DaveMason.com
ComputerTalk with Dave Mason
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.
3,475 unique clips. Each clip appears in one section. Historical conversations, not current advice. Full episodes remain available separately by date.
562 clips, strongest first.
Dr. Dave explains the scale and price of Hitachi’s newly announced one-terabyte hard drive, then relates the consumer race for cheap capacity to what he sees in data recovery. Many failed drives arriving at his business are still under warranty, he says, because a replacement warranty cannot protect the information stored inside.
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While Vista is still new, Dr. Dave reports Microsoft's internal Windows 7 name, jokes that seven years may be a more realistic timetable than three and recalls the delayed Longhorn history. The segment also captures early expectations for separate consumer and business editions, 32- and 64-bit releases and a possible subscription model.
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Early report of a major Windows worm while it was just spreading, followed by the hosts’ warning about updates. Distinct historical event, not a minor antivirus product promotion.
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R. Stanley Williams explains a nanoscale device predicted decades earlier. Dr. Dave asks what it could mean for everyday computers, while the conversation also explores the difficult path from a laboratory breakthrough to a usable product.
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Palm's product manager predicts that a smartphone paired with the unreleased Foleo could replace a laptop on a trip. Dr. Dave openly says he has been skeptical, then recognizes the proposed shift from desktop to laptop to smaller companion and compares it with the old IBM Z50, preserving a rare primary-source view of a mobile future that did not arrive in this form.
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Seeing music artists, Netflix, cable subscribers and radio all move around old distribution systems, Dr. Dave says the Internet has finally become the media force predicted fifteen years earlier and warns that the final shape will not resemble anyone’s first model.
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Dr. Dave and Evil Steve describe an Internet map that resembles a Hubble image and reflect on how a visual can make an otherwise abstract network feel tangible.
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Dr. Dave and Evil Steve record the iPad 3G’s first day in stores and follow the unfolding legal and ethical dispute over the next-generation iPhone prototype sold to Gizmodo.
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As Apple prepares the iPad’s international release, Dr. Dave records its first million sales while candidly admitting that its appeal and success still do not make the device useful to him personally.
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Dr. Dave calls the second-generation iPhone a major improvement and gives Apple credit for getting almost everything right, but says outages and weak everyday battery life occupy the final few percent that still matter. His own temptation to buy one keeps the criticism from becoming a dismissal of the product.
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Looking inside the new phone, Dr. Dave notices how many components it shares with the iPad and praises Apple for reusing a proven design platform instead of reinventing every subsystem.
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Only months after the first iPhone arrived, Dr. Dave calls it a historic and compelling product because its interface made mobile Internet use dramatically easier. He distinguishes the operating system from the interface, notes that good software can still be made hard to use and hopes Apple's pressure will force the rest of the phone industry to improve.
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Days after Verizon announced its first iPhone, Dr. Dave compares the real tradeoffs in coverage, international compatibility and simultaneous voice and data, then welcomes the broader benefit of competition for customers and the mobile market.
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Weeks before Apple unveiled the iPhone, Dr. Dave reviews rumors about an Apple smartphone and doubts that the company can easily enter a mature market led by experienced phone manufacturers. The rumored keyboard, networks, storage and pricing show how little even informed observers knew about the device that was coming.
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Soon after its introduction, Dr. Dave and Evil Steve marvel at the iPod Nano’s engineering, color screen, storage and remarkably thin body. Dr. Dave believes Apple may continue dominating portable music if it keeps producing devices that feel as compelling in the hand as the Nano.
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After discussing rumors on the prior shows, Dr. Dave and Evil Steve report Steve Jobs’s official Macworld introduction of the Mac mini and react to its small size, low entry price and optional features.
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Dr. Dave recounts the 1988 Morris worm as an early program that replicated across Internet servers and shut systems down after an error made it loop. Whatever its author’s original intention, he calls it the first Internet worm and a warning of what later overwhelmed computer users.
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Before Office 2007 and its ribbon launched, Dr. Dave examines Microsoft’s discovery that users frequently requested features already present but too difficult to find among roughly fifteen hundred commands. He understands the context sensitive redesign but worries about abandoning a familiar Windows menu convention and about early screen reader accessibility.
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Near signoff, Dr. Dave reports AMD demonstrating its 45-nanometer Deneb chips at extreme clock speeds using air, dry ice and liquid nitrogen, while repeatedly qualifying what was reported and waiting to see real products and prices.
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Before Windows Vista was released, Dr. Dave challenges the gap between Microsoft’s minimum requirements and the computer he expects people will need for the full visual experience. He connects escalating operating system demands to hardware sales and warns listeners that rosy specifications can leave buyers disappointed after the package is opened.
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Before Apple’s January 2005 announcement, Dr. Dave reports a strong rumor that Macworld would introduce a monitor-free desktop for less than five hundred dollars, capturing expectations just before the Mac mini appeared.
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Dr. Dave reacts with excitement to early Stanford research that sought to generate electricity from the difference between saltwater and freshwater, then imagines what a practical version might make possible.
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After handling a contemporary BlackBerry, Dr. Dave compares its feel and delay with the anticipated iPhone 3.0, Palm Pre, Windows Mobile and Android. It is a firsthand snapshot of a major technology transition rather than a narrow deal or obscure service.
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Dr. Dave remembers attending Comdex in 2001 when Bill Gates devoted a keynote to tablets taking over. Eight years later the category remains niche, yet the brothers recognize that a rumored Apple device might transform it from “who cares” into “gotta have.”
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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.
