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.
Imagining the connected phone future · Proposed air date:
The hosts and guest imagine a phone coordinating media, location and personal preferences years before those capabilities became routine. Dr. Dave immediately personalizes the idea: on landing in France, his phone should direct him to the nearest fountain-pen dealer. He also says that even as a self-described geek, he wants the convenience of one capable device instead of carrying many.
Kindle, books and the bomb manual · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave questions whether Kindle's narrow function can replace the feel of a book, and Evil Steve responds with an extended joke that the only reason to read is when a bomb-disposal manual leaves no choice. A major product-era conversation with their contrasting personalities intact.
Konica Minolta and the digital revolution · Proposed air date:
Konica Minolta’s withdrawal from cameras and film prompts Dr. Dave to remember working in the camera business and his own Konica FS 1. He is sorry to see a valued name disappear but accepts digital photography as a genuinely superior development, leading the brothers to compare the transition with records, tapes and compact discs.
The millionth Roomba becomes a milestone in practical consumer robotics, while Dr. Dave imagines the industrial street cleaner his house would need because of the children.
Radio Shack forgot what made it Radio Shack · Proposed air date:
Radio Shack matters to Dr. Dave and Evil Steve personally: Dr. Dave worked for Tandy in the early 1980s and remembers its affordable multi-user systems as a practical small-business alternative. Looking back from the bankruptcy filing, he argues that the company could have modernized the identity it already owned—the hack store, project store and fun store—instead of repeatedly drifting away from its strengths.
Remembering the Compaq Portable · Proposed air date:
A magazine feature lets Dr. Dave and Evil Steve enjoy the memory of a thirty-four-pound “portable” computer with a tiny display, 128 kilobytes of memory and an expensive optional second floppy drive.
Screens thin as paper and an invisible car · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave and Evil Steve imagine flexible OLED displays becoming as thin and commonplace as paper: refrigerator-magnet televisions, animated yard signs, a screen wrapped around a car and even a visual version of noise cancellation that could make the vehicle appear invisible. It is the brothers at their speculative, playful best.
NASA's website leads Dr. Dave and Evil Steve to stop treating routine shuttle launches as ordinary, marvel at the risk of orbital debris and then tumble into a formula joke and the weekly pizza arrival.
Hearing about location based maps reminds Evil Steve of an idea he had discussed for years: a display that identifies the towns and landmarks below an airplane in real time. Dr. Dave helps turn the thought from a headset or hologram into a screen on the seat, while Evil Steve jokingly announces that saying it on air makes him the inventor.
The good old days of personal computing are now · Proposed air date:
A retrospective list takes Dr. Dave and Evil Steve through the 26 pound Kaypro 2, the three pound Radio Shack Model 100 and the Apple II. Dr. Dave remembers early disk drives replacing tapes, appreciates what the machines changed and concludes that despite nostalgia, the good old days are now.
The laptop that would not sleep · Proposed air date:
Previewing Windows Vista power management, Dr. Dave remembers closing a laptop, placing it in a padded pocket of his enormous wheeled briefcase and later finding the battery dead and the machine too hot to start. He welcomes a system designed to honor sleep and shutdown commands even when another program tries to interrupt them.
The mouse board still in storage · Proposed air date:
A 1987 Computer Shopper photograph reminds Dr. Dave how early PCs sometimes needed a dedicated adapter board just to use a mouse; he admits he still has one boxed away, while Evil Steve says he probably packed it and doubts Dr. Dave has thrown anything out.
The tablets from Comdex come back around · Proposed air date:
A convertible Lenovo prompts Dr. Dave and Evil Steve to remember Bill Gates presenting tablets at Comdex in 2001. Dr. Dave observes that the 2012 machines are lighter and faster but serve essentially the same function, while the iPad legitimized the market in a way the earlier designs did not.
Thirty years of the Macintosh · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave and Evil Steve remember the first Macintosh, from its high price and limitations to the possibilities it opened for ordinary users. They consider how its graphical approach and Apple's competition helped change personal computing.
Was Windows 7 great, or was Vista that bad? · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave's astonishment at the Windows 7 beta becomes a deliberately relative judgment: after Vista, even a return to normal feels exciting. Sneezing and a useless cough button keep the brothers' live studio character in the passage.
When 512 kilobytes cost nearly a thousand dollars · Proposed air date:
While discussing 2005 memory needs, Dr. Dave remembers an early upgrade he first calls 512 megabytes before correcting himself to 512 kilobytes, which cost nearly one thousand dollars. Evil Steve answers with a joke about Dr. Dave beginning his computer life alongside the space program.
Windows before Windows was inevitable · Proposed air date:
Listener Lynn’s frustration with Windows 95 sends Dr. Dave back to a powerful 386 system and DeskView, before graphical Windows felt inevitable. He and Evil Steve had recently heard old Computer Talk tapes on which Dr. Dave treated Windows as an optional upgrade listeners could safely postpone.
2,300 files in an old DOS database · Proposed air date:
Dale still keeps an old DOS computer because a Radio Shack Tandy database holds 2,300 files accumulated over many years. Dr. Dave remembers the software, jokes about how far back it goes and encourages him to test whether the old program can survive on a newer Windows system.
A great product still needs excitement · Proposed air date:
Considering WebOS after HP’s Palm acquisition, Dr. Dave argues that technical quality alone cannot save a product if nobody feels anticipation around it, while strong execution and excitement together are extremely difficult to beat.
A small company had to look different · Proposed air date:
Blake explains that a small company without an enormous advertising budget could not imitate established electronics firms and expect to be noticed. Sling Media therefore treated the product’s unusual segmented shape as part of the strategy, drawing on the universal appeal of television and chocolate to create an iconic object.
An industry cannot stay revolutionary forever · Proposed air date:
Dr. Dave contrasts the rapid, revolutionary hardware and software changes he remembers with a maturing industry, arguing that no market can remain at its earliest level of novelty and excitement forever.
Apple as the Ferrari of computers · Proposed air date:
A licensing fee for iPod accessories leads Dr. Dave to criticize Apple for discouraging outside development, but Evil Steve offers another interpretation. Perhaps Apple deliberately limits supply and control like Ferrari, preserving exclusivity, service and a sense of superiority instead of trying to become the largest company in every market.
Bleeding-edge buyers bring prices down · Proposed air date:
While discussing solid-state storage, Dr. Dave thanks enthusiasts willing to pay the early premium because their purchases help new technology mature and become affordable for people who wait.
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.
