Topic

The First World War

The war that ended the nineteenth century, four years late.

1: in technology
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39: across the network

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9:59

Sonar

Paul Langevin

Langevin’s 1915 sonar was the first active underwater echo-ranging system. It used electrostatic and quartz piezoelectric transducers to send and receive ultrasound. Distance was calculated from signal time-of-flight. Though patented and physically demonstrated, it did not become operational before World War I ended. Electrostatic transducers were soon abandoned; quartz piezoelectric methods endured and scaled. The invention established the core mechanism of modern sonar — but delivered no tactical utility in its intended conflict.

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9:37

Crucial

Crucial was the brand under which Micron Technology sold its consumer memory and storage products, until the brand was discontinued in 2026.

8:44

Personal computer

A personal computer is a computer designed for personal use and operated directly by its user, rather than shared through time-sharing on a mainframe or minicomputer.

9:10

Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt is a hardware interface, developed by Intel with Apple, that carries PCI Express, DisplayPort and power over a single cable to connect external peripherals to a computer.

9:46

Silicon Graphics

Silicon Graphics · 1981

Silicon Graphics built the first practical hardware-accelerated 3D graphics systems. Its Geometry Engine — designed at Stanford under ARPA — delivered ~6 million geometry operations per second. It pioneered scalable cc-NUMA architectures in the mid-1990s. But its reliance on proprietary MIPS and failed transitions to Itanium and Xeon eroded its position as PC graphics commoditised. It filed for bankruptcy in 2009.