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Charles Babbage makes a steam-driven machine made of wood which computes tables of numbers.
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Konrad Zuse invented the Z1, the first program-controlled computer. He was a civil engineering student who needed to solve huge equations, but wanted to find a way to make a computer do them instead. This computer impacted computers to come because they all looked to this design to branch off of and improve. This didn't really impact society because no one had one. The Z1 benefited the progress of computers, but it also cost a lot of money. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEmFqohbQCI
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Atanasoff and Clifford Berry create a computer which has its own memory to store information. This was called the Atanasoff-Berry-Computer, or ABC
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John Mauchly and Presper Eckert design the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC). This fills a 20 X 40 foot room with 18,000 vacuum tubes weighting 30 tons.
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3 engineers from Bell Labs create the transistor, which replaces the vacuum tubes as the source of electric current. The vacuum tubes were huge, gave off heat, and would burn out, the transistor now allows for smaller, faster, more effective and more reliable computers. Transistors allowed for the production of more complex circuits. The problem that they faced with more advanced circuits was that they required more circuits in order to get the speed needed for the computers.
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Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce create the integrated circuit, commonly known as the computer chip.
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The first interactive computer game is created by Steve Russell.
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Douglas Engelbart designs a prototype of the modern computer, which includes the first mouse. This was also the first time technology became more accessible to the general public.
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The first internet was introduced, called ARPANET. But this didn't last long.
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Alan Shugart along with the IBM team creates the floppy disk, which allows information to be shared between computers.
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Ray Tomlinson created the E-mail.
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Atari releases Pong, the first commercial video game.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiShX2pTz9A] -
Robert Metcalfe develops the Ethernet cord which allows connection between multiple computers.
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Personal computers are available to the public, from a variety of manufactures. Such as Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair, IBM 5100, and Commodore PET.
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Microsoft software company is founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates.
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Apple computers is founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
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The first computerized spreadsheet program is released with the Apple II called VisiCalc, short for visible calculator.
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The first Word processing software called WordStar is created by MicroPro International.
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The first IBM personal computer is sold to the general public, called Acorn. This includes the intel chip, two floppy disks, and an optional color monitor. This is when the term PC began.
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Apple creates their first personal computer called Lisa, which eventually becomes Macintosh. This computer includes GUI (graphical user interface).
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The Gavilan SC becomes the first portable flip computer, introducing the term laptop.
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Microsoft introduces their Windows software.
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Compaq introduces a 32-bit technology which enables more speed, called the Deskpro 386.
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Microsoft introduces Microsoft Works.
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Tim Berners-Lee develops the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), which is a precursor for the World Wide Web which came a year later.
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NCSA Mosaic becomes the first web browser, which came from students and staff from the University of Illinois.
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Intel's Pentium microprocessor made it possible for advances in graphics and music.
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PC games hit the market for the first time. With titles including Theme Park, Command & Conquer, Alone in the Dark 2, Magic Carpet, and Little Big Adventure.
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IBM's Deep Blue computer software beats Gary Kasparov, the world champion, in a game of chess.
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Sergey Brin and Larry Page create Google, the first search engine.
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Wi-Fi which connects to the internet without wires is introduced and becomes a part of regular computer language.
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USB flash drives are in the market.
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Apple and Microsoft introduce similar operating systems that allow multi-tasking. Which are Mac OSX and Windows XP, respectively.
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The Japanese government created an Earth Simulator in order to protect themselves from earthquakes. This Earth Simulator is called the fastest supercomputer in the world.
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The first social media networking site, Facebook, launches.
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The very popular video-sharing website YouTube was founded.
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"The Cloud" was introduced for an increase in storage space for companies.
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Apple's Macbook Pro becomes the first Intel-based, dual-core, and mobile computer.
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This product turns the TV into a working computer.
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Apple's iPhone brings computer features to the phone, introducing the name smartphone.
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Apple's Macbook Air is released, and is smaller than any laptop on the market. The hard drive was replaced with a solid-state disk. This design pioneered many laptops to come.
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Apple's iPad is introduced, which opened the tablet market.
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Apple yet again comes out with the newest computer technology. This time it is a voice-activated personal assistant as a feature on the Apple iPhones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-8KDyB3BFQ -
Microsoft Office 365 is introduced.
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Apple comes out with their iPhone technology in a watch.
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I know there has been talk about this but I haven't seen any. Having glasses that double as computer screens that you can control with a remote or some handheld device. Or even just voice activated.
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Similar to the Apple Glasses, except this time they are so small they fit right into your eyes like contacts.
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When the computer technology is taken to its extreme there will be robots walking around. Like siri, they can answer questions, and who knows maybe they will even have their own personalities. But I can see there being a time when there are robots doing the things humans are too lazy to do themselves. Like in the movie Wall-E, people will no longer be doing anything but entertaining themselves, and being as comfortable as possible. The robots will be taking care of the rest.
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The medium is obviously the computer, and the intended message is the internet, Facebook, YouTube, etc. But in reality what we are getting from our computers is more than just entertainment from the internet. We are losing quality face-time with real people, we are thinking relationships can be formed completely online. The message we are getting is that it is okay to hide behind the scenes.
