History Of Computers

By frodgy

  • First keyboard

    First keyboard
    Back in the good old days, to "run" a program people had to use punched cards or paper tape.
    It took much longer than it had any right to be, It also limited how many people could use the machines properly.
    Doug Ross experimented for 5 months trying to get a Flexowriter to work on an MIT Whirlwind computer.
    The experiments were "successful and confirmed how useful and convenient a keyboard input device could be". https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1956/
  • Period: to

    1956-1965

  • Model 501 Is the new building block

    Model 501 Is the new building block
    The RCA 501 can utilize advanced techniques making it highly flexible for many different uses. It can simultaneously control every aspect of the computer from just a single location using a centralized operating console.
    The industry including the US military purchased a 501 system for 121,698
    Oh ya it also weighs 5k pounds https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1958/

  • Laser

    Laser
    Also known as Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Easily one of the most important inventions in computer history. Lasers are used in optical disk drives, military, and law enforcement, measuring speed and range. all the way to skin treatments and laser surgery. Physicist Theodore Maiman https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/l/laser.htm

  • Atlas Tech

    Atlas Tech
    The Atlas Computer, the most powerful computer in the world during its rein from 1962-1971. This second-generation computer from the Manchester computer product family uses discrete germanium transistors in place of vacuum tubes. https://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Electronic/Atlas.html

  • Olivetti Programma 101

    Olivetti Programma 101
    Also known as Perottina, was the first commercial desktop computer.
    The P101 launched with a "futuristic" design along with every main feature of larger computers at the time.
    It has sometimes been given the nickname desktop calculator because its arithmetic instructions correspond to calculator operations.
    Invented by the Italian engineer Pier Giorgio Perotto https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1965/#169ebbe2ad45559efbc6eb3572030240