History of Computers Timeline by Jessica McDevitt

Hewlett-Packard is Founded (1939)

30mcdevittj — 2025-01-29 15:43:42 UTC

In Palo Alto, California, David Packard and Bill Hewlett founded their company in their garage. Their first product was the HP 200A Audio Oscillator. That same piece rapidly became popular for test equipment.

Harvard Mark 1 (1944)

30mcdevittj — 2025-01-30 15:45:09 UTC

This was designed, conceived, and built by Howard Aiken himself, a Harvard physics professor. The Harvard Mark 1 was a room-sized relay-based calculator. The machine consisted of a 50-foot-long camshaft running along the length of the computer. That camshaft synchronized all of the component parts of the machine. The Mark 1 produced mathematical tables but was soon replaced by an electronic stored-program computer.

English Electric DEUCE (1955)

30mcdevittj — 2025-01-30 15:48:37 UTC

The Digital Electronic Universal Computing Engine, also known as the DEUCE, was a commercial version of Alan Turing's Pilot ACE. This was mostly used for science and engineering problems. Over 30 were published and completed, including the one shipped to Australia.

3C DDP-116 (1965)

30mcdevittj — 2025-01-30 15:52:27 UTC

The DDP-116 was announced at the 1965 Spring Join Computer Conference. This was designed by engineer Gardner Hendrie for Computer Control Corporation. This very computer was the world's first commercial 16-bit minicomputer with 172 systems being sold. This computer cost around $28,500.

Amdahl Corporation -- Amdahl 470 (1970)

30mcdevittj — 2025-01-30 15:57:49 UTC

The father of IBM Systom/360, Gene Amdahl, started his own company, Amdahl Corporation, to compete with IBM in mainframe computer systems. The 470V/6 was the company's first product. The computer ran the same software as the IBM System/370 computes but costed less and was faster and smaller.

VIC-20 (1980)

30mcdevittj — 2025-01-30 16:03:28 UTC

The VIC-20 home computer is the successor to the Commodore PET personal computer. It was released by Commodore. It was intended to be a less expensive alternative to the PET. The VIC-20 was very successful, and it became the first-ever computer to sell over a million units.

RISC PC (1994)

30mcdevittj — 2025-01-31 13:10:53 UTC

The RISC PC from UK's Acorn Computers was the replacement for their Archimedes computer. It was used as a proprietary operating system. The RISC PC could run PC-compatible software using the Acorn PC Card. It was used widely in UK broadcast television and music production.

Apple iPhone (2007)

30mcdevittj — 2025-01-31 13:14:32 UTC

Apple launched the iPhone, it was a combination of web browser, music player and cell phone. It was able to download new functionality in the form of applications from the Apple store. It has a touchscreen and a built-in PS navigation, you were able to text, it had a high definition camera, voice dictation, weather reports, and a calendar.

Raspberry Pi (2012)

30mcdevittj — 2025-01-31 15:10:53 UTC

Raspberry Pi was conceived in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It was a credit card-sized computer, it featured an easy way of use which made it highly popular with hobbyists and students. The one millionth Raspberry Pi was shipped off in October 2013.