Lee Felsenstein Timeline

By laurennbev

  • Birth

    Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Attended UC Berkeley

  • Joined the Co-operative Work-Study Program

    in Engineering

  • Participated in the Free Speech Movement

    He was one of the 768 arrested during the Sproul Hall Sit-In at UC Berkeley

  • Dropped out of UC Berkeley

  • Period: to

    Junior Engineer at the Ampex Corporation

    Worked as a Junior Engineer at the Ampex Corporation

  • Re-Enrolled into UC Berkeley & Graduated

    He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

  • Developed the Community Memory Project

    with the help of Mark Szpakowski, Efrem Lipkin, and others.

  • Homebrew Computer Club

    This was an early computer hobbyist group that took place in Silicon Valley. This lasted from March 5, 1975 to December 1986. Due to the open exchange of creative ideas that were shared during meetings, it became of aid to the launch of personal computers. It has been called the "crucible for an entire industry."

  • Design of the Pennywhistle Modem

    Due to prices of the modems used on the Community Memory project being so expensive, Felsenstein had designed a much less expensive version, which then lead to the design of the Pennywhistle modem. It was then featured on the cover of Popular Electronics and became a favorite of people who were early personal computers hobbyists.

  • Developed the SOL-20

    This computer was one of the first microcomputers to be sold with a case and a keyboard. Between 1977 and 1979, more than 10,000 units for the SOL-20 were sold.

  • Osborne Computer Corporation

    Felsenstein and Adam Osborne founded Osborne Computer Corporation, and designed the company's first product, which was a portable computer.

  • Named a "Pioneer of the Electronic Frontier"

    This name was given to Felsenstein by the Electronic Frontier Foundation

  • Founding of the Free Speech Movement Archives

    Felsenstein founded the Free Speech Movement Archives as an online place that holds historical information relating to that specific event, its precursor and successors.

  • Jhai Foundation of San Francisco

    During his employment with the Jhai Foundation of San Francisco, he had designed an open-source telecommunications and a computer system that could be installed in the developing world within remote villages.

  • Editor's Choice Award for Creative Excellence

    EE Times magazine awarded him the Editor's Choice Award for Creative Excellence.

  • Featured on a Fox News Segment

    Felsenstein was featured on a Fox News segment discussing the non-profit facility, due to him being the Founding teacher of the HackerDojo in Mountain View, California.

  • Made a Fellow of the Computer History Museum

    He was made a Fellow in the Computer History Museum, because of his significant impact of the early personal computer era on the environment technically and socially.