anniversaries

The Golden Gate Bridge, a wonder of the world for 75 years

SAN FRANCISCO--It's one of the wonders of the world, and one of the most photographed things on the planet. And this Sunday, the Golden Gate Bridge turns 75.

While New York may have dozens of world-famous landmarks, and Paris is, well, Paris, San Francisco -- a great city in its own right -- may be best known for its outstanding red bridge, a masterpiece of workmanship that connects the city to its northern neighbor, Marin County.

In the late 1800s, the only way to cross the Golden Gate was by ferry, and those who ran the local vessels were … Read more

Apple's iPad turns 2: A look back and ahead

Two years ago today, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs took to the stage to unveil what was perhaps one of the most-rumored devices the company had ever concocted.

The iPad, or as it had been imagined the "iSlate," was unveiled this day in 2010 at an intimate event in downtown San Francisco. The tablet was pitched as a new category of device that would fit between a smartphone and a notebook, while presenting distinct advantages.

"It's so much more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smartphone," Jobs said.

In the run … Read more

Tamagotchi 15th anniversary pet can still die

Fifteen years is a pretty good life span for many pets. Tamagotchi is celebrating the birth of its digital critters with a limited-edition anniversary model.

In case you missed the Tamagotchi craze, they are little egg-shaped gadgets with small screens that house electronic pets. Each one starts from an egg, and has to be fed, cleaned up after, and disciplined as it goes through its virtual lifecycle.

Bandai's Tamagotchi spawned the sale of 78 million units and taught a lot of kids about the virtual joys, tribulations, and sorrows of digital parenthood.

Tamagotchi may be 105 in dog years, but it has learned a few new tricks along the way. The Tamagotchi iD L 15th Anniversary Model features a full-color screen with new characters and games.… Read more

iPod at 10: A game changer getting long in the tooth

On October 23, 2001, Apple took a big step in its corporate renaissance with a little device that stored all of 1,000 songs, cost an eyebrow-raising $399, and had more than a few critics chuckling at Steve Jobs' expense.

Jobs even seemed to anticipate that skepticism when he introduced the first iPod at a private event in the company's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters. In classic form, he saved the big reveal until the very end of the presentation, pulling out the iPod like a magician showing off the correct card pulled out from a shuffled deck.

"Why music? … Read more

15 years of Download.com, the original app store

Long before the iTunes Store was a glimmer in Steve Jobs' eye, Download.com launched in 1996 as the most comprehensive, safest place to get all your software, from the latest drivers and codecs to professional-grade programs. It was, and still is, notable for scanning and testing its software catalog to ensure that none would infect your computer. We take a look at the history of the software world before Download.com, the rise of modern software, and where software stands now.

The software world before Download.com: The software world grew rapidly throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. In … Read more

Grand Theft Auto III beats its way onto tablets, phones

You've filled your smartphone and tablet with everything from social apps to multimedia packages to games featuriing disgruntled ornithology.

You can take photos, play music, tweet, make phone calls, and reserve a table for dinner.

But, until you can steal a late-model sports car while abusing a woman of ill repute, you may not be entirely complete as a gadget owner. Enter Grand Theft Auto III: The 10th Anniversary Edition for your iOS and Android devices. … Read more

'Star Trek' Google doodle not ready to engage

CNET's Log, Stardate, 65151.4. We might need Mr. Scott to check out the dilithium crystals because the special Star Trek anniversary logo that was supposed to take over Google today seems to have disappeared down a black hole.

It was 45 years ago today that William Shatner first staccato'd his way through "Space, the final frontier..." on NBC. To celebrate the stellar birthday, a Star Trek doodle was supposed to orbit Google's global home pages--marking a TV show that has cultural impact on many aspects of society.

But, as the morning sun rose over Ceti Alpha V, Google wore its normal multicolored name tag. It wasn't a con. Google issued the following explanation about the doodle expected to go live today. "As happens from time to time, Google has decided to postpone running the Star Trek doodle due to last minute technical challenges. We aim to provide the best experience for our users and we hope to bring back the idea in the future."

That's sad news to Trek fans, but if you say "Google doodle" 50 times, it seems to cheer everybody up. … Read more

20th Anniversary Mac on eBay is new-in-the-box

In 1997, I was watching "The X-Files," going to college, and using floppy disks in computer class. In 1997, Apple was showing off with the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (also known as TAM), a sleek and imaginative take on the personal computer.

The TAM was ahead of its time. It was slim, had an integrated screen, and shimmered with metal-flake paint. You can now relive all the excitement of ordering and unboxing your very own TAM by buying one new-in-the-box on eBay.

The eBay TAM's accessory box has been opened to check for damage, but the rest of it is pristine. The substantial user manual is still shrink-wrapped. Not surprisingly, the system is being sold as-is.

The TAM has a 250MHz PowerPC processor, a CD-ROM drive, 32MB of RAM, a Bose speaker system, a 12.1-inch LCD display, and a keyboard with a luxurious Italian leather palm rest. Yes, it has a floppy disk drive.

Those specs won't get you very far with today's software demands, but it's not really about what you can do with it. It's about having one in your personal Apple museum. It's the sort of item you would place on your fireplace mantel and stare at while sipping a cocktail.… Read more

Moving beyond the PC, iPad in hand

In the wake of comments from an IBM executive who said that his "primary computer now is a tablet," I wondered how closely my own experience mirrored that statement.

Mark Dean,who was chief engineer for the development of the IBM PC/AT, prefaced the above remark by saying he has "moved beyond the PC.."

That second statement is probably the most significant, as it implies that, for him, the traditional PC paradigm is dead.

Indeed, I've witnessed this change in friends and family. People who already spend a disproportionate amount of screen time on … Read more

Happy 20th birthday, World Wide Web!

Happy birthday, Web!

On August 6, 1991--20 years ago--Tim Berners-Lee posted a summary of a project for organizing information on a computer network using a "web" of hyperlinks: the "WorldWideWeb," or W3. At the same time, the W3 made its debut as a publicly available service on the Internet. Now, as the Web turns 20, those of us here at CNET and sister site CBS News.com are giving it a big thank you for revolutionizing the world as we know it.

There have been some definite downsides to the Web, such as online … Read more