CIS105 Computer Inventions Alastair Sutton-O'Clair,

  • Compact Disc

    Compact Disc
    The very first CDs were created as a collaboration between Sony and Phillips. They were set to change the music and movie industry as the world knew it, which in turn influenced the needs for computers, DVD players, and radios.
  • Motorola DynaTAC 8000X

    Motorola DynaTAC 8000X
    The world's very first consumer cell phone, it was priced at almost $4,000 when it first came out. The team that invented it was led by Martin Cooper. It was almost a foot long, but helped pave the way for the cell phones we know today.
  • Macintosh

    Macintosh
    The very first Macintosh made by Apple was the first successful PC to feature two unpopular features - the mouse and a GUI. Before this, the command-line interface was the most common and commercially successful interface. Having Apple switch the market like it did gave an important contribution to what peripherals and interfaces we have today.
  • Nintendo Entertainment System

    Nintendo Entertainment System
    The NES was released in North America in 1985, leading to an explosion in demand for the product. It was slow-going at first, but after Super Mario Bros. was released in North America Nintendo gained popularity incredibly fast.
  • Microsoft Windows

    Microsoft Windows
    At first functioning more or less as an extension of MS-DOS as result of growing interest in GUIS, Microsoft went on to overtake Mac OS that had been made a year earlier. This early version made the OS's we have available today possible.