Archive - Pessimists Archive Newsletter

The Forgotten War on the Walkman

The Sony Walkman is now iconic of the 1980s, eliciting nostalgia for the ‘good old days’ of owning music, rather than renting it.

Jul 1 •

June 2025

The War on Artificial Ice

Before artificial meat was attacked as ‘unnatural’ by incumbents, artificial ice was also.

Jun 13 •

May 2025

Audio Version: Thinking Different is Never Popular (at First)

A podcast version of our most recent post using NotebookLM - we’ve vetted for mistakes/misquotes and errors.

May 26

Thinking Different is Never Popular (at First)

“Think Different” is Apple’s iconic motto, capturing the essence of what made it one of the world’s most beloved brands—often overlooked is how much…

May 6 •

April 2025

Thomas Jefferson Hated Kids Reading Novels

Over two hundred years ago - in 1818 - Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter in which he communicated his distaste for ‘kids these days’ reading too many…

Apr 13 •

The Saxophone Theory of Everything

The ‘Smartphone theory of everything’ - the notion smartphones can be wholly or partly blamed for many negative ailments of modern society is…

Apr 2 •

The War on Internet Phone Calls

When long distance telephone companies tried to thwart online telephony

Apr 1 •

The War on Internet Phone Calls (Audio)

An audio podcast version of our latest newsletter for paid subscribers about the war on internet telephone calls.

Apr 1 •

Pessimists Archive

February 2025

The UK Invented Modern Encryption, then Kept it Secret

Apple and the UK government are now in a pitched battle over encryption, which reminded us of a forgotten detail of encryption history…

Feb 22 •

When Hollywood Union Members Embraced Artificial Music

In 1929, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) railed against the growing trend of recorded music in movie theaters instead of live musicians - a…

Feb 5 •

January 2025

Why Steve Wozniak Dismissed PCs and Steve Jobs Didn't

In March 1976 Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak presented the design of a circuit board for an early home PC at the now legendary ‘Homebrew Computer Club…

Published on Pessimists Archive Newsletter • Jan 24

December 2024

New Year Resolutions of Old: Once Vices Now Virtues

In centuries past, things considered virtuous today; reading, cycling, listening to radio or playing chess were deemed by some as unhealthy vices or a…

Dec 31, 2024 •

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