Companies and when they were Founded
1986 - IBM Founded, then called Tabulating Machine Company which made punchcards
1968 - Intel founded by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore (Processors)
1969 - Advanced Micro Devices Incorporated is founded.
1972 - Atari founded (Games)
1975 - Zilog founded
1975 - Microsoft founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen
1976 - US Robotics founded (Modems)
1976 - Apple Computer Founded by Stephen Wozinak and Stephen Jobs
1979 - 3COM founded by Bob Metcalfe (Network)
1979 - Seagate Technologies founded by Alan Shugart (Hard Disks)
1981 - Silicon Graphics founded by
1982 - Sun Microsystems founded (Java, Networks)
1982 - Adobe Systems founded by John Warnock (Graphics Software)
1983 - Borland International founded by Philippe Khan 1984 - MIPS Computer Systems founded
1988 - Creative Labs founded by W.H. Sim (Sound Cards)
3000 BC - Abacus
The Abacus, an instrument to aid in simple arithmetic calculations was created.
It was around 1500 when Leonardo Da Vinci Invented a simple mechanical calculator, although it was not much of a use due to its lack of complexity. This was followed by the invention of the slide rule in 1621, and in 1640 when Blaise Pascal invented the "Arithmetic Machine". Blaise Pascal invented the arithmetic machine in 1640. In 1964, Scotsman John Napier published a paper outlining his discovery of the invention of logarithm. Napier also invented an ingenious system of moveable rods (referred to as Napier's Rods or Napier's bones). These allowed the operator to multiply, divide and calculate square and cube roots by moving the rods around and placing them in specially constructed boards. This discovery lead to the creation of calculation machines like the "Calculating clock", "Pascaline", "Stepped Reckoner" and "Arithtometer".
1800 - Punch Card Invented
A man named Jacquard
invented the punch card system in 1800. This was the first - and perhaps the
only way then - for computers to store data. It worked by using a card on
which holes were punched to represent numbers and data.
1822 - 1853 - First Mechanical Computer
In 1822, Charles Babbage designed his first mechanical computer, the first prototype for the difference engine. Babbage invented 2 machines. They were the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine, which was invented in 1830. Both machines were never completed (although attempts was made in 1832) - but the theories worked. The analytical engine (outlined in 1833) involved many processes similar to the early electronic computers - notably the use of punched cards (cards which computers punched holes in to signify numbers or letters) for input. However, due to the reason that such inventions could do little for the people of that time, Babbage never managed to successfully build any of his machines. The projects was cancelled in 1844. However, the Scheutzes complete the first full-scale difference engine in 1853, which they called a Tabulating Machine. It operated on 15-digit numbers and 4th-order differences, and produced printed output as Babbage's invention would have.
1885 - Mechanical Calculators enter Mass Production
In 1885, A multiplying calculator more compact than the Arithmometer enters mass production. The design is the independent, and more or less simultaneous, invention of Frank S. Baldwin, and T. Odhner. It worked using a "variable-toothed gear" design: a disk with radial pegs was made to protrude or retract from it. Although this was not much of a discovery, it represented the first wide use of computers then.
1889 - First Printing Desk Calculator Released
In 1889,
a man named Felt produced the first printing desk calculator. This was the
first machine to generate meaningful and easy-to-use results to the user.
This was further improved to be more robust and "usable" in 1892 by William
S. Burroughs, when it finally started the mechanical office calculator industry.
1906 - Electronic Valve discovered
Lee De Forest invented the Electronic Valve (or Electronic Tube) in 1906. This enabled digital computers to be created. However, the first digital calculating machines only began to appear in 1940 when the outbreak of World War 2 produced the need for computing capability.
1940 - The First Digital Calculating Machines
In 1940, Konrad Zuse invented the first electronic digital calculating machines. This was shortly after the invention of the keyboard in 1937 by Dvorak. These computers filled a large room and used vacuum tubes as their primary component. Vacuum tubes, familiar to anyone who has seen the inside of an early radio or television, controlled the electric currents that were necessary for the operation of the computers. The outer part of a vacuum tube consisted of a glass or metal shell, and inside the shell were wires and small metal plates that controlled the electronic signals. The only form of storage then was through punch cards (cards with holes in them to input data in and out of a computer). These first computers worked slowly, and took minutes or even up to hours to perform computations (these computations can be performed today at the speed of a few seconds). They also could not perform tasks which they were not created to do, unlike computers created later which could be instructed to do more than one thing (general purpose). But in spite of their slow speed, the computers were well-received by users as they were an important invention, because the calculations they performed would have required days or weeks of human effort if people could have even done them at all. Also, the computers then could only input and output through the use of punch cards - cards which computers punched holes in to signify numbers or letters(like a parking coupon). The first electronic general-purpose computer was invented in 1943 and was named the ENAIC, followed by the EDVAC, the first stored program computer, in 1944. Another one of these computers includes the 'Harvard Mk I' which was also a general-purpose programmable computer. It was built at Harvard University with backing from IBM. These computers were some of the 'first generation' computers. Means of input into the computer at that time were few, and so, few were willing or could afford the huge expense of the machine.
1947 - Improvement in computers - The Transistor
Although the first patent for the transistor was made in 1926, it was only in the 1947 that this advance in electronics had changed the nature of computers. This was the transistor, a simple electronic circuit that had two states: on or off. Using the two states to represent the 1's and 0's of digital information (on as 1, off as 0), computer engineers were able to make dramatic progress in reducing the size of computers and increasing their speed. The first transistorised computer, the TX-0, was invented in 1956. Thus the Second Age Generation Computers were created. But, despite the use of transistors and printed circuit boards, these computers were still immensely huge and bulky which only governments and universities used. Up to then, digital input still only included punch cards, paper tape and keyboards.
1965 - Revolutionary computer device introduced - The SemiConductor
In the mid-1960's, another revolutionary device to the computer was introduced: the semiconductor. Semiconductors are materials that conduct electricity better than insulators such as glass, but not as well as conductors such as copper. Silicon is the most widely used semiconductor material. Semiconductor computer components made from silicon could hold hundreds, the thousands, of circuits in a tiny space. This enabled computers to work - and improve - much faster than they did before, while still not growing larger in size. Thus the mainframe was invented.
1960s to 1970s - Mainframe Invented
The computers
of 1960 - 1970 were called mainframes, and were the third generation computers.
They were not as large as the vacuum-tube computers but were still very large
and had to be installed in a fixed place. Such a space was gigantically large,
and took a hall to install, compared to the computers of today. They were
well used in business, governmental, and institutional work. Huge calculations,
such as keeping tax records or tabulating census figures, could be done quickly
and efficiently and the results stored for later use. These computers also
enabled scientists to conduct research that a few decades earlier would not
have been possible, or perhaps even conceivable. In fact, considerable amounts
of that research dealt with computers themselves, particularly with ways to
further miniaturise transistors and increase the sophistication of semiconductors.
This was how the first the microcomputer was invented.
1966, 1967 - Floppy disk storage system built by IBM
In 1966, the first disk storage system was built by IBM, the RAMAC 305. It was then followed by the first floppy disk system, which was built in 1967, a 8-inch floppy disk coated with Ion Oxide. This could hold a large amount of data (compared to punch cards) made data sharing and storing of memory on computers much easier, trustable, and hassle-free.
1970 - Cray Research and Control Data Inc dominate field of supercomputers
The U.S. firms of Cray Research and Control Data Inc. dominated the field of supercomputers, or the most powerful computer systems, through the 1970s and 1980s.
1971 - First microcomputer Invented - Discovery of the Microchip
With the research done in the early 1970s, early devices known as microchips, which are smaller than a person's fingernail, yet have millions of transistors embedded in them were invented by a person called Jack St. Claire Kilby. (These devices are still used in computers today). Using this computer chip (the microchip), Intel released the world's first microprocessor, the 108khz 4004 chip on November 15, 1971 - and a technology on which the fourth generation of computers are based (today's computers). Intel also then invented RAM - Random Access Memory, which represented a computer's fast and short-termed memory. These two components allowed the microcomputer to be created. The first such computer was the MITS Altair 8800, released at the end of 1974, but it was followed by computers such as the Apple I & II, Commodore PET and eventually the original IBM PC in 1981. It brought a high level of computing power to a "box" about the size of a portable television set. Microcomputers--soon known as personal computers or PC's----grew smaller and more powerful at an astonishing rate. Many companies such as Apple Computer and Radio Shack introduced very successful personal computers in the 1970s, spurred on in part by a fad in computer, or video, games. Several other input devices were also introduced not long after that, and it was then that the sudden explosion in the use of computers began.
1972 - Vacuum Deposition Reduces Size of Chips
Vacuum deposition of transistors became common, and entire assemblies, such as adders, shifting registers, and counters, became available on tiny "chips."
1973 - Ethernet System Invented
Bob Metcalfe invents the Ethernet connectivity system in 1973 which is still used for Internet and Local Network connections today.
1973 - Hard Disk Introduced
In 1973, IBM introduced its first Hard Disk, the Winchester. This was one of the first devices, which could read and write and overwrite memory so "robustly".
1975 - Idea of the portable computer
With the invention of the microprocessor, "Project Mercury" was launched in 1975 by Intel, which created the first portable computer, the IBM 5100.
1980 - Very Large Scale Integration and Competition between Companies
In the 1980s very large-scale integration (VLSI) in which hundreds of thousands of transistors are placed on a single chip, is becoming increasingly common. Some attrition also occurred in the crowded personal computer field, with Apple and IBM remaining particularly strong. In semiconductor chip manufacture , the Intel Corporation and Motorola Corporation were very competitive into the 1980s, although Japanese firms were making strong economic inroads, especially in the area of memory chips. The Japanese government also announced a massive plan to design and build a new generation of supercomputers. This new generation - the so-called fifth generation - will employ new technologies in very large-scale integration, along with the programming language PROLOG, and will be capable of astounding feats in the area of artificial intelligence, such as voice recognition and parallel processing.
1985 to 1990 - Other computer-related appliances invented and More Efficient Microprocessors
By the late 1980s, some personal computers were run by microprocessors that, handling 32 bits of data at a time, could process about 4 million instructions per second. Microprocessors equipped with ROM, or Read-Only Memory (which stores constantly used, unchanging programs) , now perform an increasing number of process-control, testing, monitoring , and diagnosing functions, as in automobile ignition systems, automobile-engine diagnosis, and production line inspection tasks. Also, since the release of microcomputers, other computer-related appliances began to appear on shelves, such as digital input devices, scanners, digital microphones and more. These devices could plug into a computer and store or record information for it. The next invention that expanded the usefulness of computers was the modem, a device that connects a computer to other computers around the world through networking or telephone lines. More and more computers in businesses, institutions, and private homes are being linked in this way, forming a global network of interconnected computer networks called the Internet.
1990 - Today
By the early 1990's, the power of a PC compared to that of mainframes from barely a generation before. Manufacturers were selling tens of millions of PC's worldwide. Networking and the Internet became widely used everywhere. Computers were introduced everywhere - in schools, manufacturing companies, offices, and many various places world-wide. It was also at this time that the new technology of CD-ROMs was invented. These round metal disks were capable of storing more Graphics, Sound and Software than ever before. They are still used Today.
