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Period: to
Decades
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ATARI 2600
Released in 1977, the Atari 2600 popularized microprocessor-based hardware gaming consoles. I utilized gaming cartridges and two joystick controllers. I came with nine simple games in 2KB cartridges. Although, the graphic resolution was low, the console’s popularity grew. Popular arcade games (such as Space Invaders) struck licensing deals with Atari. Ultimately, other companies, such as Activision, began to develop their own gaming consoles. -
IBM 5150
IBM Model 5150 had 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor and had the MS-DOS operating system (licensed from Microsoft). This model debuted in 1981. It debuted at $1,565 retail price. It came with a keyboard and graphic card. A monitor, printer, two disk drives, and applications were options. IBM used Sears and other dealers to increase its distribution. By the end of 1982, more distributors wanted to join. Some reporting selling one unit a day. Model 5150 ushered in the home personal computer industry. -
Metasearch Engine
Daniel Dreilinger was the first person to conceptualize and develop the first metasearch engine (SearchSavvy). In 1995, Eric Selberg released the more advanced and better performing MetaCrawler. A metasearch engine sends a query to several search engine, then sorts, ranks, and lists the results. 1995 is when many metasearch engines were developed. They were competing to be the best. In 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched Google. Which became popular and gained worldwide dominance. -
Laptop Takeover
In 1979, Adam Osborne of Great Britain was the first person to design a portable commuter. After many designs and iteration, the laptop commuter outsold the desktop in 2005. Mobile devices had become smaller and faster. People wanted portable computing power. Now, Millennials and Generation Z would be hard pressed to imagine a world with out laptops. -
Fire Tablet
The Amazon Fire is tablet was first released in 2011. It came with a Quanta Computer. It also featured a 7-inch color, touch display. It could access the Internet. It used the Fire OS Android operating system customized by Google. The Fire HDX 8.9 (3rd generation) was released in 2013. It managed documents, videos, music, and books. It had a favorites tab so users could access apps. The Fire table was an affordable, everyday tablet which centralized commerce, entertainment, and publications. -
R.I.P iPod Touch
In May of 2022, Apple discontinued the iPod Touch. This is a palm sized computer. It has touchscreen controls; WiFi capability; Internet browser; plays music; plays video; camera; gaming capabilities and runs apps. The iPod touch debuted in 2007. 100 million were sold form 2007-20013. However, sales diminished and only 59 million were sold from 2014-2022.The smartphone made the iPod Touch obsolete.