Logitech’s Worst Nightmare

As an Italian inventor tries to pull his life back together, he finds myself mixed up in a commercial and technological war that would change laptops forever.

#touchpad #synaptics

Corrections:

8:35 We intentionally used the incorrect term "flashed" here and beyond to refer about writing ROM or OTP memory. Did was done in the interest of clarity to a younger audience but *technically* this term is only for flash memory.

Credits

Research and Writing: LowSpecAlex
Voice over: LowSpecAlex
Editing: Henrique von Buren, LowSpecAlex
3D animation: Windy, Divye
Art: Maiku no Koe
Spanish Translation, Audio editing and QA: Henrique von Buren
Camera work: LowSpecAlex, F4mi
Thumbnail design: Maiku no Koe

Social media:

Sources:
Federico Faggin (2021). Silicon

Stock Footage from Getty

[Nafeels]

NO FRIGGIN WAY you actually interviewed Mr. Faggin himself!! Beautiful doc, Alex!

[robdotgif]

YO this is a step UP! Going out and actually interviewing someone this important just because your source ommited the details you wanted? OUTSTANDING! This is absolutely craz! Your channel just leveled the hell up

[zeveeeenn]

I'd love to watch a full cinema-worthy work about a touchpad war

[izzieb]

Logitech cheaping out and ruining a product? Some things sure don't change!

[dsdy]

Whenever I've previously seen the Synaptics logo, it's usually with annoyance because something is wrong with my touchpad sensitivity. I'm going to look at it a little different now.

[OfficialDJSoru]

Synaptics being able to deliver the touchpads in one week for such a large request reminds me of how IBM kept making machines avoided firing staff during the 1920's depression, and when the US government needed tabulation machines to work the social security entries of the entire population, IBM just showed up with a surplus stock of machines ready to send out, guaranteeing the extremely profitable contract.

Yes, IBM is that old, and yes, I had to do a work on their timeline of business practices. The number of things IBM's engineers were behind the creation of makes me think Alex here will eventually talk about the company in future videos.

[Faruq-xngj]

You a lucky man Alex, meeting the father who make the foundation of modern technology.

[computer_toucher]

You actually got an interview with signore Faggin! As a nerd who's followed IT history since the mid-90s, your videos are top notch -- much because you always manage to dig up tidbits that complement the stories that I thought were done told already. Awesome work.

[jimtekkit]

**Flies all the way to Italy for confirmation** "Oh well they asked me" Classic!
Of course it goes without saying, Mr F.F. himself is a legend and I'm glad that the Exxon takeover wasn't the end of his very influential career.

[denyereduardopuentes]

Alex, i am so happy for you today!... It's amazing to see the quality improve on your products and also bring the involved people itself to the video it's like seeing a titan growing!
Thanks man. This is quality content here.
Greettings from Colombia!

[GianmarioScotti]

The interview with Faggin was the golden point of this video - and it was super-unexpected! I am so happy to see that the man is still going strong.

[ElNeroDiablo]

Dang, not only did he help kick off Intel's dominance with the x86 microprocessor spec we use for most desktops and laptops today, he also gave us Zilog and the Z80 that is still powering low-power portable devices today and for over 30 years such as the Gameboy & Gameboy Color, and worked with two of the biggest mouse/touchpad/trackpad creators in the market... AND you got to interview Signore Faggin!
And on top of that he's one that helped bring touchscreens to dominance for portable device interfaces, such you can hardly find a handheld device in the past 10-15 years that *doesn't* have some form of touchscreen input!

[mariolis]

What a tragedy ... the inventor of touchpads, touchscreens and the first microporocessor to market ... and barely anyone knows his name

[boredandagitated]

Interviewing people like this is so important! This is primary source creation that history and research runs on! Thank you for doing it

[nrdesign]

Pretty much every laptop i ever owned that had a touchpad had a Synaptics pad in it

[Realunmaker]

I know I’m a softball and it’s so random but I actually felt emotional seeing you interviewing Mr Faggin. I’ve been following your content for some years now and to see how you keep growing and improving your channel is really inspiring and moving

[carllinden]

Was half expecting them to be responsible for Logitech's bug, like some sort of sabotage. Feels good knowing that quality wins in the short term sometimes, and in the end it always does.

[DylanChau]

A very interesting piece of history that you've unearthed! I really enjoy learning technology history in this kind of fashion. Keep up the great work!

[philtkaswahl]

LowSpecGamer's vids are getting better and better. The actual interview was an unexpected but pleasant surprise.

Also, turning the Logitech logo into a mask was inspired.

[Luke-qscg]

This was probably the coolest series of videos I've ever seen. Linus be fucking damned. Dude. This is QUALITY content.