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The abacus is the earliest example of a calculator in human history, with debated origins. The abacus consists of rods lined with beads, where each rod represents a different place value. Pushing beads across the rods allows for counting up to nine in each place value, which then allows for subtraction, addition, and other calculations to be made. Link -
Napier's Bones was invented by John Napier, the same man who made logarithms. The device consists of rods with embedded multiplication tables, allowing for multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, and even square roots to be calculated. The device has ten rods, each representing a digit 0 through 9, having four multiplication tables engraved. Multiplication can be performed like addition, and division like subtraction. Link -
The slide rule is a device made of graduated scales allowing for multiplication, division, square roots, and sometimes trigonometry and logarithms. The device can quickly perform calculations, but its accuracy is not perfect. William Oughtred designed this device, as well as another called the logarithmic rule. This device was still used all the way up to the electronic calculator's invention. Link -
This device was made by Blaise Pascal, and it could perform only addition and subtraction. Dials could be turned to input numbers for calculations. Like a rotary phone, the dial would be turned to a digit 0-9, then another number could be dialed, making the sum appear on the device's accumulator. The device cannot directly perform subtraction, so a method known as Nine's Compliment must be used. Link -
This device was made by Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz. This was the first calculator to perform all four arithmetic calculations. The machine suffered many errors due to its complex mechanics in such a primitive time of technology. The Stepped Reckoner gave insight to later renditions of calculators. Mulitplication is performed as an elongated addition calculation, and division as an elongated subtraction calculation. Link -
This device was made by Joseph Jacquard. The device was made up of many punch cards connected to each other. The machine allowed for complex patterns to be easily woven by even the most unskilled of workers. The loom cut the cost of detailed cloth, giving the less wealthy a chance to look fashionable. Charles Babbage later utilized the punch card concept in his proposed analytical engine computer. Link -
Augusta Ada Byron was born in 1815, and died in 1852. During her life, she was an associate of Charles Babbage, who proposed the analytical engine. Byron created a program for Babbage's proposed computer prototype, being called by some as the first computer programmer. She was first intrigued by Babbage's work in 1833. An early programming language was named after her, called Ada. Link -
This machine was made by Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar. The industrial revolution brought the need for many activities to be mechanized, and calculations needed to become efficient. This device was the first commercial and mass-produced calculating device. It could perform addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division. This was a large device, towering over today's calculators. Link -
These were created by Charles Babbage. The analytical engine was designed to be programmable, and it had a method of memory using punch cards inspired by the Jacquard Loom. It also had the potential to be fully automatic. The difference engine was less complex than the analytical engine, but was designed to be accurate. It was only meant for specific calculations, and could not easily take on other tasks. Link -
This device was made by Per Georg Scheutz. It was based on Charles Babbage's difference engine, and could print multiplication, division, and exponents in a logarithmic table. It could make these logarithmic tables faster than a human could. It also helped in the advancement of modern computers. Link -
This device was made by Herman Hollerith and was used for tabulating US census data. This machine is not actually a computer, as it cannot be programmed and can only tabulate. The machine had 40 counters, allowing for up to 80 cards to be tabulated per minute. It could not print, so results must be written by hand. Link -
This device was an early protocomputer, developed by Howard Aiken. He formed ideas for a series of four increasingly complicated devices to perform calculations. The first was this device, which was mostly mechanical, and the last was the Mark IV, which was electronic. Aiken collaborated with IBM to develop the Mark I, and the finished product weighed five tons. Link -
Konrad Zuse created this in his parents' living room, it was a fully mechanical computer consisting of over 30,000 parts. It is considered the first binary programmable computer. Previous computers were based on decimals, while this used binary. Results were shown on a row of lights, and the device also had a keyboard. Link -
This computer, known as the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, was made by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert. It was made to compute values for artillery range tables. The ENIAC was electronic, unlike many previous computers, being much faster. The machine had to be rewired for each new calculation, being a very heavy drawback for it. Link -
The Electronic Discrete Value Automatic Computer introduced the concept of storing data in an alterable memory. This brought forth the concept of stored programs. Memory was provided by mercury delay lines. This computer had more internal memory than any other computer at the time. This computer also used binary. Link -
The UNIVAC 1, also developed by Mauchly and Eckert, was an improvement upon the ENIAC. The project began in 1948, but was finished in 1951. This device was the first successful civilian computer, and first general purpose computer for business application. Link -
The 1950s was the age of replacing vacuum tubes with semiconductors in computers. William Shockley, along with John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, created the transistor, the first amplifying semiconductor device. Transistors used less power and space than the previous vacuum tubes. Link -
FORTRAN was created by John Backus. It was a very early programming language that made the task more accessible, replacing previous methods that were tedious and involved writing instructions in binary and hexadecimal arithmetic. The language aimed to combine English shorthand and algebraic equations. FORTRAN was the main programming language by the late 1950s. Link -
The microchip, created by Jack Kilby, utilized a transistor, capacitor, and the equivalent of three resistors on one chip, as opposed to transistors, capacitors, and resistors to form a circuit. The original chip was made out of germanium, used as a bulk resistor, also including a bipolar transistor, four input and output terminals, a ground, and wires made of gold. Link -
COBOL, which stands for Common Business Oriented Language, was one of the first high-level computer languages. Grace Hopper helped to co-develop this language, after her work on FLOW-MATIC, the first data-processing language. COBOL became a leading language for building business systems, and has remained in use for many years. Link -
Douglas Engelbart created the first computer mouse in the early 1960s. The purpose for its invention was to find better ways for users to interact with computers, and better ways to interact with display screens. The first mouse was carved from wood and had a single button, though a later model had three. The mouse made it possible to point and click on a display screen. Link -
Alan Shugart developed the floppy disk drive, a magnetic storage medium that was very popular and mass produced for late 20th century computers. The first designs for floppy disks were eight inches. An electromagnet within the floppy disk magnetizes spots on the disk to write binary digits. The floppy disk allows for recording of data and storage. Link -
Ethernet was created by Robert Metcalfe. Ethernet allows for computers to be connected using hardware between machines. Metcalfe faced challenges in developing Ethernet, one being that the connection had to be fast enough to keep up with new laser printers, and another that many computers had to be able to be connected. Ethernet connects devices to a local network. It was not commercially introduced until 1980. Link -
The Apple II computer was an improvement of Apple's previous device, the Apple I. It was developed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. This computer kick-started a rise in personal computers. This computer also put Apple in a high place among computer companies. It had only 4 KB RAM. The computer originally had external storage on cassette, but was later changed to a floppy disk drive. Link -
Many early personal computers had to be assembled by the buyer. Don French requested for Radio Shack to produce a pre-assembled computer to buyers. They turned to Steve Leininger, an engineer, who designed the computer. The computer came out with a price of $599. It had the same amount of RAM as the Apple II. This computer was one of the first fully assembled personal computers. Link -
IBM originally titled this computer the Acorn, but later called it the IBM PC, popularizing the term 'personal computer'. The computer had 16 KB of memory, and it sold for $1,565. This PC was constructed of off the shelf parts, known as open architecture. Shortly after the Acorn was released, TIME claimed the computer to be the "Man of the Year". Link -
Microsoft Windows is an operating system that has grown to be one of the most prevalent to date. It was developed by Microsoft for personal computers. It introduced the first graphical user interface for IBM personal computers. The first rendition of the OS was an extension of MS-DOS, Microsoft's disk operating system. Windows took some inspiration from licensed concepts from Apple. Link -
Mac OS X, now Mac OS, is Apple's operating system. Mac OS has been known for its security, interface, and advanced technology. Mac OS X has gone through several versions, including Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, and Monterey. The original Cheetah debuted the iconic dock that Macs are known for. Link -
Apple's Steve Jobs unveiled the first Iphone in January, 2007. It was released later in June. The first Iphone had a $499 4GB model and a $599 8GB model. It had a 3.5 inch screen, 320x480 pixels at 163 ppi, and a 2 megapixel camera. Apple has gone to release many more models of the Iphone over the years, making it a very popular option for phone users today. Link -
Google's idea behind the Chromebook was a device that was safe, easy, and fast. Computers at the time were clunky and slow, so the Chromebook set to change that. The first Chromebooks were partnerships with Acer and Samsung. Chromebooks set to implement Cloud-first computing. A year before their launch, the CR-48 pilot program was made, giving insight on the future of Cloud-first computing. Link -
DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, announced this program which looks for new methods of data storage, retrieval, and processing. Molecular Informatics seeks to manipulate properties of molecules to manipulate data. It looks to move beyond the logic-based architecture of data. Computing with molecules would change much of what we know about computing. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2017-03-23