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.
After comparing video-game revenue with Hollywood, Dr. Dave and Evil Steve imagine movies made without on-screen human actors. They picture virtual performers recurring as recognizable characters, appearing on talk shows and solving the problem of one famous actor being too closely identified with an earlier role.
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Dr. Dave and Evil Steve consider venture funding, the struggle to turn attention into a business and how quickly Facebook and Twitter eclipsed other social networks.
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A report about old systems still at work takes Dr. Dave and Evil Steve from OS/2 in transit and banking to a Texas filtration company reportedly running its business on an IBM 402. Their astonished “if it ain’t broke” reaction turns a short technology-history item into a celebration of useful machines outlasting expectations.
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Before Apple had confirmed the move on air, Dr. Dave and Evil Steve discuss a report that the company was considering Intel processors. They recognize the possibility as revolutionary, weighing lower costs and a broader market against Apple losing some of the tight hardware and software control behind the Mac experience.
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Dr. Dave says Apple's engineering, design and advertising can be extraordinary while still producing a mediocre product. With Apple TV then described as a hobby beside Macs, iPods and iPhones, Evil Steve compares it to the Lisa; the brothers use the costly Macintosh precursor to put a struggling new product into Apple's longer history.
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Dr. Dave and Evil Steve react to Apple’s first Mighty Mouse, teasing claims that familiar multi button ideas became revolutionary when Apple adopted them. They then discuss the security control in pre release Intel based Macs that appeared designed to keep Mac OS tied to Apple hardware.
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Dr. Dave reports BlackBerry passing Palm in quarterly PDA shipments as wireless email and built-in keyboards reshape the market. The brothers turn the tiny keys into a joke about Dr. Dave sharpening his fingernails to type.
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Dr. Dave weighs Carly Fiorina’s immediate departure from Hewlett-Packard against the company’s changing culture, difficult market conditions and the disputed Compaq acquisition. He reads the internal announcement and distinguishes the company’s official confidence from the unresolved question of her legacy.
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Steve Ballmer’s proposed low-cost computer leads Dr. Dave and Evil Steve to calculate how much of the price Windows would consume and joke about how software pricing would have to change.
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Intel’s multibillion-dollar McAfee purchase makes Dr. Dave remember when McAfee was one person writing DOS antivirus packages, then consider the promise and update problem of moving security work into hardware.
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News that Gateway will stop direct consumer sales prompts the brothers to remember a company that began with two brothers in a South Dakota barn, became a multibillion-dollar force and turned cow-pattern boxes and mouse pads into a recognizable signal that someone knew computers. The recollection captures both the speed of the PC industry's rise and the sadness of watching an emblematic brand recede.
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Dr. Dave reacts with appreciation when an Intel engineer openly describes the rushed nine month effort to place two processor cores in one Pentium D package. He sees AMD’s competitive pressure as good for consumers and finds the candid explanation more refreshing than polished marketing.
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Longtime caller Jeff Bishop brings firsthand information from an accessibility-technology conference about JAWS support and a planned Social Security Administration migration. The warm opening, practical concern for users and informed disagreement preserve a valuable connection between the show and the accessibility community.
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Dr. Dave marks Scott McNealy stepping down as Sun chief executive by recounting Sun’s role in bringing Unix to smaller workstations and Internet servers. He then shares the Microsoft nicknames and one liners that made McNealy a memorable public figure in computing.
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Dr. Dave and Evil Steve react to the extraordinary first-day iPhone 4 demand, the failed ordering systems and the challenge of turning scarcity into a fairer customer experience.
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Caller Bill asks whether Microsoft’s coming Longhorn would make every current computer obsolete. Dr. Dave challenges Microsoft’s low stated requirements but also rejects the competing show’s extreme claim, repeatedly distinguishing what is known from what remains uncertain.
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Blake Krikorian tells Dr. Dave how travel, baseball blackout rules, subscription fatigue and a home full of already paid for television service led him and his brother to imagine watching their living room signal anywhere. Dr. Dave recognizes the power of an idea that feels obvious only after someone has made it real.
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The first full power-on sequence for the Boeing 787 excites Dr. Dave as both an aviation milestone and an example of technology improving efficiency. After criticizing the competitive imbalance with Airbus, he recalls a Boeing friend answering simply that the pressure makes Boeing better—and Dr. Dave says he cannot argue with the value of becoming better.
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Dr. Dave asks Evil Steve to guess Apple’s newly doubled monthly iPad production, gets answers in the thousands and reveals a reported two million units, preserving their genuine astonishment during the device’s first year.
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Looking ahead from Windows 8 to the release then rumored as Windows Threshold, Dr. Dave argues that a computer should recognize whether it has a touchscreen, keyboard or mouse and choose the interface that suits the hardware. The practical usability critique is mixed with Dr. Dave and Evil Steve debating whether the next version should be called Windowsill or Windows Pain.
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Dr. Dave and Evil Steve react to the newly announced Xbox 360 as both a large performance jump and evidence that Microsoft saw gaming as part of a broader home-media strategy. The specifications, predicted price and jokes capture the excitement and uncertainty surrounding a major technology launch before the console reached stores.
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A caller asks how people obtain domain names, and Dr. Dave explains Network Solutions, annual registration, hosting, bulletin-board software and how to record Internet radio. The conversation directly connects the original website and radio era to the archive today.
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A photo-printing call opens into a farmer's firsthand description of moving from an eight-foot pass to equipment covering roughly 160 feet while GPS steers within inches. He also explains choosing food crops over ethanol because people need to eat, and Dr. Dave answers with gratitude for farmers.
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A caller adapting to Vista reminds everyone that familiar Windows keyboard shortcuts still work. Dr. Dave realizes the historical irony: graphical interfaces and mice were sold as the faster escape from keyboards, yet experienced users often return to shortcuts because they remain more efficient.
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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.
