History of computers by Yaritza Hernandez-Villalba

1930-HP is founded

2025-01-29 16:20:20 UTC

David Packard and Bill Hewlett found their company in a Palo Alto, California garage. Their first product, the HP 200A Audio Oscillator,it became a high in demand piece of equipment for engineer's. Walt Disney Pictures ordered eight of the 200B model to test recording equipment and speaker systems for the 12 specially equipped theatres that showed the movie “Fantasia” in 1940.

1940-CNC was complete

2025-01-29 16:34:24 UTC

In 1939, Bell Telephone Laboratories completes this calculator, designed by scientist George Stibitz. In 1940, Stibitz demonstrated the CNC at an American Mathematical Society conference held at Dartmouth College. Stibitz stunned the group by performing calculations remotely on the CNC,using a Teletype terminal connected to New York over special telephone lines. This is likely the first example of remote access computing.

1950-First Colossus

30hernandezvillalbay — 2025-01-30 16:33:01 UTC

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 series of pulleys transported continuous rolls of punched paper tape containing possible solutions to a particular code. Most historians believe that the use of Colossus machines significantly shortened the war by providing evidence of enemy intentions and beliefs. This machine was not out to the pubic until the 1970s.

1960-DEC PDP was introduced

30hernandezvillalbay — 2025-01-30 16:37:48 UTC

The typical PDP-1 computer system, which sells for about $120,000, includes a cathode ray tube graphic display, paper tape input/output, needs no air conditioning and requires only one operator; all of which become standards for minicomputers. Its large scope intrigued early hackers at MIT, who wrote the first computerized video game, SpaceWar!, as well as programs to play music. There were many sold out to the public.

1970-Banking system reaches customers

30hernandezvillalbay — 2025-01-30 16:46:15 UTC

The ERMA system had revolutionized behind-the-scenes check processing in the 1950s, spawning the funny letters still at the bottom of checks today. During the 1960s researchers in various countries have been working on bringing automation – and online transactions – to customers in the form of an Automated Teller Machine (ATM).The barclay bank was the first bank to set up this system. The paper used by some of the first ATMs is slightly radioactive, to be machine readable. The 1970s will also see rapid growth in behind-the-scenes financial transaction networks, like SWIFT for wire transfers.

1980-Introduces the VIC-20

30hernandezvillalbay — 2025-01-31 16:21:04 UTC

Commodore releases the VIC-20 home computer as the successor to the Commodore PET personal computer. Intended to be a less expensive alternative to the PET, the VIC-20 was highly successful, becoming the first computer to sell more than a million units

1990-Microsoft Window 3.0

30hernandezvillalbay — 2025-02-03 17:18:29 UTC

Microsoft ships Windows 3.0. Compatible with DOS programs, the first successful version of Windows finally offered good enough performance to satisfy PC users. It also allowed multiple programs to run simultaneously on its Intel 80386 microprocessor. Microsoft lined up a number of other applications ahead of time that ran under Windows 3.0, including versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. As a result, PC users were exposed to the user-friendly concepts of the Apple Macintosh, making the IBM PC more popular.

2000-Sims released

30hernandezvillalbay — 2025-02-03 20:57:44 UTC

While most games see a player working towards an end-game scenario, The Sims is a good way to build your dream home. Designed by a team at Maxis led by Wil Wright, The Sims took concepts from Wright's previous game Sim City. The Sims became exceptionally popular with women, who accounted for more than sixty percent of players.

2010-Angry Bird was the most popular game

30hernandezvillalbay — 2025-02-03 21:00:06 UTC

As touchscreen-enabled tablets and smartphones proliferate, mobile games became top-sellers. In Angry Birds, players slingshot wingless birds of various kinds towards towers inhabited by green pigs in an effort to knock them to the ground. Many people spent their time playing angry bird.