 250 AD. If these theories about the jars are correct, then the use of electricity is a lot older than we think, pre-dating Volta's cell by over a thousand years. Their use, however, remains unknown (but [[Series/MythBusters electroplating jewelry is a good candidate]]).

*** Instead, tilting windows were used, a feature that wouldn't be seen again until in 2009 with Windows 7.

** Support for non-x86 processors didn't begin with ARM, but rather with NT 3.1 supporting Alpha, MIPS, i860 and [=PowerPC=].

** If we were broaden the definition of selfies to any self-portrait taken with a camera, then [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cornelius date back as far as 1839]], making them as old as photography itself.