Category: Tech

Faux fact: Designations for virus variants were inspired by model numbers for audio gear from the heyday of hi-fi.

As I mentioned in March, my excellent Onkyo TX-NR676 receiver has Chromecast Built-in. I was about to write more about what I’ve learned from using Google Chromecast for audio, when news of Onkyo’s demise appeared.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marksparrow/2022/05/14/classic-japanese-audio-brand-onkyo-finally-files-for-bankruptcy/

The iPod has been discontinued, Bose is laying off, and now Onkyo is no more. Onkyo’s trouble can be blamed on their staying stuck in the classic receiver-centric model of home hi-fi. They did a great job of succeeding in the A/V receiver market, but most people now favor sound bars over true surround-sound systems. My thanks to the Onkyo software developer(s) who pushed out a final firmware update a few months ago, before the axe fell.

Follow-up: The Onkyo and Pioneer audio brands were sold last September to VOXX/Sharp, with Sharp itself being a brand that has gone under in the past. It remains to be seen how well this new business arrangement will work out in the long run.

https://www.klipsch.com/news/pac-response-to-onkyo-bankruptcy-filing

Before Myst there was the interactive text game Adventure. Introduced in 1976, I first played Adventure on an Infoton dumb terminal in 1981. I can’t find a picture of the Infoton, so here’s a Lear-Siegler ADM-3A, also introduced in 1976.

I became an expert on dumb terminals (Dumb Terminals for Dummies?) and asynchronous data communication at the suggestion of the co-founder of my employer. My thorough understanding of 7-bit ASCII, RS-232 interfacing, start bit/data bits/parity bit/stop bits, and Xon/Xoff flow control served me well for about ten years, until it was rendered irrelevant by the PC revolution. I never got all the way through Adventure, but it’s available to play online for free.

https://quuxplusone.github.io/Advent/

There have been layoffs at privately-held Bose Corporation. They stopped producing home stereo loudspeakers a while ago, with the model 301 being the last one. I won’t be surprised if the unique Wave Music System is discontinued.

Something I didn’t know until reading this article is that MIT has majority ownership of the company, but it has no say in management.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/layoffs-hit-bose-as-the-company-focuses-on-its-most-popular-products/ar-AAWTjzY