The official archive of all available ComputerTalk with Dave Mason radio shows. Spend some time with Dave. Listen to a full show or explore clips by topic.
ON AIR
Clips by topic
3,475 unique clips. Each clip appears in one section. Historical conversations, not current advice. Full episodes remain available separately by date.
Technology History
562 clips, strongest first.
Tablets will not simply disappear · Proposed air date:
BlackBerry chief Thorsten Heins' prediction that tablets would vanish within five years leads Dr. Dave and Evil Steve to consider how computers, phones, e-readers and tablets might converge. Dr. Dave doubts the category will disappear entirely, recalls Bill Gates presenting tablet computing in 2001 and credits Apple's iPad with finally turning it into a powerful consumer market.
Television networks react to YouTube · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave reports that major television companies are discussing a joint online-video service because YouTube is changing how audiences encounter television clips. He argues that established media owners need to compete with useful services of their own and find a workable Internet business model.
While a Vista repair updates beside him, Dr. Dave surveys Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Opera at a moment of rapid competition, praising programmers who still pursued efficiency and comparing excessive browser add-ons to turning a Ferrari into a poor station wagon.
The Amazon Fire Phone first impression · Proposed air date:
Just after Amazon unveils the Fire Phone, Dr. Dave asks whether a heavier, less powerful and expensive device built around easier Amazon shopping can reproduce Apple's ecosystem advantage. Although he likes Amazon, he says he cannot see the phone becoming very successful, preserving a remarkably timely first reaction to a major failed smartphone launch.
The ATMs that spit out all their money · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave recounts Barnaby Jack’s dramatic Black Hat demonstration of remotely emptying standalone ATMs, emphasizing the years of work behind it and arguing that manufacturers should hire researchers to behave like criminals before real attackers arrive.
The Google IPO after the technology bubble · Proposed air date:
The brothers discuss Google’s public offering, its last-minute pricing and whether investors had learned to temper excitement after the technology bubble.
Dr. Dave sees the significance of Apple’s subscription model and The Daily not merely in one publication, but in the fact that the iPad had become powerful enough for a major publisher to create a newspaper specifically for that platform.
Dr. Dave finds a contradiction in calling the iPad a post-PC device while it still depends on a computer for syncing and updates, then contrasts Apple’s fixed interface and notifications with Honeycomb’s widgets and direct file handling.
The iPhone SDK turns a gadget into a platform · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave immediately recognizes Apple's native iPhone software-development kit as the step that could transform the first-generation device from a compelling but faddish gadget into a practical productivity tool. He also anticipates the platform tradeoff that would define the App Store: easier access and quality control paired with Apple's fees and exclusive distribution.
The Treo 650 reaches its promise · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave and Evil Steve examine the Treo 650 after carrier availability, Bluetooth and memory problems had been addressed. Their discussion captures the moment when a phone, organizer, media player, keyboard and large screen were converging into what they called a smartphone, while Evil Steve anticipates a future dominated by the screen and voice control.
The WebOS upgrade promise reversed · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave documents HP’s reversal of an explicit promise to bring WebOS 2.0 to existing Palm phones and connects it to the increasingly compressed product and support cycle of smartphones.
The Xbox 360 needed developers too · Proposed air date:
Before launch, Dr. Dave says the Xbox 360’s media and community features may be impressive but its first audience is still the hard core gaming community. He identifies enthusiastic developer support and a strong game library as the test that will determine whether the new platform truly lands.
Touchscreens give up the memory of buttons · Proposed air date:
Comparing an early touchscreen iPhone with a phone built around physical keys, Dr. Dave praises the iPhone's remarkable interface but notices a tradeoff: a flat screen demands visual attention, while tactile buttons can be operated by feel. The observation captures an enduring accessibility and interface question at the start of the smartphone era.
Vista capable did not always mean capable · Proposed air date:
A lawsuit over Windows Vista-capable stickers gives Dr. Dave a major-release consumer warning: labels on machines did not necessarily match the memory and performance users needed. Rather than defend or condemn Microsoft automatically, he says responsibility must be judged case by case and asks whether the software company or computer maker created the mismatch.
Wait before a major software upgrade · Air date unknown
On the morning after Mac OS X Leopard arrived, Dr. Dave praises the release but still tells listeners to wait three to six months. Even good software needs time for problems to emerge and be corrected—a historically specific release carrying one of his consistent consulting cautions.
Wait before upgrading, even when it is Apple · Proposed air date:
On the day after Mac OS X Leopard launched, Dr. Dave calls it an excellent release and compares its reception with Windows Vista, yet still urges listeners to wait three to six months. His advice is deliberately conservative: every major software release needs time for early problems to emerge and be corrected, even when it comes from Apple.
Waving free Internet television goodbye · Proposed air date:
As television audiences move online, Dr. Dave predicts that network revenue and control will follow them, making the era of watching current shows online for free feel increasingly nostalgic.
When AOL moved away from selling Internet access · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave and Evil Steve react in real time to AOL considering an end to marketing the dial up access service it had built for seventeen years. Their disbelief turns into a broader discussion of free web services, layoffs and whether an Internet funded almost entirely by advertising could overwhelm its actual content.
When Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy · Proposed air date:
Only a week after discussing streaming’s pressure on traditional distribution, Dr. Dave reports Blockbuster’s bankruptcy and remembers how recently the chain itself had displaced local video stores.
When denser drives make recovery harder · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave looks at a report of hard-drive tracks shrinking from tens of nanometers and immediately considers what that means for rescuing data. Drives were never designed to be repaired, he says, and tighter tolerances mean a small failure can become severe enough that future recovery may require electron microscopes and robotics.
When Groupon turned down Google · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave explains group purchasing to listeners and reacts to reports that Groupon declined Google’s multibillion-dollar approach, capturing a moment when the young service believed its independent future was worth more.
When Microsoft's biggest competitor was itself · Proposed air date:
Looking at slowing PC sales, Dr. Dave argues that Microsoft is competing with the durability of its own Windows XP. He praises the old system and its service packs, sees the planned free Windows 10 upgrade as historic and observes that the hardest rival can be a product a company made too well to abandon.
When the Kindle dropped below two hundred dollars · Proposed air date:
Amazon’s Kindle price falling from roughly four hundred dollars two years earlier to $189 gives Dr. Dave and Evil Steve a snapshot of how early adopters help a new technology reach ordinary buyers.
Nine months after release, Windows 7 reportedly overtakes Vista in measured market share and reaches 175 million licenses, marking a major recovery for Microsoft after the Vista era.
Browse by year, then month, to find the episodes from that month.
442 proposed broadcast dates, plus 2 undated entries. Dates are based on archive filenames and may be approximate. Some broadcasts survive as separate parts or incomplete recordings.
