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Punchcard Technology
Cards with holes punched in them were used to control the patterns that a loom produced. The cards could be changed without altering the design of the loom. This technology was some of the first programming, and the technology has been used as recently as the 1950's. -
Triodes
The triodes, and other vaccuum tube technology, did what semiconductors do for us now. They made it possible for people to have radios, and although they were large, pricey, and prone to failure (like so many early electronics) they were an important step. -
CRT Screen
In 1907, a German scientist named Ferdinand Braun was able to project geometric shapes onto a CRT screen, using a video signal. Although we now have far better technology than the CRT TV and computer monitor, they are still in use. Without CRT displays, we would have had a hard time doing much with computers. -
Silicon Transistors
The discovery of silicon semiconductors revolutionized electronics. These semiconductors were smaller and more reliable than the vaccuum tubes, and our semiconductors are still silicon based. Although the earlier ones were larger, they are becoming smaller and smaller, and are still used today. -
All Transistor Calculator
It took several cabinets to hold, it cost around eighty thousand dollars, but it had more capabilities than the average four function dollar store calculator. -
Word Processigng
The first word processor was made by IBM. Most of us use word processors daily, and it's hard to imagine how we really could have survived without them. Of course, like any of these technologies, it is far better now than it used to be. -
Apple I is Sold
Although I can do more with my TI-84 graphing calculator than I could with this, the Apple I represents the company's start in computers, an industry that they dominate to this day. They were also involved with a movement towards computers that were more than just calculators. -
IXI- MP3 Player
The IXI could play one hour of music, and it never made it to a production level. Now everyone has an MP3 player, most manufactured by Apple. Portable music devices have become a common element to our lives. -
USB Flash Drive
IBM, one of the leaders in computer technology, commercially produced a thumb drive for the first time in 2000. The first ones had 8 MB storage, which was far more than a floppy disk could hold. Now we see these everywhere, cluttering draweres, on keychains, and occupying every USB port on the computer.
