Category Archives: Tech History

Hedy Lamarr

Posted on 10 November 2014 by Stewart Wolpin

Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000) Co-inventor, frequency hopping/spread spectrum How one of the world’s most beautiful women and most popular film stars of Hollywood’s golden era came to co-invent the most important wireless communications security technology – frequency hopping – is a … Continue reading →

Posted in cell/smartphones, Tech History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Here Comes (Finally!) the Goddamn Tesla Museum

Posted on 15 July 2014 by Stewart Wolpin

Last week, to commemorate Nikola Tesla’s 158th birthday, the media made much of the million dollar contribution by Elon Musk (he who appropriated Tesla’s name for his electronic car company) to help transform the Serbian-born scientist’s Wardenclyffe Labs, located in Shoreham on the north … Continue reading →

Posted in Huffington Post, Tech History | Leave a comment

Meet the Man Who Invented the Modern Age

Posted on 15 July 2014 by Stewart Wolpin

Each time you plug an electrical anything into a wall outlet, each time you turn on your radio or even TV, you should thank the Serbian-born American engineer named Nikola Tesla. I present him to you because last Thursday, July … Continue reading →

Posted in Tech History | Leave a comment

20 Years Ago, Apple and Kodak Launched the Digital Camera Revolution

Posted on 22 June 2014 by Stewart Wolpin

This is Steve Sasson. In 1975, he was a 23-year-old Kodak junior engineer and he invented the digital camera. After 19 years of development – 20 years ago this week – Apple started selling the Kodak-designed QuickTake 100, the first consumer … Continue reading →

Posted in Mashable, Tech History | Leave a comment

Commerical GPS Turns 25: How the Unwanted Military Tech Found Its True Calling

Posted on 30 May 2014 by Stewart Wolpin

Here’s the fascinating – and heretofore untold – story behind the first consumer GPS handheld device, the GPS NAV 1000 from Magellan, which went on sale on May 25, 1989, posted here at Mashable.com.

Posted in Mashable, Tech History | Leave a comment

The Videophone Turns 50: The Historic Failure That Everybody Wanted

Posted on 21 April 2014 by Stewart Wolpin

Consumer videophone service turns 50 – except how we videophone today (Skype, Facetime, et al) differs radically from how engineers and futurists originally envisioned and implemented it. Read about AT&T’s historic videophone failure(s) that set the stage for today’s video … Continue reading →

Posted in Mashable, Tech History | Leave a comment

The First Cellphone Went on Sale 30 Years Ago for $4,000

Posted on 17 March 2014 by Stewart Wolpin

Possibly the most read story I’ve ever written – a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the first handheld cell phone (the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X) going on sale to the public – from Mashable.com.  

Posted in cell/smartphones, Mashable, Tech History | Leave a comment

How The Beatles Rocked Technology

Posted on 5 February 2014 by Stewart Wolpin

Yes, we all know how The Beatles influenced music, fashion and culture in general and kick-started “The Sixties.” But in my latest column for the Huffington Post, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the band’s landing in the U.S., I describe the … Continue reading →

Posted in Huffington Post, Tech History | Leave a comment

Your Smartphone in 2018: 15 Futuristic Features

Posted on 11 June 2013 by Stewart Wolpin

In many ways, the evolution of the smartphone since the debut of the original iPhone in 2007 has been a predictable straight line —bigger screen, more powerful processors, longer battery life, faster data connections, higher-resolution cameras and more apps. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple, cell/smartphones, Laptop Magazine, Tech History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Nikola Tesla Wardenclyffe Museum

Posted on 3 May 2013 by Stewart Wolpin

Yesterday (May 2), the folks at the Tesla Science Center, with help from a crowd funding campaign at Indiegogo, finally bought Tesla’s Wardenclyffe lab site in Shoreham, NY. Read the whole story here. Here’s a before/artist’s rendering after shot of … Continue reading →

Posted in Tech Goes Strong, Tech History | 1 Comment