This week, Steve Ballmer says goodbye, and investors want Bill Gates out next, Valve makes a new gamepad, Apple‘s the number one brand worldwide, the NSA follows you on Facebook (whether you want it to or not), the internet’s black market is raided, and four rules to make Star Wars great again.

The Drill Down is off this week, but until we return next week with our regularly scheduled show, please enjoy this glimpse back to a kinder, gentler place, where the iPhone was new, Facebook was privately held, and US Government surveillance of private citizens was still a rare occurrence. A land we called… 2007.

Here is The Drill Down podcast’s very first episode, released July 28th, 2007, featuring the podcast’s original panelists, Andrew Sorcini, and Social Media experts Muhammad Saleem & Reg ‘Zaibatsu’ Saddler.

On this week’s show, Apple announces the (presumably) iPhone 5 launch event, Google & Apple CEOs negotiate behind closed doors, HBO tests streaming-only service overseas, Amazon prepares to refresh the Kindle line, AntiSec leaks Apple iPhone device IDs allegedly obtained from stolen FBI hard drives. Nokia announces the Lumia 920, and Motorola announces the RAZR HD.