History of Technology and Computers

Isaac Asimov

1942

Isaac Asimov wrote the "Three Laws of Robotics" (Law One, Law Two, Law Three). There was another law added later (Law Zero).
The first "programmable" mechanism was designed.
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First Transistor

Nov 14, 1947

Walter Brattain had an accident that lead to the creation of the first transistor while doing a study of how electrons acted on the surface of a semiconductor.
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W. Grey Walter

1948

Created his first robots. They were know as the turtle robots and were capable of finding their charging station when their battery power ran low.
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Raymond Goertz

1951

Designed the first tele-operated articulated arm for the Atomic Energy Commission.
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George Devol

1954

Designed the first truly programmable robot and called it UNIMATE. In 1956 George Devol and Joseph Enelberger formed the world's first robot company.
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First Robot in Factory

1960

One of the first operational, industrial robots appeared in a candy factory in Kitchener, Ontario.
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Mcgee and Frank

1968

Mcgee and Frank created the first computer controlled walking machine at the University of South Carolina.
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First Successful Robotic Arm

1969

Victor Scheinman created the Stanford Arm. It was the first successful electrically-powered, computer-controlled robot arm.
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Apple I

1976

Apple sold the Apple I for $666.66. There was no keyboard but had 3 ports. About 200 Apple I computers were made.
http://oldcomputers.net/applei.html

Apple II

1977

Apple sold its Apple II for $1,195. It was a huge advance from the Apple I, but it still ran at the same speed. The Apple II had eight expansion slots/ports. This also came with a case and keyboard.
http://www.pbs.org/nerds/timeline/micro.html
http://oldcomputers.net/appleii.html

Apple III

1981

The Apple 3 was released in the spring of 1981. 65,000 were sold over 4 years. It runs faster that the Apple 2 and has much more memory. Has a built-in floppy drive and 4 internal expansion slots.
http://oldcomputers.net/appleiii.html

Bluetooth

1998

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group is formed with five companies and the name Bluetooth is officially adopted. First release is in 1999. In 2000 the first phone with Bluetooth comes out.
https://www.bluetooth.com/about-us/our-history

Vacuum Cleaners

2002

iRobot released the first generation of Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners.
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The Korean Institute of Science and Technology and Self-Replicating Robots

2005

The KIST claims it is that HUBO is the smartest mobile robot in the world. The robot is linked to a computer and the computer does all of the thinking for the robot.
Cornell University created self-replicating robots.
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Bluetooth

2016

SIG announces the Bluetooth 5. It has new spec quadruples range, doubles speed, and increases data broadcasting capacity by 800%.
https://www.bluetooth.com/about-us/our-history