The Verge - This week in tech, 20 years agohttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52801/VER_Logomark_32x32..png2019-04-20T13:00:00-04:00http://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/173342072019-04-20T13:00:00-04:002019-04-20T13:00:00-04:00Internet time and doomsday asteroids: this week in tech, 20 years ago
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<figcaption>Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge</figcaption>
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<p id="60WkrG">It’s difficult to remember a time when online media wasn’t arranged largely around memetic cultural events. On any given April 20th in recent years, for instance, you can find all sorts of weed-themed stories pegged around the unofficial holiday for marijuana. That’s not so in 1999: a search for “420” brings up precious few results.</p>
<p id="FmWDkq">Instead, the science and technology news of late April included one big company shake-up, some odd developments in space, and an extremely doomed game studio founded by Michael Crichton. Here’s this week in tech, 20 years ago.</p>
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<h1 id="vElCl3">Compaq’s CEO got kicked out</h1>
<p id="mrehAl">Compaq was the biggest personal computer manufacturer in the world. But in April 1999, it was set to disappoint shareholders with terrible earnings. So,...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/20/18485593/compaq-swatch-crichton-asteroids-this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago-april-1999">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/20/18485593/compaq-swatch-crichton-asteroids-this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago-april-1999Adi Robertson2019-02-23T13:00:00-05:002019-02-23T13:00:00-05:00‘Don’t get mad, get a web page’: this week in tech, 20 years ago
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<img alt="Still from Ghostcatching virtual dance performance" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NthjQ5l1kCtuuA43VFqDAA8DVf8=/0x0:1350x900/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63100584/Screen_Shot_2019_02_22_at_2.06.55_PM.0.png" />
<figcaption>“Ghostcatching,” Shelley Eshkar and Paul Kaiser</figcaption>
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<p id="4MFszR">The year is 1999. Microsoft, accused of using its market power to strangle web browser company Netscape, is still embroiled in an antitrust lawsuit. The first sections of the International Space Station have entered orbit. Companies and governments alike are working to fix the Year 2000 Bug, which threatens to crash computers across the world. And email is maybe ruining the English language. Welcome to a new year of <em>This Week in Tech, 20 Years Ago</em>.</p>
<p id="eFwEeL">This February, we’ll be following how the internet transformed writing, music, and revenge — plus stories about spy satellites and dances with computers.</p>
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<h2 id="XucZFC">It was the :-) of times, it was the :-( of times</h2>
<p id="lLlGRg">Analyzing internet slang, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/20/arts/internet-changes-language-for.html"><em>The New York Times</em> notes</a>, wasn’t a new field of research in...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/23/18236315/this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago-february-1999-internet-lawsuit-spy-satellite-virtual-dance">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/23/18236315/this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago-february-1999-internet-lawsuit-spy-satellite-virtual-danceAdi Robertson2018-12-29T10:00:05-05:002018-12-29T10:00:05-05:00The biggest video games, tech news, and apocalyptic anxieties of 1998
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<figcaption><em>Streak Hoverboard Racing</em> | <em>Electronic Gaming Monthly</em>, December 1998</figcaption>
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<p id="1o7tAJ">We’re heading into the last days of 2018, and by extension, the last days of our look back at 1998 — where the dot-com bubble was steadily inflating, cyberspace was transforming everything from crime to horoscopes, and the end of the internet (or maybe civilization itself) was just a year away with Y2K. And that means one thing in the media world: time for some retrospectives!</p>
<p id="gtx6w1">I’ll be deviating slightly from the normal format by accepting a few pieces from both earlier in December and later in January, so I can offer a spread of analysis looking back at the year.</p>
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<em>IGN</em>: 1998 in video games</h1>
<p id="x3jXXI">It’s generally acknowledged that 1998 was a fantastic year for video games. In October, <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/remembering-1998-biggest-games-turning-20-this-yea/2900-1895/2/"><em>GameSpot</em> published a list</a> of the year’s best and most...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/29/18158038/this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago-retrospective-1998">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/29/18158038/this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago-retrospective-1998Adi Robertson2018-11-24T10:00:06-05:002018-11-24T10:00:06-05:00Furby hell: this week in tech, 20 years ago
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<figcaption>Photo by Christian Mazza / The Verge</figcaption>
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<p id="K7hGmr"><em>Half-Life </em>is one of my favorite video game series, and in honor of its 20th anniversary, I spent a week replaying the first game — which feels <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/19/18102541/half-life-20th-anniversary-retrospective-first-person-shooter-design">incredibly refreshing in 2018</a>. As expected, Valve Software didn’t make any surprise <em>Half-Life 3</em> announcements to commemorate the milestone. But the team behind <em>Black Mesa</em>, an unofficial remake,<em> </em>released an evocative trailer for <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2018/11/19/18102824/half-life-mod-black-mesa-xen-trailer">their game’s final levels</a>. Those levels are due next year, keeping <em>Half-Life</em> growing even after two decades.</p>
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<p id="NuHDl8">The rest of this week in 1998 had a few noteworthy moments too. Read on for Will Smith, the International Space Station, and the year’s creepiest animatronic toy.</p>
<h1 id="vw5boM">‘We’re in Furby hell’</h1>
<p id="7g9gG6">The big toy fad of 1998 was Furby, and as holiday shopping got underway, adults...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/24/18103039/this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago-retro-tech-furby-half-life-netscape">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/24/18103039/this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago-retro-tech-furby-half-life-netscapeAdi Robertson2018-11-03T14:00:20-04:002018-11-03T14:00:20-04:00Remembering Grim Fandango: this week in tech, 20 years ago
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<p id="d3rvrL">You can find a lot of Halloween-themed coverage on <em>The Verge</em>, but this week also marked the Mexican holiday Día de Muertos — and the 20th anniversary of <em>Grim Fandango</em>, the classic adventure game that was heavily inspired by it. <em>Grim Fandango</em> was one of the last games from the acclaimed studio LucasArts, and its clever blend of noir pastiche and folklore has earned it acclaim since the very beginning, <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/grim-fandango-review/1900-2537300/">when <em>GameSpot</em> praised</a> its “great writing and beautiful art direction.”</p>
<p id="vLN8or">There’s a less-than-proud tradition of artists ripping off surface-level Día de Muertos imagery, an issue game director Tim Schafer has discussed: “I knew I was appropriating someone else’s culture, so the idea was to be as authentic as possible and do as much research as...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/3/18044840/grim-fandango-20th-anniversary-this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/3/18044840/grim-fandango-20th-anniversary-this-week-in-tech-20-years-agoAdi Robertson2018-10-06T10:00:02-04:002018-10-06T10:00:02-04:00Men are from cyberspace: this week in tech, 20 years ago
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/v1KQxmKEztrTuwghyQgXIGKLZKU=/0x0:821x547/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61673457/Screen_Shot_2018_10_05_at_12.04.31_PM.0.png" />
<figcaption><a class="ql-link" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TodvBDXmM_oC&pg=PA44&dq=pcmag+october+1998&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjli76V5u3dAhUETN8KHRETCyc4ChDoAQg5MAQ#v=onepage&q=pcmag%20october%201998&f=false" target="_blank"><em>PC Magazine</em>, October 1998</a></figcaption>
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<p id="L8yXMk">A few months ago, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/4/17644790/soho-satellite-robot-wars-general-magic-this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago">I mentioned that</a> it was “unfortunately” too early to write about the release of beloved role-playing game <em>Fallout 2</em>. Well, <em>Fallout 2</em> was released this week 20 years ago, and I am definitively <em>not going to write about it</em> — because I already spent half my summer immersed in the series while researching the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/9/17665046/fallout-online-project-v13-interplay-bethesda-lawsuit-fallout-76">never-released <em>Fallout Online</em></a>. Fortunately, <em>Kotaku’s</em> Kirk Hamilton <a href="https://kotaku.com/fallout-2s-first-dungeon-isnt-all-that-terrible-1593967507">has you covered</a> with an entertaining analysis of <em>Fallout 2’s</em> first, frustrating level.</p>
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<p id="dPKBNN">Instead, this week’s stories cover cyber romance, Y2K, and one of the year’s worst new TV shows.</p>
<h1 id="fm0xq0">Men are from cyberspace</h1>
<p id="xjm6Zr">HBO premiered a documentary last month called <em>Swiped: Hooking Up in the Digital Age</em> that explored the worst aspects of online dating — you can...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/6/17938242/this-week-in-tech-retro-computer-news-october-1998">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/6/17938242/this-week-in-tech-retro-computer-news-october-1998Adi Robertson2018-09-08T14:00:02-04:002018-09-08T14:00:02-04:00Happy birthday, Google: this week in tech, 20 years ago
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<img alt="Original Google Stickers, 1999" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QsABY7T_ay_X8u-UJvjFn5axUVM=/73x0:939x577/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61244303/Screen_Shot_2018_09_07_at_1.10.10_PM.0.png" />
<figcaption>Google “stickers” from a 1999 archive of its site. | <a class="ql-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/19990224043535/http://www.google.com:80/stickers.html" target="_blank">via Internet Archive</a></figcaption>
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<p id="FvCEKm">One of 1998’s biggest tech stories was the massive antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft. It’s <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/5/17801482/tech-monopoly-regulation-facebook-amazon-google-anti-trust">Monopoly Week</a> on <em>The Verge</em>, so I wrote a bit about <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/6/17827042/antitrust-1990s-microsoft-google-aol-monopoly-lawsuits-history">that lawsuit’s place</a> in the ‘90s legal landscape. I also <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/7/17827992/antitrust-tim-robbins-bill-gates-microsoft-retrospective">reviewed <em>Antitrust</em></a>, the 2001 thriller about a fictionalized Microsoft that murders software developers to steal their code.</p>
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<p id="An4Dvi">But today’s big news involves another incredibly important, potentially monopolistic tech company: Google, which was founded on September 4th, 1998. To celebrate, you can check out <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19990224043535/http://www.google.com:80/stickers.html">some “stickers”</a> from one of Google’s earliest iterations. Or you can read on for news about celebrity chat rooms, flame mail, and a North Korean satellite.</p>
<h1 id="XKiNGy">Hello Google, goodbye Backrub</h1>
<p id="gVydtk">Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched the Google search...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/8/17831460/google-microsoft-internet-chat-this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/8/17831460/google-microsoft-internet-chat-this-week-in-tech-20-years-agoAdi Robertson2018-07-14T14:00:01-04:002018-07-14T14:00:01-04:00Darren Aronofsky’s Pi day: this week in tech, 20 years ago
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<img alt="Darren Aronovsky’s Pi" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Jdfv-yt-h7d4ehVPTguNrdIRDF8=/0x0:1080x720/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60368937/pi_day.0.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Artisan Entertainment</figcaption>
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<p id="73wlNB">There is <em>surprisingly</em> little news about technology and the 1998 World Cup.</p>
<p id="5IL3Y5">The 2018 World Cup wraps up this weekend, and we’ve had lots to say about it — from how streaming video has made <a href="https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/7/8/17539948/world-cup-streaming-technology-internet-football-soccer-good">watching the games more convenient</a> (unless it <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/11/17562146/youtube-tv-service-outage-world-cup">completely screws up</a>) to how <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/6/17539560/england-world-cup-winners-2018-football-coming-home">World Cup memes</a> have made it all the way into Amazon’s Alexa. But in 1998... well, apparently it was <a href="https://www.sport24.co.za/soccer/worldcup/history/france-1998-20100505">the first year</a> that officials used electronic displays during games. There were also a number of World Cup video games, including a ridiculous-looking <a href="https://kotaku.com/1998-arcade-game-is-very-world-cup-1827194019">Japanese arcade game</a> and the first <em>FIFA World Cup</em> game from EA Sports — but these came out during the pre-Cup hype period, not the event itself.</p>
<p id="qiNN6z">Fortunately, the World Cup wasn’t the only thing people were writing about this week in...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/14/17542344/this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago-darren-aronofsky-pi-world-cup">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/14/17542344/this-week-in-tech-20-years-ago-darren-aronofsky-pi-world-cupAdi Robertson