Version History
Episodes
Clubhouse: Pivot to audio
15 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If you were launching a new app in 2020, it was either the worst timing (see: Quibi) or the best timing (see: Clubhouse). Clubhouse was an initially i...
Furby: Talk Furbish to me
08 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 1997, David Hampton and Caleb Chung took one look at a Tamagotchi and decided they could bring the virtual pet craze into the real world. Their rob...
Version History season 3 is coming soon
18 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We're working on season 3 of Version History, and we want to hear from you! Our planned episodes are: 1984 Macintosh Amazon Echo Furby Th...
TiVo: Press pause
11 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Best remote ever? Best remote ever. When TiVo first debuted, it felt like magic: You could pause live TV! You could rewind it! The concept immediately...
Flappy Bird: Game over
04 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Flappy Bird was a mean game. It was extremely simple and yet punishingly difficult; if you could get 10 points, that meant you were pretty good! For a...
Nintendo Power Glove: I love it. It's so bad.
28 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the mid-1980s, Nintendo pretty much ruled the video game industry. And somehow, a few toymakers and inventors convinced Nintendo that the controlle...
AIM: Away message
21 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
AOL Instant Messenger was, for years, one of the very best things on the internet. Before iMessage and WhatsApp, before Twitter and Facebook, AIM was ...
iPhone 4: You're holding it wrong
14 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The iPhone 4 was one of the best iPhones ever — and definitely the most dramatic iPhone ever. It was lost in a bar in California, sold to Gizmodo, a...
Google Glass: In your face
07 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Google didn't invent the concept of smart glasses, but it was one of the first companies to actually put them on people's faces. It was a revolution, ...
Vine: Six seconds of fame
23 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Vine was the original short-form video platform, and pioneered so many of the ideas we now take for granted in reels and TikToks. It was a cultural en...
LimeWire: Steal this podcast
16 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You wouldn't steal a car. You wouldn't steal a handbag. But plenty of people used LimeWire and other file sharing services to share music, movies and ...
Fire Phone: Amazon’s mobile mistake
09 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2014, the tech world was abuzz with the prospect of a phone made by Amazon. When the Fire Phone arrived, it was chock full of ideas — a "dynamic ...
Zune: The would-be iPod killer
02 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2006, Microsoft came for the iPod's throne with an innovative MP3 player called the Zune. It had a bunch of features the iPod didn't: WiFi, music s...
Guitar Hero: Everybody’s a rock star
26 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Millions of basements have fake plastic guitars in them thanks to the 2005 smash hit Guitar Hero. Chris Grant and Ash Parrish join David Pierce to roc...
Sony Watchman: Must-see TV
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
1982's coolest gadget was the Sony Watchman portable TV. Decades before everyone was glued to YouTube on their smartphones, the Watchman popularized t...
Announcing an ad-free Version History feed for Verge subscribers
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you're a paid subscriber to The Verge, there's great news: You can now listen to Decoder, Version History, and The Vergecast completely ad-free. J...
BlackBerry Messenger: Texting set free
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Back when text messages cost 10 cents each, BlackBerry came up with a better way: BlackBerry Messenger, commonly known as BBM. It was the first new id...
Hoverboards: So hot right now
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2015, self-balancing scooters (which quickly became known as hoverboards) exploded in popularity, and then began literally exploding. Andrew Hawkin...
Introducing Version History
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Your favorite people from The Verge and beyond are here to explain and debate the legacy of tech's biggest, weirdest and worst ideas. We'll talk about...