Image by http://www.extremetech.com/
If you haven’t already, check out ExtremeTech’s video on “IBM 3390: The world’s largest and most expensive hard drive teardown.” When this drive was new, I was just graduating high school….go Knights. What else can we chalk up to 1989 courtesy of The People History:
- Average Cost of new house $120,000.00
- Average Income per year $27,450.00
- Average Monthly Rent $420.00
- Average Price for new car $15,3500.00
- 1 gallon of gas 97 cents
- US Postage Stamp 25 cents
- The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS) is placed into orbit
- Nintendo begin selling the Game Boy in Japan
- The 486 series of microprocessor introduced by Intel
- First release of Microsoft Office
What do you remember most about 1989?
More Just for Fun
Not really tech related but I suppose what I most remember about 1989 (I was in 4th grade), was my father agreed to a new position that placed him in Beijing China (he was at HP at the time so sort of tech related), so I moved there with him and my older brother, from Boulder Creek, CA. From a small town with ~5k people to a big city of millions that spoke another language, it was quite a culture shock. I suppose that is something I’m not likely to forget.
I dug up where I lived in China on Google maps a few months ago – the buildings are still there, though there have been some changes since I was there.
Personally, the event with the biggest impact on me was Hurricane Hugo – I lived in the Charleston SC area.
Professionally – as an electronic calibration technician – the big impact was the end-of year scramble to get ready for the changes to the International System of Units (the SI) that took effect on January 1, 1990. This event, known as SI-90, required recalibration of large numbers of electrical and electronic inspection, test and measuring equipment due to changes of the definitions of the Volt and Ampere, and redefinition of the Thermodynamic scale.
Other science/technology events I remember from 1989 include: the “cold fusion” mess; Voyager 2 passed the orbit of Neptune; the introduction of the Nintendo Game Boy (and some competitors); and the death of William Shockley.
In non-technical areas, in no particular order, I remember: the Exxon Valdez, Soviet troops leaving Afghanistan, Tianamen Square, the savings & loan bailout, and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall – with the associated collapse of much of the Soviet empire.