Major Achievements in Computer Technology

  • Z1 - The First Programmable Computer

    Z1 - The First Programmable Computer
    Created by German Konrad Zuse between 1936 and 1938, Considered to be the first electro-mechanical binary programmable computer, with a 64-word memory and a clock speed of 1 Hz. It read instructions from punched tape. This computer was destroyed during World War II, along with all construction plans.
  • Colossus - The First Electric Programmable Computer

    Colossus - The First Electric Programmable Computer
    Developed by Tommy Flowers, created to help the British code breakers read encrypted German messages during the World War II. It had an optical reader that could read data at a speed of 5000 characters per second.
  • ENIAC - The First Digital Computer

    ENIAC - The First Digital Computer
    Invented by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly. They began designing the computer in 1943 but was not finished until 1946. It took a lot of space - about 1,800 square feet and weighted almost 50 tons. The military used the ENIAC to perform calculations for the design of a hydrogen bomb, weather predictions as well as wind-tunnel design.
  • UNIVAC 1101 or ERA 1101

    UNIVAC 1101 or ERA 1101
    Considered to be the first computer capable of storing and running a program from memory. This computer could installed at a distant site - away from its place of manufacturing, and its architecture was used as the basis for several machines into the 1960's.
  • Whirlwind machine - The First Computer with RAM

    Whirlwind machine - The First Computer with RAM
    Developed at MIT by Jay Forrester when trying to develop a universal flight trainer that would simulate flight during World War II. Late in 1951, the Whirlwind computer was operational and made available for scientific and military research.
  • 701 - First IBM Computer

    701 - First IBM Computer
    Considered to be IBM's first electric computer and the first mass produced computer. It had 256 40-bit words of main memory and could perform 2,200 multiplications per second. Programs could be stored in an internal electronic memory.
  • Intel 4004 - The First Microprocessor

    Intel 4004 - The First Microprocessor
    Developed by Ted Hoff and Masatoshi Shima, it was the first processor with a 4-bit register and a clock speed of 740 kHz. This processor was smaller than a human thumbnail and had 2,300 transistors with 10-micron spacing. The price for it was $200.00, and could possess as much computing power as the ENIAC computer.
  • Apple I - The First Apple Computer

    Apple I - The First Apple Computer
    Developed by Steve Wozniak, this computer contained a 6502 8-bit processor and 4 KB of memory, and could be expandable to 8 or 48 KB using expansion cards. The Apple I required a power supply, display, keyboard, and case to be operational. The computers were first sold for R$666.66.
  • 5150 - First IBM Personal Computer

    5150 - First IBM Personal Computer
    This personal computer had a code name "Acorn" and ran on a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor and was equipped with 16 KB of memory, which could expand to 256 KB. The PC also came with an optional color monitor.
  • USB Drive

    USB Drive
    USB - Universal Serial Bus, also known as thumb drive, flash drive, pen drive, memory stick, etc. was first patented by a company called M-Systems as well as IBM Late in 2000, IBM sold the first USB flash drive. The drive held 8 megabytes and in less than 10 years, its capacity increased to 256 gigabytes per drive. The USB is used for storing, transferring and copying data.