Top Ten

Mike Hupfer

Old School Technology

Windows 95

AI Overview

"Windows 95 was a revolutionary Microsoft operating system launched on August 24, 1995, integrating MS-DOS and Windows into a single, user-friendly graphical interface with key features like the Start menu, Taskbar, and "Plug and Play". After a massive, $300 million promotional campaign, it became a massive commercial success, selling over a million copies in its first four days and ushering in a new era of personal computing."

Mike Hupfer

Old School Technology

Bag Phones

Imagine a two-person lift to use a cell phone. Back in the day, cell phones only made phone calls. Like gag me with a spoon. Twenty pound "portable" bag phones were considered revolutionary. Of course, years from now, people will be saying something similar about our iPhones.

Mike Hupfer

Old School Technology

8-Tracks

AI Overview

"The 8-track tape was a continuous-loop, cartridge-based audio format popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, invented by Bill Lear in 1964 to provide high-quality mobile music, starting with car manufacturers like Ford. Its main appeal was convenient, portable music without the need to flip sides like records. However, its popularity waned in the late 1970s due to technical limitations like the "click" sound during program changes..."

Mike Hupfer

Old School Technology

Dial-Up Internet

AI Overview

"Dial-up internet originated from early dial-up modems in the 1960s and was first commercially offered by companies like Sprint and AOL in the 1990s, providing the first widespread home internet access via existing phone lines. This connection used a modem to convert digital data into audible signals for telephone transmission, creating the modem sounds and slow connection speeds of the 90s and early 2000s. As broadband..."  

Mike Hupfer

Old School Technology

Tube Televisions

AI Overview

"Tube televisions emerged in the early 20th century, stemming from Karl Ferdinand Braun's 1897 invention of the cathode ray tube (CRT), which electronically scanned a phosphorescent screen to create images. Pioneers developed functional electronic TV systems using CRTs in the 1920s. After World War II, CRTs became central to the television market, with innovations like color broadcasts gaining popularity, until flat-panel displays..." 

Mike Hupfer

Old School Technology

AOL

AI Overview

"AOL, founded as Quantum Computer Services in 1985, became America Online (AOL) in 1989 and was the first internet service to introduce many to online life through dial-up access and chat rooms like AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). The company merged with Time Warner in 2001. AOL was spun off as an independent company in 2009, eventually acquired by Verizon in 2015, and later sold to Apollo Global Management in 2021..."

Mike Hupfer

Old School Technology

Fax Machine

 AI Overview

"The fax machine's history began in 1843 with Alexander Bain's patent for an electric printing telegraph. Significant advancements included Shelford Bidwell's 1880 scanning phototelegraph for better image reproduction and Elisha Gray's 1888 telautograph for sending signatures. By the 1920s, fax systems were used to transmit news and weather, and Xerox introduced the first commercial, modern fax machine, the Magnafax Telecopier..."

Mike Hupfer

Old School Technology

Blockbuster

AI Overview

"Blockbuster was a video rental giant founded in Dallas, Texas, by David Cook in 1985, which grew to dominate the home video market through aggressive expansion, franchising, and a focus on large selections and family-friendly stores. Under the ownership of Wayne Huizenga and then Viacom, it acquired competitors and expanded into music retail, but its reliance on late fees and physical stores ultimately led to its decline, paving the way..."

Mike Hupfer

Old School Technology

Phone Booths

AI Overview

"Phone booths originated in the 1880s to provide privacy for telephone users, with the first known public telephone booth being the Fernsprech kiosk in Berlin in 1881. Key milestones include the first coin-operated payphone in the U.S. in 1889 and the iconic British red telephone box introduced in the 1920s. Once a common feature in cities and a symbol of communication, their usage declined significantly with the rise of mobile phones."
 

Mike Hupfer

Old School Technology

The Mall

In the late 1980's, malls reached their peak. That trend continued into the 1990's. Mega Malls became increasingly popular, as evidenced by the Mall of America in 1992. Fast forward to today. Malls were in free fall, but recent trends have shown a moderate resurgence.