Gerardo Con Diaz, Lemelson Center Fellow and PhD. candidate at Yale University, delivers this month's colloquium talk, "Intellectual Property and Hobby Software in the 1970s." Taken from a chapter in his dissertation book, "Intangible Inventions, A History of Software Patenting in the United States," the talk examines how computer hobbyists in the 1970s initiated software licensing for personal computers. During his fellowship, Con examined the Ralph H. Baer papers, the Computer Oral History Collection, and the ICE Integrated Circuit Engineering collection. Con also examined the museum’s microchip collection and technical documentation from several firms including AT&T Bell Labs, IBM, Control data Corporation, Burroughs, and Honeywell.
A production of the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center. Video and production by Chris J Gauthier. Originally recorded on September 8, 2015
