Introduction History of Computers

The first electronic digital computer was called "ENIAC" built in 1945 in Philadelphia. It used so much electricity that lights in the nearby town dimmed every time it was used! What a long way we have come in a half-century, with personal computers in homes, offices, and schoolrooms across the world.

Many different computer companies appeared and began developing their own microprocessors and microcomputers. Companies such as Apple, Compaq, and Commodore started during this period o: confusion. At the conclusion of the timeline is the first: home personal computer or PC, by IBM in 1981. Computers began to steadily and rapidly increase in speed and power becoming more compact and more user friendly from the early 1980's on. The progress, however came in many small steps, rather than fewer major like earlier years. From the start of the decade to today, PCs in the home have become immensely popular. Computers have increased their role from professional and business machines to entertainment and educational tools. Telecommunications advancements such as the Internet have shown themselves to be useful both in education and business.

Hard disks or Computer hardware were invented in the 1950s. They started as large disks up to 20 inches in diameter holding just a few megabytes. They were originally called "fixed disks" or "Winchesters" (a code name used for popular IBM product). They later became known as "hard disks" to distinguis them from "floppy disks."

A typical desktop machine will have a hard disk with a capacity of between 10 and 40 gigabytes. Data is stored onto the disk in the form of files. A file is simply a named collection of bytes. The bytes might be the ASCII codes for the characters of a text file, or they could be the instructions of a software application for the computer to execute, or they could be the records of a data base, or they could be the pixel colors for a GIF image. No matter what it contains, however, a file is simply a string of bytes. When a program running on the computer requests a file, the hard disk retrieves its bytes and sends them to the CPU one at a time.

We have come a long way in computer technology since. The computer was viewed as a machine that was useful to big business and big government but not to the general public until the late 1970s. As technology advanced, this was changed by a distinctive group of engineers and entrepreneurs This was a very competitive time, and the only people who succeeded were the ones who were able to combine extraordinary engineering expertise with progressive business skills and an ability to foresee the needs of the future. Much of this activity was centered in the Silicon Valley in northern California where the first computer-related company had located in 1955. That company attracted thousands of related businesses, and the area became known as the technological capital of the world. Between 1981 and 1986, more than 1000 new technology-oriented businesses started there. At the busiest times, five or more, new companies started in a single week. The Silicon Valley attracted many risk-takers and gave them an opportunity to thrive in an atmosphere where creativity was expected and rewarded.

Robert Noyce was a risk-taker who was successful both as an engineer and as an entrepreneur. The son of an Iowa minister, he was informal, genuine, and methodical. Even when he was running one of the most successful businesses in the Silicon Valley, he dressed informally and his office was an open cubicle that looked like everyone else's. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he started working for one of the first computer-related businesses in 1955. While working with these pioneers of computer engineering, he learned many things about computers and business management. As an engineer, he co-invented the integrated circuit, which was the basis for later computer design. This integrated circuit was less than an eighth of an inch square but had the same power as a transistor unit that was over 15 inches square or a vacuum tube Unit that was 6.5 feet square. As a businessman, Noyce co-founded Intel, one of the most successful companies in the Silicon Valley and the first company to introduce the microprocessor. The microprocessor chip became the heart of the computer, making it possible for a large computer system that once filled an entire room to be contained on a small chip that could be held in one's hand. The directors of Intel could not have anticipated the effects that the microprocessor would have on the world. It made possible the invention of the personal computer and eventually led to the birth of thousands of new businesses. Noyce's contributions to the development of the integrated circuit and the microprocessor earned him both wealth and fame before his death in 1990. In fact, many people consider his role to be one of the most significant in the Silicon Valley story.

The two men who first introduced the personal computer (PC) to the marketplace had backgrounds unlike Robert Noyce's. They had neither prestigious university education nor experience in big business. Twenty-year-old Steven Jobs and twenty-four-year-old Stephen Wozniak were college' drop-outs who had collaborated on their first project as computer hobbiests in a local computer club. Built in the garage of Jobs's parents, this first personal computer utilized the technology of Noyce's integrated circuit. It was typewriter-sized, as powerful as a much larger computer, and inexpensive to build. To Wozniak the new machine was a gadget to share with other members of their computer club. To Jobs, however, it was a product with great marketing potential for homes and small businesses. To raise the $1300 needed to fill their first orders Jobs sold his Volkswagen bus and Wozniak sold his scientific calculator. Wozniak built and delivered the first order of 100 computers in ten days. Lacking funds, he was forced to use the least expensive materials, the fewest chips, and the most creative arrangement of components. Jobs and Wozniak soon had more orders than they could fill with their makeshift production line.

Jobs and Wozniak brought different abilities to their venture: Wozniak was the technological wizard, and Jobs was the entrepreneur. Wozniak designed the first model, and Jobs devised its applications and attracted interest from investors and buyers. Wozniak once admitted that without Jobs he would never have considered selling the computer or known how to do it.

From the very beginning, Apple Computer had been sensitive to the needs of a general public. Jobs insisted that the computers be light, trim, and made in muted colors. He also insisted that the language used with the computers be "user-friendly" and that the operation be simple enough for the average person to learn in a few minutes. Jobs also introduced the idea of donating Apple Computers to thousands of California schools, thereby indirectly introducing his product into the homes of millions of students. Their second model, the Apple II, was the state-of-the-art PC in home and small business computers from 1977 to 1982. By 1983 the total company sales were almost $600 million, and it controlled 23 percent of the worldwide market in personal computers.

As the computer industry began to reach into homes and small businesses around the world, the need for many new products for the personal computer began to emerge. Martin Alpert, the founder of Tecmar, Inc., was one of the first people to foresee this need. When IBM released its first personal computer in 1981, Alpert bought the first two models. He took them apart and worked to find out how other products could be attached to them. After two weeks, he emerged with the first computer peripherals for the IBM PC, and he later became one of the most successful creators of personal computer peripherals, he designed memory extenders that enabled the computer to store more information, and insert able boards that allowed to use different keyboards while sharing the same printer. After 1981, Tecmar produced an average of one new product per week.

Alpert had neither the technical training of Noyce nor the computer clubs of Jobs and Wozniak to encourage his interest in computer engineering. Throughout medical school he studied electronics passionately but privately. He became a doctor, but practiced only part time while pursuing his preferred interest in electronics. His first electronics products were medical. It wasn't until 1983 that Alpert stopped practicing medicine and gave his full attention to Tecmar. By 1984 Tecmar was valued at $150 million. Computer technology has opened a variety of opportunities for people who are creative risk-takers. Those who have been successful have been alert technologically, creatively, and financially. They have known when to use the help of other people and when to work alone.