· James Bayliss · Facts · 3 min read
Inject humor version. Back When Computers Were Fridges and Viruses Were Cute
Humor attempt. The first 1GB hard drive, introduced by IBM in 1980, weighed over 500 pounds and cost $40,000!
🧠 Facts Nobody Asked For (But You’re Reading Anyway)
Because nothing says progress like a 500-pound hard drive or an internet almost named after aliens.
- 💾 The First 1GB Hard Drive Was Basically a Fridge
Year: 1980
IBM’s 3380 hard drive weighed over 500 pounds (227 kg), cost up to $142,000, and stored a whole 1.26GB — enough for about three modern TikTok videos.
It was so large you’d need a forklift to rage-quit it.
- 🦠 The First Computer Virus Just Wanted Attention
Year: 1971
The “Creeper” virus wasn’t malicious — it just popped up on terminals saying:
“I’m the creeper, catch me if you can!”
Written by Bob Thomas at BBN, it was meant as an experiment in self-replicating software. The first antivirus, Reaper, was built right after to delete it. And thus began humanity’s eternal “Update Now?” loop.
- 🎾 The First Video Game Was an Oscilloscope Tennis Match
Year: 1958
Physicist William Higinbotham created “Tennis for Two” to make a nuclear research open day less boring.
It ran on an oscilloscope — because apparently, splitting atoms wasn’t entertaining enough.
- 🐭 The First Computer Mouse Was Made of Wood
Year: 1964
Douglas Engelbart’s prototype was literally a block of wood with two metal wheels — one for each axis.
The patent was filed as an “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System”, which sounds less cute than “mouse.”
Fun fact: The first demo in 1968 is now called “The Mother of All Demos.”
- 🌌 The Internet Was Almost Called the “Intergalactic Network”
Year: 1963
J.C.R. Licklider jokingly referred to his vision for a global network of connected computers as the Intergalactic Computer Network — because “Worldwide Web” just didn’t sound extra enough.
He imagined humans sharing ideas and data across the planet… and maybe the galaxy. The sci-fi name didn’t stick, but the dream did.
- ❤️ YouTube Started as a Dating Site
Year: 2005
The original pitch for YouTube was “Tune In, Hook Up”, where people would upload video introductions to find love.
When no one uploaded, the founders pivoted to random video sharing.
And now, the only thing we fall in love with on YouTube are cats and conspiracy theories.
- 🐘 The First YouTube Video Was “Me at the Zoo”
Year: 2005
Uploaded by co-founder Jawed Karim, the 19-second clip features him standing in front of elephants. That’s it.
It’s awkward, low-res, and started a revolution that made the internet 90% reaction videos.
To share your favorite tech facts, feel free to express yourself in the comment section. 🌐
🧩 Source
- IBM Archives: The IBM 3380 Disk Drive
- Computer History Museum: Storage Milestones
- Creeper and Reaper
- Brookhaven National Lab – Tennis for Two
- Computer History Museum – The First Mouse
- SRI International – “The computer mouse and interactive computing”
- Computer History Museum – SRI Mouse MN052024
- Computing History – The History of the Computer Mouse
- DARPA – Modern Internet Timeline
- Wired – Apple-Microsoft Deal
- Business Insider – YouTube’s Origin Story
- YouTube – Me at the Zoo