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Alan Turing presents an idea of a machine that could compute anything that is computable, which was later called the Turing machine. The modern computer's central concept is based on this machine.
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The first computer, ENIAC, was started in 1943 and was completed in 1946. It was built by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly. It took up 1,800 square feet and weighed around 50 tons.
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William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain of Bell Laboratories invent the transistor, a semiconductor device with three connections, capable of amplification in addition to rectification. Rectification is the process of converting alternating currents to direct currents.
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The first computer language is developed by Grace Hopper. It would later come to be known as COBOL.
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Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce invent and reveal the integrated circuit, which was also known as the computer chip.
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Douglas Engelbart reveals a prototype of the modern computer, which has a mouse and a graphical user interface (or GUI). This is an important step in the evolution of computers because it changes the computer from something only used by scientist to something that was available to the public.
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Intel (a new company) releases the Intel 1103, which was the first Dynamic Access Memory - or DRAM - chip.
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The floppy disk, which allows data to be shared over many computers, was invented by Alan Shugart and some IBM engineers.
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Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak provide Apple 1, which was the first computer with a single-circuit board.
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IBM releases their first personal computer, which is codenamed "Acorn". It has an Intel chip, two floppy disks and a color monitor (the last of which is optional). Some department stores begin selling the computers, which is the first time computers have been sold through outside distributors. The term "PC" is also used more.
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Microsoft announces Windows as a retaliation to Apple's Lisa (which flopped but eventually turned into Macintosh) that was released two years before.
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Tim Berners-Lee develops HyperText Markup Language (HTML), which gives rise to the World Wide Web
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As computer users begin to connect to the Internet without using wires, the term "Wi-fi" is used more and often.
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Mozilla presents their Firefox, which challenges Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Internet had been the main browser up until then. Facebook was also released.
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The iPhone is released, and it brings many computer functions to phones.
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The Chromebook is released by Google. It is a computer that runs the Google Chrome OS
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Apple releases their first Apple Watch while Microsoft releases Windows 10.
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Today we carry more computer power in our pockets and on our wrists than what was available with the earliest models.
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I predict that one of the next steps in computers is to have a holographic screen or monitor, with only a small device, smaller than an iPhone, projecting it.
