History of Computers

Brian Callen

Computers

Early Computers• Hewlett – Packard was founded in 1939.• In 1940, the Complex Number Calculator (CNC)

was invented, which provided the first example of remote access computing.

• In 1941, the first Bombe computer was built.• Many Bombes were built and greatly improved the

intelligence and processing powers of the Allies.• In 1944, the first Colossus computer was built to

break the complex ciphers used by the Nazis.• In 1946, ENIAC was completed, which was 1,000

times faster than other computers of the time.• Completed in 1948, IBM´s Selective Sequence

Electronic Calculator created the moon position tables used in the 1969 Apollo 11 mission.

Early Computers (continued)

• In 1951, the UNIVAC I was the first commercial computer to get public attention.

• IBM shipped its first computer, the 701, in 1953.

• In 1956, MIT built the first general-purpose, programmable computer built with transistors.

• In 1960, DEC’s PDP-1 was the first computer with a display screen, no need for air conditioning, and only one operator.

• In 1964, IBM released the first set of compatible computers that could work together.

• The first commercially successful minicomputer was made by IBM in 1965.

More Advanced Computers• In 1968, the Apollo Guidance Computer was first

used in the Apollo 7 mission.• In 1974, the Alto was the first computer with a

built-in mouse.• In 1976, Steve Wozinak and Steve Jobs built the

Apple-1 computed and founded Apple Computer, Inc.

• In 1979, Atari released two computers with game capabilities

• The Macintosh was released in 1984. It was the first successful computer with a mouse and graphic user interface.

Storage

Early Storage Methods• In 1952, magnetic tape was invented and allowed

for inexpensive mass storage.• In 1956, IBM made the first magnetic disk storage

device.• IBM’s storage disk device was released in 1961,

and its capacity was 28 million characters.• In 1962, virtual memory was invented at the

University of Manchester on an Atlas computer.• Virtual memory allowed a computer to switch

between multiple programs.

Newer Storage Methods• IBM’s 8-inch floppy diskette was released in 1971.• It quickly was accepted as a widespread storage

medium.• The 5 ¼” flexible disk was released in 1978 by many

manufacturers.• The first hard disk was made in 1980 by Seagate

Technology.• Hard disks were an essential part of the computer

revolution.• Sony introduced the 3 ½” floppy disk in 1981, and

Hewlett – Packard adopted it for general use in 1982.

Important People

Grace Hopper• She identified the first computer “bug” on

September 9, 1945.• She found an actual bug, a moth, stuck in the relays

of the Harvard Mark II.• However, the term came to represent a glitch or

flaw in a program.• She was a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy and had

successful careers in business and computers.• She helped build the Harvard Mark I and II

computers.• She made the first compiler, A-0, and her work on

programming languages led to the language COBOL.

Alan Turning• He posed important questions on judging human

intelligence and programming.• His seminal paper, called “On Computable

Numbers,” was published in 1936.• He worked on the design of several computers

during his career.• He was a mathematical genius, and his skills were

extremely helpful to code-breaking efforts during World War II.

• His use of logic in code-breaking was significant in his creation of the concept of a “universal machine.”

• He died at age 42.

Robots and Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence• During World War II, Norbert Wiener worked on

anti-aircraft systems that could interpret radar images to anticipate the paths of enemy aircraft.

• In 1948, Wiener published “Cybernetics,” which was an important influence on later artificial intelligence.

• In 1965, a team at Stanford created DENDRAL, which used “if-then” rules to identify the molecular structure of organic materials.

• Texas Instruments introduced “Speak and Spell” in 1978, the first machine to duplicate human speech.

• The Musical Instrument Digital Interface was introduced in 1983, which tells a synthesizer information about musical notes.

Robotics• In 1959, MIT demonstrated the first computer-

assisted manufacturing.• UNIMATE, the first industrial robot, began work in

1961.• The Stanford Arm, made in 1969, was the first

successful electric-powered, computer-controlled robotic arm.

• Shakey, developed by SRI International, was the first robot guided by artificial intelligence.

• After 12 years of development, the Stanford Cart was completed in 1979, which crossed a chair-filled room without human intervention.