HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

TECHNICAL TERMS
OMPUCETR GUI
NDGEUGIBG NCOIS
KDOSTEP IMUTLEMIAD
Computer
is an electronic device that accepts,
processes, stores, and outputs data at high
speeds according to programmed
instructions.
Debugging
is the process of finding and correcting
error or defects in software code.
Desktop
is the entire screen on Windows XP which
functions like a neat desk or working table
where one may work on the different
programs such as calculators, paint,
WordPad and more.
GUI
(Graphical User Interface) is the user
graphical representations of files, folder
commands and programs.
Icons
are small pictures found on the desktop;
symbols representing programs,
applications or files.
Multimedia
is a program that allows you to present
data in more than one medium such as
combining text, graphics, animation, audio
and video.
HISTORY OF COMPUTERS
What is a computer?
A computer is an electronic device,
operating under the control of instructions
stored in its own memory.
 HISTORY
OF
COMPUTERS
1950s

The first transistors were patented in 1948.

Transistors did the same function as vacuum tubes but
were smaller and more efficient. Transistors enabled
computers to be smaller, used less electricity, and
generated less heat; however, computers continued to
use vacuum tubes until the late 1950s.
1950s

In 1952, IBM’s Selective Sequence Electronic

Calculator was 25 by 40 feet in size and still used
vacuum tubes. This computer produced the moon
position tables which was later used in 1969 by the
Apollo flight to the moon.
1600s

As early as the 1640's mechanical calculators are

manufactured for sale. Records consist of earlier
machines, but Blaise Pascal invented the first
commercial calculator, a hand powered adding
machine.
1600s

Although attempts to multiply mechanically were

made by Gottfried Liebnitz in the 1670s the first true
multiplying calculator appeared in Germany shortly
before the American Revolution.
1600s

The integrated circuit or silicon chip was invented

in 1958 and 1959 by two independent researchers. A
single chip could contain the electronic circuitry of an
entire computer, which created another revolution in
computer design.
1600s

In addition, research at the National Aeronautics

and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States
led to the creation of even smaller computers.
1970s

In 1975, the Xerox Alto was the first prototype

computer to use a graphical user interface (GUI), by
which symbols for computer functions are provided
instead of the user having to type complete commands
and also the first computer to use a mouse as an input
device
1970s

Even though this system was never released to

the public, it greatly influenced the development of
Microsoft® Windows® and Apple Macintosh operating
systems.
1970s

The MITS Altair, the first computer to be called a

personal computer, also debuted in 1975. This was sold
mainly as a kit computer: a user had to assemble it
before it could be used.
1970s

The computer used the Intel 8080

microprocessor chip, and even though it came with
limited input and output devices (there was no
keyboard or monitor), the computer was an immediate
success among hobbyists and computer enthusiasts.
1970s

In later years, Tandy Corporation (the parent

company of Radio Shack) introduced its first personal
computer in 1977. It was a success because it included
a keyboard and a display (a CRT screen).
1980s

In 1801 a Frenchman, Joseph-Marie Jacquard

built a loom that wove by reading punched holes stored
on small sheets of hardwood. These plates are then
inserted into the loom which reads (retrieves) the
pattern and creates(process) the weave.
1980s

Powered by water, this "machine" came 140

years before the development of the modern computer.
1980s

In 1820 Charles Babbage began his lifelong quest

for a programmable machine. Although Babbage was a
poor communicator and record-keeper, his difference
engine is sufficiently developed by 1842 that Ada
Lovelace used it to mechanically translate a short
written work.
1980s

She is generally
regarded as the first
programmer.

Lovelace
1980s

Twelve years later George Boole, while professor

of Mathematics at Cork University, wrote An
Investigation of the Laws of Thought(1854), He is
generally recognized as the father of computer science.
1980s

The census is tabulated on punch cards similar to

the ones used 90 years earlier to create weaves.
Developed by Herman Hollerith of MIT, the system uses
electric power(non-mechanical). The Hollerith
Tabulating Company is a forerunner of today's IBM.
1980s

Prior to the introduction of Hollerith's machine

the first printing calculator was introduced. In 1892
William Burroughs, a sickly ex-teller, introduced a
commercially successful printing calculator. Although
hand-powered, Burroughs quickly introduced an
electronic model.
1990s

In 1935, Konrad Zuse, a German construction

engineer, built a mechanical calculator to handle the
math involved in his profession. Shortly after
completion, Zuse starts on a programmable electronic
device which he completes in 1938.
1990s

John Vincent Atanasoff began working on a

digital computer in 1936. A graduate student, Clifford
(John) Berry assists. The "ABC" was designed to solve
linear equations common in physics.
1990s

It displayed some
early features of later
computers including
electronic calculations.

John Vincent Atanasoff

1990s

The Enigma, a complex mechanical encoder was

used by the Germans and they believed it to be
unbreakable. That same year George Steblitz created
his Model K(itchen), a conglomeration of otherwise
useless and leftover material, to solve complex
calculations
1990s

Steblitz used a teletype

machine at Dartmouth College in
New Hampshire to transmit a
problem to his Complex Number
Calculator in New York and received
the results which became the first
example of a network.
1990s

In 1943, the development began on the

Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC)
in earnest at Penn State. It was designed by John
Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of the Moore School,
John von Neumann and others in 1944.
1990s

It used a paper tape to store instructions which

was used a variety of relays and mechanical switches to
perform various calculations. They had no memory
function, so they had to be reset by hand for each
different program.
1990s

UNIVAC, delivered in 1951 to the Census Bureau,

resulted in a tremendous financial loss to its
manufacturer, Remington-Rand.
1990s

The next year Grace Hopper, now an employee of

that company proposed "reuseable software" - code
segments that could be extracted and assembled
according to instructions in a "higher level language."
The concept of compiling was born.
1990s

IBM introduced the 701 the following year which

was the first commercially successful computer. In 1956
FORTRAN was introduced where two additional
languages, LISP and COBOL are added.
1990s

In 1969 Bell Labs, unhappy with the direction of

the MIT project left and developed its own operating
system, UNIX. One of the many precursors to today's
Internet, ARPANet, was quietly launched. Alan Keys,
who will later become a designer for Apple, proposed
the "personal computer."
1990s

In 1975 the first personal computer was

marketed in kit form. The Altair features 256 bytes of
memory. Bill Gates, with others, wrote a BASIC
compiler for the machine.
1990s

The next year Apple began to market PC's, also in

kit form which included a monitor and keyboard. In
1976, Queen Elizabeth II goes on-line with the first
royal email message.
1990s

Lastly, IBM released its first PC which used

software called DOS (disk operating system) to control
the computer in 1981.
1990s

During the next few years the personal computer

exploded on the American scene. Microsoft, Apple and
many smaller PC related companies formed by 1977
began selling PC's. Nowadays, companies strive to
reduce the size and price of PC's while increasing their
capacity.
2000s
It is now the early years of the new millennium,
and computers and Internet access are available to
billions of people all over the world. Web services such
as instant messaging allowed people all over the world
to be able to have real-time conversations with one
another.
2000s
Other web applications enabled people to
conduct nearly all of their daily business and personal
tasks from their desktop. You can even shop or
purchase just about anything you want, you can read a
newspaper or listen to live radio broadcasts from scores
of different countries.
2000s
You can manage all of your personal or business
finances, or even plan and book your next vacation—all
from your computer. New technologies such as the
personal digital assistant (PDA) and the tablet computer
make it easy to take your computer with you and still
have access to the Internet wherever you go.
2000s
Satellite and cellular telephone technology have
improved so much that people in remote areas can still
place calls to friends, family, and colleagues anywhere
in the world.
2000s
With more people on the Internet, more
information is at risk, and security has become an issue
of even greater importance Computer viruses can
spread worldwide in just hours, costing businesses and
governments a great deal of time and money in lost
files and recovery efforts.
2000s
Thus software and hardware companies are
coming up with new security software and patches on a
regular basis.
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HISTORY OF COMPUTERS
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