Reddit brings to our attention an old video that some of you may not have seen — Steve Jobs introducing Wi-Fi for the first time to the masses, becoming the first mainstream computer with wireless networking.
Jobs introduced the iBook G3 during a Keynote conference in 1999 and it became first consumer device to carry a Wi-Fi card. Wi-Fi was being introduced to the masses for the first time, and Jobs even demonstrated the wireless capabilities by using a Hula Hoop!
During this historic moment, Jobs claimed ‘everyone’ would jump on the 802.11 bandwagon in the next few months/years. “We’re just going to be there first, and the best,” Jobs said.
The video shows Jobs waking an iBook from sleep and browsing the web. The crowd was not aware that Jobs was wirelessly surfing the web until he picks up the iBook and walks around the stage while still opening webpages. He then swings a hula hoop around the iBook to show off wireless networking.
Lucent Technologies collaborated with Apple to create the wireless capability in the iBook G3 as well as the Airport Wireless Base Station that was released at the same time.
http://youtu.be/HFngngjy4fk
The iBook packed 11Mbps 802.11, a PowerPC Processor, 32/64MB of RAM and a $1599 price point.
via reddit
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