https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r en-us 2022-04-04 15:13:05 UTC 2026-03-01 22:43:16 UTC hello@padlet.com 27giovanettis https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128877016 Called the “Model K” Adder because he built it on his “Kitchen” table, this simple demonstration circuit provides proof of concept for applying Boolean logic to the design of computers, resulting in construction of the relay-based Model I Complex Calculator in 1939. That same year in Germany, engineer Konrad Zuse built his Z2 computer, also using telephone company relays.]]> 2022-04-04 15:18:03 UTC https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128877016 27giovanettis https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128889821 Designed by British engineer Tommy Flowers, the Colossus is designed to break the complex Lorenz ciphers used by the Nazis during World War II. A total of ten Colossi were delivered, each using as many as 2,500 vacuum tubes. A series of pulleys transported continuous rolls of punched paper tape containing possible solutions to a particular code. Colossus reduced the time to break Lorenz messages from weeks to hours. Most historians believe that the use of Colossus machines significantly shortened the war by providing evidence of enemy intentions and beliefs. The machine’s existence was not made public until the 1970s.]]> 2022-04-04 15:24:09 UTC https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128889821 27giovanettis https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128894950 At MIT, researchers begin experimenting with direct keyboard input to computers, a precursor to today´s normal mode of operation. Typically, computer users of the time fed their programs into a computer using punched cards or paper tape. Doug Ross wrote a memo advocating direct access in February. Ross contended that a Flexowriter -- an electrically-controlled typewriter -- connected to an MIT computer could function as a keyboard input device due to its low cost and flexibility. An experiment conducted five months later on the MIT Whirlwind computer confirmed how useful and convenient a keyboard input device could be.]]> 2022-04-04 15:26:47 UTC https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128894950 27giovanettis https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128901342 Apollo Guidance Computer read-only rope memory is launched into space aboard the Apollo 11 mission, which carried American astronauts to the Moon and back. This rope memory was made by hand, and was equivalent to 72 KB of storage. Manufacturing rope memory was laborious and slow, and it could take months to weave a program into the rope memory. If a wire went through one of the circular cores it represented a binary one, and those that went around a core represented a binary zero.]]> 2022-04-04 15:29:53 UTC https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128901342 27giovanettis https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128911210 Until the late 1970s the momentum in computing has been all about togetherness – users first sharing computers, then linking over networks and soon networks of networks. But the rise of the personal computer from the mid 1970s makes something once unthinkable an everyday reality: a standalone computer for just one person. While the new machines can be connected to networks and to each other, a lot of users both at home and work don't bother. They run their own programs off of floppy disks. The “personal computer revolution” begins to push back against the centralized control of network system administrators, a trend that won't fully reverse until the 2000s and the emergence of “the cloud.”]]> 2022-04-04 15:34:43 UTC https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128911210 27giovanettis https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128916599 At its official 1983 launch, the Internet had been a modest experimental network of networks owned by the U.S. government. As late as 1989, even insiders are betting against it – OSI is the official favorite for the future of internetworking, or connecting networks together. But in the meantime the Internet has quietly grown to 100,000 host machines, each with multiple users. By 1992 the Internet will have emerged as the new global standard, linking a million computers. In hindsight, the Internet has several key advantages, from a growing community of enthusiasts churning out working software and hardware, to free distribution with the UNIX operating system, to being built in to common hardware like Cisco routers.]]> 2022-04-04 15:37:20 UTC https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2128916599 27giovanettis https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2130554526 Video applications for personal computers drive demand for increased graphical performance. A new approach, one based on a processor specially designed to manipulate graphics, was initiated and the resulting product was known as a “Graphics Processing Unit,” or “GPU.” The GeForce 256 is often thought of as the first consumer GPU, and while expensive, it sold extremely well. The GeForce 256 was designed to relieve the pressure on the central processing unit (CPU) by handling graphics calculations, while the CPU processed non-graphics intensive tasks]]> 2022-04-05 12:32:27 UTC https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2130554526 27giovanettis https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2130558038 Vendors announce cloud-based network-attached storage solutions for online backup. They were designed for small and medium sized businesses in addition to general consumers. With these services, servers could automatically back up data to remote servers. They were designed for data protection, and along with backup capability it also provided a data recovery solution.]]> 2022-04-05 12:34:44 UTC https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2130558038 27giovanettis https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2130561173 Building a computer into the watch form factor has been attempted many times but the release of the Apple Watch leads to a new level of excitement. Incorporating a version of Apple's iOS operating system, as well as sensors for environmental and health monitoring, the Apple Watch was designed to be incorporated into the Apple environment with compatibility with iPhones and Mac Books. Almost a million units were ordered on the day of release. The Watch was received with great enthusiasm, but critics took issue with the somewhat limited battery life and high price.]]> 2022-04-05 12:36:39 UTC https://padlet.com/27giovanettis/ss84fy5gojl5vq0r/wish/2130561173