Last week I was interviewed by a reporter at the New York Times, Nick Wingfield, for an article on the decline of the PC Industry. In the past, I was pretty good at coming up with sound bites and was often quoted by newspapers like the New York Times and magazines like Forbes. I must … Continue reading
Category Archives: Avram’s Past
American Express: The first Social Network?
I am in Copenhagen now and remembering my first visit to this city. I like to think about that time. After all, it was 1966 and I was just 21 years old. had moved to study music in Paris in the fall of 1965, and to try to get over my broken heart. Neither of … Continue reading
The Mouse that Roared: Doug Engelbart
A lot of people are writing about Doug Engelbart one of the true pioneers of computer technology. Many of them are recounting their interactions and friendships. I only met him once. It was about 1967 or 1968 and I was around 22 years old and working with Joe Kamiya at the Langley Porter Institute (UC Medical Center) doing the first work in brain wave bio feedback. Continue reading
Alta Vista RIP
Evidently, Yahoo will close down Alta Vista on July 8th, the Internet search company it acquired in 2003. This is the second time Yahoo has killed Alta Vista. Let me explain.
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The Resurrection of Wintel Part 1.
I never imagined I would be writing this post. I was planing on writing what I thought would be my last post about Intel. It was to deal with the departure of Paul Otellini the former CEO and a recent article about him published by the Atlantic. I will do an abbreviated comment on that and then begin to get into the meat of the Wintel Resurrection.
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Midas List: The class of 2013
Forbes just published their Midas List of the Top 100 Venture Capital Investors. I was listed in the top ten (number eight) ten years ago. That was the last time I appeared on the list. It was interesting to me to see the top ten of 2013 and to realize that not one person … Continue reading
I almost died 50 years ago
I was 18 years old and only weighed about 107 pounds. I had just graduated from the Merchant Seamen School for Stewards and Cooks in Santa Rosa CA where I had spent the previous three months. I was hoping to sail on the President Monroe which was one of the few luxury liners that sailed … Continue reading
Rejected by Wikipedia
If you are a regular reader of this blog you will realized that at the age of 68, I am beginning to be concerned about legacy issues. It was been concerning to me that I have no Wikipedia entry about me because Wikipedia will have a long self live (certainly longer than I will have). So I asked a friend who is also a write to submit an entry for me on Wikipedia. We worked on a draft which he actually toned down. My first draft was actually in my opinion the most interesting because it was written more like a story then an encyclopedia. I wanted the entry to focus on what I think are my three major achievements, playing a principle role in laying the foundation for today’s consumer internet, founding Intel Capital which became the most successful Corp. Venture group and one of the must successful venture activities in the world and having accomplished this an more without ever having gone to University.
If you are a regular reader of this blog you will realized that at the age of 68, I am beginning to be concerned about legacy issues. It was been concerning to me that I have no Wikipedia entry about me because Wikipedia will have a long self live (certainly longer than I will have). So I asked a friend who is also a write to submit an entry for me on Wikipedia. We worked on a draft which he actually toned down. My first draft was actually in my opinion the most interesting because it was written more like a story then an encyclopedia. I wanted the entry to focus on what I think are my three major achievements, playing a principle role in laying the foundation for today’s consumer internet, founding Intel Capital which became the most successful Corp. Venture group and one of the must successful venture activities in the world and having accomplished this an more without ever having gone to University.
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Avram's Past / broadband / Government / Intel / Old Media / Technology
Avram’s Congressional Testimony on HDTV 1998
The House Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection convened a 2 1/2 hour meeting to discuss HDTV standards and deployment issues on April 24, 1998. I was invited to give testimony. The panel was made up of a large group of executives representing the consumer electronics, the television broadcast and the cable industries. In addition there were two representatives from the computer industry, Bob Stearns from Compaq and me, from Intel. The chair was Billy Tamzin, a republican who later went on to make a fortune as a lobbyist. The ranking member from the democrats was Ed Markey (now running for the Senate in MA). Stearns and I had a couple of objectives. While most of the panel saw a TV, we saw a Monitor. We understood that with that if we could achieve high resolution and progressive scan, the HDTV set of the future could serve as a monitor for computers. Just like the CD and DVD, the consumer industry do the R&D and and manufacturing of important and innovative products which the computer industry would “highjack” for its own use. Everyone one on the panel had their own agenda and often it was a secret agenda. Continue reading
The birth of Intel Capital
Intel Capital was named the number one venture capital “firm” for 2012 by PrivCo.
I feel proud of this accomplishment because I consider myself a co-founder of Intel Capital along with Les Vadasz. But then again, it is a bit difficult to accept that Intel Capital could be so successful without me 🙂
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Two Thirds Done 