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Computers
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Hewlett-Packard is Founded
Hewlett Packard was founded in Palo Alto,California grarage. The first product was a 200A Audo Oscillator. I chose this because I thought that it was intesting that Disney Pictures ordered eight of the 200B model to use for the sound effects in the 1940 movie "Fantasia". -
Harvard Mark-1
In 1944 the Harvard Mark-1 is completed. The Harvard Mark-1 was a roomsized calculator. It was fifty feet long, and was used to produce mathematical tables. I chose this because I was amazed at how big the Harvard Mark-1 was! I was fifty feet long, and calculators are as big as a persons hand today. -
The EDSAC
In 1949 the EDSAC was assembled at Cambridge University. The EDSAC was the first practical stored-program computer. I chose this because again of how big the computers were, when they fist made them. And that they couldn't hold that much memory on them. But now we have little computers that we can carry in our backpacks. -
John von Neumann's IAS Computer
The John von Neumann's IAS computer was one of the first operational computers, for the Advance Studies in Princeton, N.J, to be able to share designs with other research institues. I chose this because even though they could send things to other insitutes, they still had to go through the process of printing it to see it. Because they didn't have the screens yet today like we do. -
The PDP-8
This was the first commercially successful minicomputer. It sold for 18,000 dollars. The PDP-8 went into many manufacturing plants, businesses, and laboratories, because of it's speed, and small size. I chose this because when they said that this was a small computer, you compare to all the Ipods and computers we have today, and how much smaller they are. -
The Kenbak-1
The Kenbak-1 was the first personal computer, that was for $750. It was designed by John V. Blankenbaker. It relied on switches for input and lights for output. It had about 256-byte memory. Why I chose this because, it of how much the technology has changed that we use for computers now. Things have gotten small so we can fit more information and memory in computers. -
First Work Station
At the Xerox Palo Alto Reserch Center they made the first work station with a built-in mouse for input. The computer, the Alto uses several files simultaneously in windows. Engineers later incorporated its features into work stations and personal computers. I chose this because I thought that it was interesting that they had to carry around all of this extra stuff like a mouse that wasn't built in. -
The first Portable Computer
Adam Osborne completed the first portable computer. It weighed 24 pounds and costed $1,795. The meachine had 5-inch display, 64 kilobytes of memory, a modem, and two 5 1/4-inch floppy disk drives. I chse this because I it is amazing at how much bigger all of the computer screens are today, and how drives have changed for computers. -
The Macintosh
Apple Computer made the Macintosh. This was the first computer with a successful mouse driven computer with a graphic user interface. It costed about $2,500. I chose this because of how different it was to use a computer that didn't have a mouse or graphics to show you what you were doing. And what you would have to do to see something without a screen -
Video Toaster
The Video Toaster was introduced by NewTrek. It was a video editing and production system. It included custom hardware and special software. It was more affordable than most other computer-based video editing system. I chose this because of how video and how it is used in anyway has changed over time.
