History of the Computer

[PreComputers / Machines] Abacus

500 BCE

The abacus was among the simplest basic machines used for calculation. However, this required great understanding of arithmetic to achieve a sufficient result, as the sliding beads required their own rules for notation. Source

[PreComputers / Machines] Napier's Bones

1617

Napier’s bones were used for basic multiplication, and required less understanding of arithmetic to use it correctly compared to the abacus. These were essentially portions of a multiplication table that could be combined and added together to obtain a product. Source

[PreComputers / Machines] Pascaline

1642

The Pascaline, made by Pascal, was a machine made for addition, with individual viewing slots for the digits in the sum. It used a function that set the 0s in 10s, 100s, and so on, to simplify the machine and avoid reversed gear rotation. Source

[PreComputers / Machines] Multiplier Wheel

1673

Made to improve on the Pascaline, the multiplier wheel, or “Step Reckoner,” used decimals on ten-position wheels to complete equations. This machine did something similar to the Pascaline, except it added sums to do multiplication. Source

[PreComputers / Machines] Analytical Engine

1837

Regarded as the basis for a mechanical computer, the Analytical Engine was a multi-component addition machine conceptualized by Charles Babbage and made by his son, Henry Babbage. Of these components were an ALU, punch cards, and memory. Source

[Early First Computers / Devices] Turing Machine

1936

Although hypothetical, the idea of the Turing machine set the stage for every consequent computer. It used on/off states, printed on tape, to create lines of information. These were read, edited and moved by a special scanner head. Source

[Processor Evolution] 4004

1941

The creation of the 4004 was what marked the beginning of Intel’s CPU era. As their first processor, it was as powerful as the ENIAC. Source

[Early First Computers / Devices] ENIAC

1943

The ENIAC was most widely known because of its programmability and power as a general-purpose computer. Source

[Data Storage Advances] Williams Tube

1946

In 1946, the Williams Tube was invented by Fredrick C. Williams and his colleagues, holding a total of 1024 bits of information. Source

[Processor Evolution] Transistor

1947

The transistor allowed processors to be made and communicate, and was invented by Bell Laboratories. Source

[Early First Computers / Devices] Whirlwind

1951

The Whirlwind was the first computer with an actual video display of its data. It was also incredibly fast for its time. Source

[Early First Computers / Devices] IBM NORC

1954

IBM’s “Naval Ordnance Research Calculator” was the first supercomputer at 15,000 operations per second. Source

[Early First Computers / Devices] Bendix G-15

1956

As a smaller, more affordable option to other multi-million dollar computers, the Bendix G-15 was arguably the first personal computer. Source

[Data Storage Advances] Hard Drive

1956

The Hard (Disk) Drive was invented by Rey Johnson’s IBM team, a widely-used technology in years to come. Source

[O/S Evolution] BESYS

1957

BESYS was the basis for many consequent operating systems in the Linux line such as Multics, and was used to run many processes. Source

[Cloud Computing] Cloud Storage

1960

Along with ARPANET, Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider invented Cloud Storage by allowing users to access data anywhere. Source

[O/S Evolution] OS/360

1964

The OS/360 by IBM allowed for a large amount of applications, and was one of the first OSs to need direct physical storage. Source

[Computer Going On Internet] First Packet-Switch

1965

Packet-switching was what was first used to establish communication between two computers at MIT. Source

[O/S Evolution] UNIX

1969

UNIX was based off of Multics, and was and is a popular and widespread OS, giving rise to the Linux line of operating systems. Source

[Computer Going On Internet] ARPANET

1969

A global influence, the Internet, is created when two computers in Norway and England simultaneously connect to ARPANET, an early version of the Net. Source

[Data Storage Advances] Floppy Disk (8")

1971

In comparison to other storage devices of the time, the floppy disk was cheap, portable, quick, and user-friendly. Source

[Computer Going On Internet] Network Emailing

1972

Email, which is still used today by over 3 billion users, was introduced by Ray Tomlinson in 1972. Source

[O/S Evolution] Apple DOS 3.1

1978

The first-ever OS made for Apple was the Apple DOS 3.1, paving the way for subsequent operating systems in Apple’s rise to fame. Source

[Data Storage Advances] Compact Disk

1980

The Compact Disc (CD), created by James T. Russel, was the first invention to implement optical recording and playback. Source

[O/S Evolution] MS-DOS

1981

MS-DOS’s command line-style OS is a powerful tool still used today as an alternative to GUIs, and served as the basis for Windows operating systems in the future. Source

[Computer Going On Internet] HTML

1990

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)’s creation was an important event still relevant to this day, allowing for an infinite amount of information to be formatted on the World Wide Web. Source

[Processor Evolution] K5

1996

AMD’s first in-house-made processor was the K5, as a competitor to Intel’s Pentium at the time. Source

[Computer Going On Internet] Wi-Fi

1997

Wi-Fi became available in 1997, and computer owners could finally connect wirelessly to the Internet. This allowed for mobile devices such as the cell phone or the tablet to succeed. Source

[Cloud Computing] Amazon

1997

Amazon’s online retail business began in 1997. It was a revolutionary idea that would create massive earnings for the company, reaching rank 8 in total revenue on the Fortune 500 scale in 2018. Source

[Cloud Computing] Salesforce

1999

Salesforce.com is a website made for strengthening company-customer relationships online. It was well-known for being the first business-oriented Internet service. Source

[Data Storage Advances] Holographic Memory

2004

Holographic Memory is a relatively new invention that is extremely efficient in terms of speed of retrieval and storage space. Source

[Cloud Computing] YouTube

2006

YouTube is a cloud-based video streaming website. It has grown steadily since its launch in 2005, going from the fifth most visited website (according to Alexa) in 2006 to the third in 2010. Source

[Processor Evolution] i7

2008

The i7 was the beginning of Intel’s introduction of its famous “Core i” processors using the Nehalem microarchitecture, and is still used in many computers today. Source

[Cloud Computing] Google Apps

2009

The Google Apps were implemented in 2009, and would remain a widely used cloud alternative to Office and other similar applications. Source

[Processor Evolution] Ryzen 7

2017

In response to the i7, AMD put out their Ryzen line based on their Zen microarchitecture. This release raised AMD’s processor market share. Source