Tech BackSpace – Fascinating Facts From Tech & Internet History
Tech History From July 1, 1986…
Home satellite dish owners (C-band) who have been tuning to CNN and CNN Headline News will now need a descrambler. The nation’s estimated 1.7 million home dish owners will now have to buy the box for $395 and pay $25 a year to receive the CNN services. HBO and Cinemax began scrambling last January 15…Tech History From July 1, 1999…
Cable network beats broadcast network in the ratings for a quarter as USA beats UPN – with USA averaging 2.7 million viewers vs. UPN at 2.5 million. This is the first time a cable network has beat a broadcast (over-the-air) network. Duration was April-June 1999.
Tech History From July 1, 2000 -
Music file-sharing website Napster Inc insists that music pulled off the Internet for personal use and not paying for it is legal – as legal as taping a TV show from a VCR. It says that the RIAA suit is a misuse of copyright law.
Tech History From July 1, 2001 -
Apple Computer halts production of its year-old Power Mac G4 Cube computer. The machine turned itself on
and off by touching the top – one of its problems.
Tech History From July 1, 2006 -
Sirius Satellite Radio accelerated gains against XM, gaining more than 600,000 net subscribers in the second quarter compared with 398,000 additions for XM. XM has 6.89 million subs and Sirius now has 4.68 million.
Tech History From July 1, 2007
Warranty extension – Troubled by an unacceptable number of malfunctions in its Xbox 360 – Microsoft says that ht has set aside more than $1 billion to take care of customers who suffered from the “three flashing red light” error messages…. And – Yes, there are iPhone problems – activation and insufficient tech aid to name two.
Tech History From July 1, 2010 -
Apple Inc. said that it was “stunned” to find that its iPhones have for years been using a “totally wrong” formula to determine how many bars of signal strength they are getting. Apple said that’s the reason behind widespread complaints from users that the latest model, iPhone 4, can show a sudden plunge in signal strength.
And, Tech News From Six Months Ago – January 1, 2012
PayPal Point Of Sale Test – Online payment provider Paypal and home improvement chain Home Depot are teaming up to bring a pilot test program of in-store Paypal payments at select Home Depot locations.
