The 1994 Computer Dealers Expo via Computer Chronicles
[expositional jazz plays] [computer buzzes, beeps] - Greetings, and welcome to another one of these LGR commentary/ watchalong things for another episode of "Computer Chronicles!" And this is another one of the trade shows, which is probably my favorite of all the ones that they covered back in the day and this is COMDEX, the Computer Dealers Exposition. In particular, the 1994 fall COMDEX show, an episode I haven't watched in a long time, but all of these were great. The COMDEX show in particular was just this gigantic thing, I wish I could have gotten a chance to go to one of 'em.
'94 is just an awesome year to revisit. So let's revisit some very much nineties things, in particular Windows 95, because I was reminded of that turning 30 years old. [nervous chuckle, sigh of mortality] Yeah, that's happening.
So just sort of a celebration of that and revisiting the time where it was still being teased, not quite finished yet, but the excitement level was off the charts. Let's dive right into this episode! Alright, November 1994 COMDEX show. Let's go. - It is simply the biggest! 200,000 people attending, more than 2000 exhibitors, more than a million square feet of convention space. - Just admiring Stewart's reporter attire, it's wonderful. - What could it be, but COMDEX? The biggies are here, Intel, Microsoft, IBM and Apple and the wannabes are here, lots of small startup companies from around the world demoing products they hope will be the next killer applications.
Today we'll take you on a guided tour of COMDEX '94, here in chilly Las Vegas on this special edition of the Computer Chronicles. - Who takes their infant to COMDEX? [laughs] [Computer Chronicles musical sting] - [HP Narrator] Computer Chronicles is made possible in part by Hewlett Packard... - [Clint] Was that a Vectra? - [Narrator] ...where we work with industry leaders to ensure compatibility across the board and across the network. - Welcome to the Computer Chronicles.
I'm Stewart Cheifet and with me, the most quoted analyst in the computer industry, Tim Bajarin. - [Clint] Tim Bajarin, of course. Also admiring the "Intergraph" just right at the top there. One of those just all time, huge early computing powerhouse kind of companies. Yeah, in 2008 they were one of the hundred largest software companies in the world still.
Acquired by Hexagon, apparently. But yeah, former IBM engineers, NASA, other stuff, Fairchild, Unix, blah blah blah! Just, they were involved in so many things and I remember running across one of these with the big Z on it at Computer Reset and being like, "what the heck is an Intergraph machine just hanging out here for?" But yeah, fascinating company. - And we're here on the floor of COMDEX '94 in Las Vegas, Tim, 200,000 people here at this COMDEX. - [Clint] That's a big show. - [Stewart] Everybody's talking about Windows 95. - Yeah, this is the real theme of the show.
People are coming to figure out what Win 95 is all about, they wanna see what all the applications are and they wanna get a better understanding of what they should do with it when Microsoft finally ships this sometime next year. - Tim, what about PowerPC? A lot of talk here about it. [Clint chuckles] How important is PowerPC? - Yeah. - Well, it's a major focus and PowerPC has a big tent out front, you can go in and see all kind of machines running PowerPC applications and they wanna try to make a very strong statement. But this is still really a Windows and Intel world and that's where the real big focus is on this year.
- What an interesting time. So not only Windows 95, everybody just knew was gonna be this huge thing, but then you have IBM and PowerPC, and they were still doing OS/2 pretty hard, I think. - [Stewart] Well, is Intel really under attack? We've got Cyrix, AMD, NexGen, PowerPC all going after Intel.
- Yeah and especially the new Pentium clones that'll come out from Cyrix and NexGen, and all of the AMD guys that are really be ganging up against Intel. - Yeah, Cyrix was putting out their weird things. I mean it was still x86, right? But the Pentium competitors, AMD had their 5x86, and there was so many other of these things and they all went in the same slot, or yeah, socket, right? So you'd have a Pentium, or like a 486 or whatever, but you could also put an AMD chip in there instead of Intel. Or a Cyrix, or NexGen, or yeah.
There's so many of these and that we're all competing for this same exact market. It's just a weird time, I love it. - Okay, let's go down to the floor and see what's new at COMDEX '94 here in Las Vegas. - Yeeesss. - [Stewart] They've been coming here since 1979, computer industry manufacturers, vendors, resellers and dealers. - Ah, I wanna walk down that hall, that row so badly.
Ah dang it. - [Stewart] All looking for the latest hardware and software products. - It's so colorful. Oh, what is this? I love it. - COMDEX is the one - Yeah, jugglers.
- Thing that combines virtually everything for everyone. - Why not?! [juggling chuckling] - [Stewart] The big companies, the startups, the Silicon Valley folks and the high tech innovators from countries around the world. - All these things! - [Stewart] But it's not all business.
- And Tony Bennett! - [Stewart] And Novell brought in singer Tony Bennett to serenade it's favorite customers. ♪ I looked at you and suddenly ♪ - [Clint] Vegas. - [Stewart] US Robotics hosted a Monday night football party.
- [Photographer] Oh tight shot. - ...the modem company? [dialed-up laugh] I mean, why not? US Robotics, hotdog, chicken wings, football, cheerleaders. It all goes together... - [Stewart] And Prodigy hosted the head of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - Yeah. - [Stewart] As part of its campaign to track down missing kids. - Prodigy is such an interesting memory of mine, ugh.
Had a Packard Bell 486 and it had Prodigy on it, I remember trying it out, had like a trial or whatever and just seeing the graphics and the fact that you could go online and do stuff was wild. Absolutely blew my mind. - [Stewart] How do you decide what's hot and what's not when there are more than 2,000 computer products to look at? - What was that? Animation Master? Looks kind of expensive, whatever it is. Apparently they're still around, the latest stable release was 2024 in December.
Yeah, 3D character animation application offered by Hash Inc. Modeling, rigging, animating, texturing, etcetera etcetera. Polygon mesh, or nurbs and splines, yeah all right. And Will Vinton's Playmation, that sounds familiar for some reason and I think, yeah, you see "Playmation" as a word back there. Just a random quick little bit of B-roll, and there you go, you go down an entire rabbit hole right there. - [Stewart] The Byte Awards highlighted the importance of the growing online mania, with several communications. - [Clint] And the importance
of growing a mustache. - [Stewart] Like InternetWorks, a new user friendly frontend for the internet from BookLink Technologies, which won the award for best new product from a new company. - Never heard of it. InternetWorks? No kidding, InternetWorks! Web browser by BookLink Technologies, the first browser to offer tabbed browsing, released in '94, well, who knew? It looks like America Online bought them entirely. Stock transaction worth about 35 million.
The company purchased BookLink Technologies and NaviSoft. Did they ever add like tabs to the AOL browser in the '90s? I don't remember that being a thing. - [Stewart] Byte's Award for overall best new product at COMDEX '94 went to the new ThinkPad 755C Notebook computer from IBM. - [Clint] That's a good computer. - It's a multimedia desktop screamer that fits in your briefcase.
- And really expensive. I have one of these and also that crazy docking station adding like a big old CD-ROM and a keylock and stuff. A PC Magazine review here from August '94, as configured for the 755C? $7,389 for a 75 megahertz,486DX4. That is an unusual CPU, but yeah, eight megs of RAM, 540 meg hard disk, doesn't even have that CD-ROM, that dock is another $900. Mobile communications module is another $2,000. You could spend 10 grand on a ThinkPad fully decked out very easily back then. But even "just" an $8,000 version,
that's over 17 grand with inflation. - The most talked about computer product at COMDEX isn't even out yet. In fact, no one can tell you when you'll be able to buy it. - Windows 95! - And virtually everyone here concedes that when it does come out, it will probably be the biggest selling software package in history. - [Tim] And this is the first operating system that Microsoft has that doesn't have DOS built into it, even though it has DOS compatibility, it's a clean brand new operating system. - Well, from a certain point of view, depending...
Well you know what, I'll let y'all hash that out in the comments! That's an interesting statement... DOS and Windows 95, you know, forever together, but also: it's complicated. - [Stewart] Microsoft has become the king of COMDEX. Build a booth and they will come.
- [Clint] It's a great booth! - Crowds mob the various Microsoft exhibits and anything that had a sign saying Windows 95. - I like the pre-release font. - [Stewart] In fact, more than 200 software developers were boasting support - [Clint] Oh, look at that. - For the new Windows... [charmed and amused chuckle] - "Beta 2." - [Stewart] Softkey is launching a new version of PFS WindowWorks for Win 95, version 3.0 includes a clipart organizer and 32-bit overlay support. - It's just bizarre to think about Softkey having a booth... anywhere. [laughs in shovelware]
In case you're not aware, they were notorious for putting out these really, really cheap shovelware collections, endless shareware games, and you know, they did other stuff too, of course, but yeah, they were one of those Kevin O'Leary companies, founded in the '80s, it got really big and then it just started taking over all these things, and eventually after all the garbage that they put out. In 1999, the company was acquired by Mattel in what Businessweek called "one of the worst deals of all time." - [Stewart] One of the major benefits of the new Windows platform is its ability to support multimedia and many software vendors were launching new products to take advantage of that.
- Hey, it's my speakers, Roland MA-12Cs. I have 'em right beside me, right on the desk. See, there they are. - [Stewart] Media Suite Pro is a new digital video editor for Windows from Avid. - [Clint] Avid! - To create professional quality videos on a desktop PC. Avid's new digital editor, lets you easily cut and paste video clips with virtually instant access to all your video material.
Media Suite will be available in early 1995 for about $10,000. [strained gasp] - $10,000... I mean, it's Avid, but [groans] 21,000 with inflation.
And that's not even counting whatever kind of crazy computer you'd need to actually do anything really useful with it. - [Stewart] Another new benefit in Windows 95 Is its plug and play capability. PC Week's, Dan Farber says "plug and play may finally bring Macintosh simplicity to the Windows platform." - Ehh? - It will allow you to plug in peripherals more easily and allow software to detect what's going on in the system much easier, that's a huge benefit. - In theory! I'm sure anybody from back then, including me, can tell you wonderful nightmares about "plug and pray" going wrong.
But I don't know, when it worked well, it was obviously pretty awesome, I mean, just sticking things in and Windows configured stuff through software instead of having to worry about jumpers or any kind of settings on cards and things. But it was all the conflicts, especially when you started getting into legacy plug and play and then, I don't know, just some stuff like that, I think, kinda gave it a bad rap. - [Stewart] Look at this, a new watch from Timex called the DataLink. Just point it at your Windows 95 screen and it can download data from your PC with a sensor that sees the quick changes in light pulses coming off your computer display.
- The Timex DataLink, I've covered that before in LGR. Check out that video if you're curious. It's really cool, even today - [Stewart] But COMDEX wasn't just a Microsoft show. - And there's some OS/2.
- [Stewart] The general consensus here was that IBM was starting to make progress with its new version of OS/2 called Warp. Warp claims to do everything that the new Windows can do and it's available now. - Everything that Win 95 hopes to be, you can have today. Everything NT wanted to be, wasn't.
Everything Win 95 hopes to be, shipping in Warp right now. Plus, it's a third generation revision, it's stable, it's refined, it's robust, it's tuned and it's got thousands of applications. [Clint laughing] - IBM, they just held onto that torch. This was such a weird time for IBM in particular, right? Because they were trying this stuff with like OS/2 Warp and PowerPC and certain things were going well, but at the same time they had lost the home PC market and really even a lot of the business PC market at this point. Like they were just kind of floundering, and yeah, when was it they exited? So I think they stopped doing retail PC sales in 1999, but yeah, by 2005, that's when they sold it off, the whole division of PCs to Lenovo. That's crazy, 20 years now of Lenovo taking over IBM's whole PC division.
- [Stewart] But despite IBM's progress with Warp, most analysts and even some IBM insiders, concede that Windows will continue to be the dominant operating environment. - For better or worse - Warp is just now shipping. IBM is very committed to it, they believe that's the right desktop operating system, they believe it's got the best multitasking capabilities and they'll continue to push that, but given the Win 95 push, I don't think that it will have as much of an impact on the market as Windows will. - [Stewart] So it looks like for now, Microsoft is firmly in control of your software platform, but what about hardware? Next up, the CPU Wars. - Yeah! [Computer Chronicles segue music] - Intel is giving away software to entice people to come in and hear their Pentium story. The giant chip maker is under pressure as never before.
- Please buy a Pentium! We'll give you "Compton's Encyclopedia!" - As the PowerPC alliance, Cyrix, AMD, and NexGen attempt to challenge their dominance inside your computer. - The problem with PowerPC is that it will very quickly run software that doesn't exist, and I'm- [Clint chuckling] It'll run software that that isn't there. What was that computer? Look at that thing, it's like a — yeah it's got a Model M, like a standard PS/2 kinda mouse over there. But yeah, what is this? - We don't have any expectation that PowerPC will be a commercial success in business and home markets. - And of course, the Cyrix guy says that. - But IBM says otherwise. Big Blue says it will ship its PowerPC computer early in 1995 and that running OS/2, the IBM PowerPC will be a far more powerful machine than the Macintosh.
- Maybe it's an IBM PowerPC thing. Maybe it's this or like an early version of it, the Power Series 850 or something close to that? I bet it is. - [Stewart] IBM is not thrilled with the idea that the only power PC on the market now is a Mac.
- That's why we're working so hard on OS/2, is we don't want that to happen. - I also just noticed the little speakers back there, those Altec Lansings. These are fascinating little clamshells. Yeah, the ACH300.1, I do have a set of those.
I've been meaning to feature them just cuz they're neat! - [Stewart] But IBM had better hurry up, there are clone makers out there, who are already showing off IBM compatible PowerPC computers. - Hmm, TNPC. Is that Taiwan New PC? The New PC consortium comprises four groups, Tatung, Mitac and DTK, Umax, and FIC. Wow, this is a whole thing I had no idea about. Like, I knew all those companies were involved with making Power PC things.
In fact, I saw some of them at the recent Vintage Computer Festival East I attended, but I had no idea they had a whole consortium. - [Stewart] The Taiwanese company, Mitac, demonstrated its new PPC6000 computer and Taiwan's largest computer manufacturer, Tatung, was showing off its OEM version of a PowerPC computer. - That's fascinating. - [Stewart] This is another PowerPC clone from Taiwan's Firepower Systems, the MX41. - [Clint] Ayy, check out that demo, that might look familiar to a couple of you. It's a demo by Criterion.
Yeah, the Burnout folks. They did RW Knight RenderWare, animated knight, so their RenderWare engine and yeah, I showed it in the building, a dual Pentium Pro system. If I hadn't done that last year, I would not have even noticed. - [Stewart] From Taiwan's Firepower system. - So I wonder if that means they have a Matrix card in there? - [Stewart] But IBM isn't putting all its eggs in the PowerPC basket. - NexGen!
- This is the Tangent Nx5P90 computer system. It uses a new Nx586 chip produced by IBM in association with NexGen. - This is something that I've been trying to get ahold of for years, probably ever since first watching this episode and getting a NexGen CPU alone, much less a whole system that was built around it or whatever is, it's just such a fascinating thing, hopefully they'll talk about it here.
- [Stewart] It is the first CPU to combine X86 compatibility with the speed of RISC architecture. - Yeah. - The Nx586 chip is priced about the same as Intel's Pentium, this 90 megahertz multimedia system, using the new IBM chip retails for under $2,200. - I love the clear side panel on that system there. How very ahead of its time. I mean it's for a trade show, I see why they're doing it, but yeah, so these NexGen CPUs mixing RISC and x86 on the same thing! And at the time, apparently, quite an awesome cost to performance ratio.
- [Stewart] Intel is also being attacked on its Pentium flank by Cyrix. Their new M1 chip is a Pentium clone that features superscaler architecture and 32 registers, compared to Intel's eight. Cyrix says that means M1 will outperform Pentium. - The M1 and all of Cyrix microprocessors were designed from the ground up, completely original designs. - [Clint] I've actually never used one of the M1s. The M2 I have and it's pretty darn impressive for what it is and Cyrix, I mean you know, they're interesting.
They were always sort of the cheaper kind of, like, "eh whatever" things and had issues running Quake. Or you know, all these kind of drawbacks, but at the same time I always kind of like it whenever I run across a system with a Cyrix chip. It's just charming. - [Stewart] Computers using the Cyrix M1 chip are due on the market in early 1995. Coming up next, the latest in mobile computing technology. - What did they do to that poor Cobra? Oh, hope it's a replica.
Oh yeah, I mean, I don't know. There's enough billionaires and millionaires in this place, might be real, but you know what, "mobile computing." Ha, strap a CRT to the top of your Cobra. - [Stewart] The latest attempt is the Simon Handheld Personal Communicator designed by IBM for BellSouth.
It's basically a cellular phone with a built-in touch screen that adds calendar, notepad, email, and fax functions. - Another thing that I would just love to cover if I could ever find one that like worked and everything. It's pretty much just a really, really early smartphone and IBM's right there doing this. I just can't imagine there's too many of 'em out there. I mean reportedly it sold 50,000 units over its six months on the market, but you know, it also cost $1,099 without a contract or $899 with a two year 15-state contract.
Yeah, I've just never seen one of these outside of a museum setting, you know? - [Stewart] Sharp has been successful with its Wizard OZ-6500. You can fax with it but it's not wireless nor does it have voice phone functions. - So yeah, I think in the last one of these I said the, they were pronouncing it the "Oz" and I was like, I think it's the O-Z, but it is called the Wizard Oz. Yeah, I guess they were going for that pun and I never thought about it ♪ If I only had a brain ♪ - [Stewart] The latest entry into the handheld field is the Sony Magic Link. It comes with a built-in voice phone and modem. A very easy to use graphical interface and the ability to directly send handwritten notes via AT&T's Personal Link network.
- Yeah, look at that GUI! The very literal kind of desktop metaphor there and just so friendly looking. What a cool system. So this is the Magic Link, one of Sony's versions of it. I've done a video, not on this exactly, but covering the topic, mainly General Magic and the Magic Cap operating system thing for these mobile devices. The whole story is fascinating.
The things they were trying out and attempting to do so early on is awesome. It's a shame it didn't have like mobile connectivity or anything like that. You had to still connect it to a phone line. - [Stewart] But Sony Magic link is not wireless and Tim Bajarin says that's the key to a successful personal communications device. The solution may soon be coming in a new wireless standard called CDPD. - The number one thing is CDPD, this is this new wireless technology for cellular, cellular digital, that is going to be expanded all across the country.
- I have not heard of CDPD. So yeah, cellular digital packet data, speeds up to 19.2 kilobits per second. Like I've heard some of these things thrown around before, GPRS and Edge for data of course 2G and AMPS and all this other kind of stuff. But I didn't realize that a lot of 'em were actually competing. Apparently the Digital Ocean Seahorse was something that made use of that, adding wireless capabilities to the Newton from Apple.
Eh. Yeah, never heard of that! - You don't dial phone numbers and listen to the modem go through its tones and paste up a connection. You're always connected, so you send the data whenever you would like and because you're always connected, we certainly wouldn't charge you for minutes.
So the cost for this type of a network can be based on a lot of things. It could be based on the amount of data you send, like kilobytes or thousands of bytes. It could also be based on a flat rate service. So we could say simple messaging for example could cost in the order of $35 to $45 a month for all the messages you'd like to send. - It's just wild to be thinking about this stuff in 1994. Mobile data plans, and just having service anywhere, you don't have to dial up to get your data or send messages or email or whatever. [laughs from the future]
That's so cool, like what a thing it would've been to have been here at this show, seeing these things demonstrated, talking to the people that were putting it together and just imagining the wonderful future of a fully connected always online world and how... wonderful I'm sure that'll be... [fire crackling] - [Stewart] Zenith demonstrated another type of wireless device, the CruisePAD, it's a wireless network terminal that uses something called Spread Spectrum Technology. With the CruisePAD, you can walk around your office building and always be connected to your company network. - Nice. - CruisePAD is due out
in early 1995. - And how much did that cost? Oh no kidding. This uses the CruiseLAN protocol. I've talked about that before.
It was a 2.4 gigahertz pre-wifi type of wireless networking. Yeah, I've got a video sort of on that [chuckles] where I discovered some of those were actually 386s. But anyway, yeah, I was just looking at this website here, the Bill Buxton collection on Microsoft. I don't — well here it is, yeah, there's a price.
$1,399 in 1995. It really is so cool though, it's like a remote terminal, look at that. - [Stewart] Hewlett Packard took its shot at helping the mobile worker with its new Omnishare. This is a kind of interactive fax machine that lets two people work on the same electronic document and talk to each other at the same time using one standard analog phone line.
- This thing is wild. So while I haven't done a video about it, Cathode Ray Dude did, so check out that video. It is a fascinating device and just the way it works and everything about it is intriguing to say the least.
- If you had just one simple wish as a mobile computer user, would probably be for a battery that lasts for more than two hours! [Clint laughs] Several notebook makers are promising just that. This is the Latitude XP Notebook from Dell, it uses new lithium ion battery technology that gets you seven hours on one charge. - Lithium ion, that's crazy. What will they think of next? - [Stewart] And this is the new Ascenstia 900N Notebook from AST. It also boasts seven hours of battery life, both the AST and the Dell machines are priced at around $3,000. - Oh, especially for the AST, I think would probably be kind of a bad deal from what I recall, that particular model is infamously not good.
I guess maybe the 950N, but perhaps maybe had the same problems with the 900. I just remember this 8-bit Guy talk where he was saying that it was just one of the worst things from a tech support perspective. - [Stewart] The other push in notebooks is for smaller and lighter. Digital launched its first notebook computer, the HiNote Ultra 486. - [Clint] That looks slick. - This baby is only
one inch thick and weighs in at just three and a half pounds. - [Clint] Only an inch! - [Stewart] But if power is what you want in a portable, check out this Tadpole P1000. It sports a 100 megahertz Pentium chip. The price is around $7,000.
- Yeah, Pentium in any laptop in 1994 is insane, but for $7,000? And it's not a ThinkPad? [laughs] Like who is Tadpole? Oh well, never mind. I guess they were awesome. Rugged military spec UNIX workstations, thin client laptops, acquired by General Dynamics, holy balls. Like, they made the Sparkbook. Can't fault them for that. - [Stewart] If you want multimedia in your briefcase.
- I do. - This is a new laptop from NTK, a Korean company. It comes with a built-in double speed CD-ROM drive.
- Why's everybody gotta mow lawns right as I'm talking about double speed CD-ROM drives? Anyway, how cool is this! 2X CD on your laptop, just built in? Don't even need a dock for it? Dude, that's awesome in '94. - [Stewart] If presentations is your thing then you might be interested in the RTI Color Notebook. The display screen is detachable and turns into an LCD presentation panel, used with an overhead projector. - "Jurassic Park" on the screen there, but yeah, this is fascinating. I've seen standalone devices like this.
In fact, I think I have an nView Viewframe and that's just like a transparent sort of thing you stick on top of an overhead projector and then you hook VGA into it and you can have your computer going through your overhead. There's also like the Kodak Datashow. But being built into a laptop screen itself, that's just awesome. - [Stewart] And if you want sound and music with your presentation, you can do that easily using your PCMCIA slot. This is Media Vision's 16-bit stereo sound card. Also handy when playing games on the road.
Coming up next, the input revolution at COMDEX '94. - Now what kind of setup that is, but yeah, Media Vision PCMCIA Sound Card. Yeah, the Pro Audio Spectrum people, probably what they're most well known for among sound card stuff. But yeah,
the Media Vision Sound, looks like it probably launched in 1994 at 300 US dollars. Based on the Jazz 16. I think the thing that Gateway used? dosdays.co.uk. So yeah, it looks like there was also just the Jazz and the Jazz 8. I've seen at least one of 'em around in some computer I have. Okay, well this does mentioned Gateway 2000, so probably one of those. Also on some Amstrads. - There are lots of high tech things you can do with a watch, like download files from your computer, keep track of your calendar and your phone numbers, but have you ever heard of a high tech ring? This is the Ring Mouse from Spectrum.
It's a wireless mouse that you wear on your finger and with it you can completely control your computer. - I have heard of this because I have one of these and I haven't done a video on it, because I don't know whether it's worth doing a full dedicated hardware episode about, or just mix it in with the other weird mice devices. - We live in a 3D space, and it's only natural— - [Clint] Pierluigi Zappacosta from Logitech? - We see the user interface, the paradigm used on the computer evolved towards more of a three-dimensional user interface. - [Clint] Okay, the guy's name is amazing, but this is Logitech. As far as I know, they had nothing to do with the Ring Mouse, but he is talking about using three dimensional mousing or like input devices, which they were messing with.
The Ring Mouse is not one of 'em. - [Pierluigi] A pointing device which is able to operate in 3D. - [Stewart] The Ring Mouse from Spectrum does operate in 3D. - No. You get X and Y, you have buttons and that's it.
It's a mouse, there is no Z depth perception and even if it did have that, what would it do? - [Stewart] The new TrackMan Live mouse from Logitech uses radio waves. - [Clint] This thing... - To provide you with wireless control of your computer from as far away as 30 feet, keyboards are changing too. Microsoft showed off its new ergonomic keyboard and MaxiSwitch unveiled a multimedia keyboard, with built-in sound card and stereo speakers. - Okay, there's a few things to unpack there. For one thing, I love that random little bit of B-roll, that guy, it's just like a half a second and then yeah the the Microsoft Natural keyboard, man, they were popular, I've never liked them.
The Maxi Sound on the other hand- - [Stewart] With built-in sound card and stereo speakers. - Yeah. - Maxi Sound Multimedia keyboard also comes with a built-in microphone and volume control. The integrated keyboard cable splits off into the appropriate PC ports. - That's my kind of thing. You get sound audio output and input, like it's just the whole thing in a keyboard, why do they do that? I love it.
- [Stewart] For kids, there was the Comfy Keyboard, large colorful keys that are easy to use for little fingers. The Comfy Keyboard comes bundled with interactive storytelling software. - What is that? It's not a keyboard. That's just an odd input device for specific programs... Sure.
- [Stewart] Touchscreen is back as an input— - [Clint] Oh wow. - Micro Touch showed off a very durable touchscreen that is virtually indestructible. [Clint laughs as mallet smacks CRT] - They're just pouring water over it and smacking it with a hammer. I mean, it's a good demo for a show.
- Away from the clamor of the convention floor, NCR and Scriptel were giving private demonstrations of their new Write Touch technology. Again, allowing input by finger or cordless pen. - NCR Write Touch. I guess that was an NCR tablet, but Scriptel being the company doing Write Touch I guess, they are still around doing touching. - [Stewart] Other input devices on display at COMDEX included foot pedals.
- Huh! - [Stewart] Barcode scanners and voice. - [Exhibitor] A demonstration of a very large... - You gotta talk like a robot to get it to work, but it'll work eventually. - [Stewart] ProTech, a company from Singapore, unveiled a talking fax board. Call it up on the telephone and it can read your faxes to you.
- [Computer] I am extremely interested in the product. Need the original fax if you are launching. - I wonder what voice synthesis that uses.
What a lovely little voice. [TTS chuckle] - [Stewart] And if you're worried about fax security, let your snoopy colleagues read this one. - Wow. - This is a scrambled fax using new technology from Alaru, an Israeli company. To read the fax, just scan it through an ordinary fax machine using Alaru's descrambling software and it becomes legible. CD-ROM hardware and software, were of course big at this COMDEX.
On the hardware side, quadruple speed CD drives were everywhere. [laughs] - You can load your creepy 3D mask faces four times as fast! - [Stewart] ...to demonstrate the speed and accuracy of their new 4x CD-ROM drive. - Yeeaah! - [Stewart] And Panasonic introduced the first reasonably priced rewriteable CD-ROM system. - What? - Which, too, is a 4X speed drive.
- That's a phase change disc. PD? Look at that, there's another thing! Man, there are so many— I'm just realizing there are so many things from like, not just this show in particular, but like 1994, and '95 that I either have and have covered on LGR, or plan to. This is another one. DVD-RAM was pretty much the same kind of thing, was also a phase change, but this in particular, the PD Phase Change Dual was rewriteable optical like CDs, but as an alternative to CD-RW it's fascinating, I need to cover it. - [Stewart] A German company called Noveka showed off a CD-ROM drive that comes with a built-in Sound Blaster card. - That's cool. Sudden lederhosen, you're never prepared.
- [Stewart] No need to tie up a slot and real full motion video is clearly coming to CD-ROMs. IPC showed off its new MPEG mastering system. - Yeah. - Gives you 30 frames per second video. - Look at that. - On a quad speed drive. - What a crazy setup.
IPC MPEG mastering system... Yeah, nothing exactly coming up for that, wonder what that was? - And if you want to print out your solution in color, on the road, how about this new Citizen PN60 portable printer? - Yeah. - Yes, it prints in color and yes, it weighs only one pound. - That is sweet. 360 DPI, considered laser quality. Thermal fusion color printer.
And that's what I was wondering, so $429. - [Stewart] Finally, if you're just spending too much time at your computer, this is what you need. The new touch massager, perhaps the most welcome technology at COMDEX '94. - [Clint] A-plus footage selection there, Computer Chronicles editor. - [Stewart] That's our report from Las Vegas for the Computer Chronicles, I'm Stewart Cheifet. - Yay! And I guess that's it. It just ended, well.
Yeah, that is it for this episode of Computer LGR Chronicles as well and I hope that you enjoyed and joined this look back at COMDEX fall of 1994, what a heck of a show. I'd forgotten a lot of that stuff was in there and it also just goes to show how much this show has inspired LGR things over the years and constantly is giving me ideas of other stuff to cover. So yeah, I hope that you enjoyed going through it with me and if you did enjoy this episode, then do stick around. There are always others in the works of all different types, hardware, software, various retrospectives, whatever the heck or look through some older stuff. I've done some other Computer Chronicles episodes and yeah, just way too many things over the past 16 years or whatever and as always, thanks for watching.
2025-04-24 01:27
