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IBM100 - The Punched Card Tabulator
In 1890 Herman Hollerith designs a punch-card system to help calculate the 1890 U.S. Census. The machine saves the government several years of calculations, and the U.S. taxpayer approximately $5 million, according to Columbia University The tabulating machines opened the world’s eyes to the very idea of data processing. Along the way, the machines also laid the foundation for IBM. -
The Invention of the Transistor
William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain of Bell Laboratories invented the transistor. Transistors transformed the world of electronics and had a huge impact on computer design. Transistors made of semiconductors replaced tubes in the construction of computers. By replacing bulky and unreliable vacuum tubes with transistors, computers could now perform the same functions, using less power and space. -
Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET)
ARPANET was the first public packet-switched computer network. It allowed resource sharing between remote computers. The first computers were connected in 1969 and Network Control Protocol was implemented in 1970. This allowed us to develop software such as remote login, file transfer, and email. -
IBM launches a PC
IBM's own Personal Computer (IBM 5150) was introduced in August 1981. The $1,565 price bought a system unit, a keyboard, and a color/graphics capability. Options included a display, a printer, two diskette drives, extra memory, communications, a game adapter, and application packages, including one for text processing. The PC was all about giving computing power to the individual in a package that you could set up anywhere. -
The birth of the Web
Tim Berners-Lee, a British researcher at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), submits his proposal for what would become the World Wide Web. His paper details his ideas for Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), the building blocks of the Web.