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300 BCE
Salamis Tablet/Abacus
On the island of Salamis was found the oldest counting board discovered. Although it is not the same as a modern day Abacus it is very similar. As the name implies it is used to count. Link -
Napier's Bones
It is a bunch of rods that one lines up together to make calculations with large numbers. It was invented by John Napier who also came up with logarithms. Link -
Slide Rule
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Pascaline Calculator
The calculator is very interesting. The user puts in an input using the gears on the machine. The answer to to the equation would be displayed on a little window with a number behind it. It could do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Link -
Stepped Reckoner
The Stepped Reckoner similar to the Pascaline except it has some advantages the biggest of which was that it was more practical. You input the multiplicand. Then there are a bunch of holes and you stick the wooden peg in the hole that corresponds with what number you want to multiple the first number by. Then you turn the handle and the answer is revealed by numbers in slots. Link -
Jacquard Loom
The Jacquard Loom is a machine made for weaving things. I'm not sure how it works but it uses math and it revolutionized the process of making fabric. It could do what a master weaver could do in way less time and be used effectively by unskilled laborers. -
Augusta Ada Byron
She made annotations of the Analytical Engine. She was Charles Babbage's associate for a while. Link -
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Augusta Ada Byron
She made annotations of the Analytical Engine. She was Charles Babbage's associate for a while. Link -
Arithmometer
It is a calculator but unlike the other ones, it is small. It, however, functions in the same way. There are five rows of slits, each containing a peg you can move up and down it. You move it to the spot in the slit that correlates to the number you want. You then go along and do that for all of the digits in your number select to add, subtract, multiply, or divide, and then repeat the first step and you will get your answer. Link -
Analytical and Difference Engines
They were calculators designed by Charles Babbage. In 1821 he made a design for a machine that can calculate the difference of high numbers and print them on paper called the Difference Engine. He kind of made it in 1832 but it only had 2000 of the 25000 required parts. In 1834 he came up with a more ambitious design, one that could do all operations, the Analytical Engine. He never actually created them but others would later recreate it. Link -
Period: to
Analytical and Difference Engines
They were calculators designed by Charles Babbage. In 1821 he made a design for a machine that can calculate the difference of high numbers and print them on paper called the Difference Engine. He kind of made it in 1832 but it only had 2000 of the 25000 required parts. In 1834 he came up with a more ambitious design, one that could do all operations, the Analytical Engine. He never actually created them but others would later recreate it. Link -
Scheutz Difference Engine
George Scheutz and Edward Scheutz were intrigued by Charles Babbage's Difference Engine and made one themselves to be displayed at the World's Fair event in Paris (the World's Fair is a fair where nations show their achievements). It had lots of errors. I am not sure if it is the Difference Machine 1.0 or the Difference Machine 2.0 but I think it is the latter because of its smaller size. -
The Punched Tabulator
It would take 8 years and tons of money for the US Census to calculate its demographics because the country was growing so fast. Hermann Hollerith was a clerk and one of his coworkers said that there should be a machine to quickly do this. Hollerith was suited to the task so he tried to make one using inspiration from the Jacquard Loom. he made a machine that could do these calculations and saved the US Government $5,000,000. Link -
Z1 (Computer)
The Z1 is a calculator that was created by Konrad Zuse in 1935. It is a binary calculator that uses many features that modern computers use. The results were punched out on a tape after the calculation was complete. It was destroyed in the bombing of Berlin but later recreated. Link -
Harvard Mark I
The Harvard Mark 1 was a calculator made by Howard Aiken. It would do calculations and print them. Though it was loud and it took a lot of time to do stuff the parts were reliable and it could do more stuff than the other computers of its day. -
ENIAC
The ENIAC was created by John Mauchly. The United States need to do calculations with computers quickly and John Mauchly came up with the idea of a fully electronic computer. The US government had him work on the project with money and teams to help him work on it. They created a functioning computer that could do far more calculations than anything before which was like a modern computer but it filled up a room.Link -
Transistor
The transistor was a superior alternative to the vacuum tube. The vacuum tube was inefficient as a lot of the electricity would be converted to heat. It was also large and bulky. The inefficiencies of it would cause it to require a lot of electricity. But the transistor converted very little electricity to heat energy thus was way more efficient and it was small. It was also less prone to failure. Link -
UNIVAC 1
The UNIVAC was like the ENIAC computer because it was an adaptation of it. The Census Bureau wanted to replace Hollerith's tabulator with something better and non-mechanical. Then Mauchly who created the ENIAC and another guy named Eckert worked on creating it. It was essentially a superior version of the ENIAC that was specialized for the census calculations. It was also smaller and looked like a desk. Link -
EDVAC
Something again created by Mauchly and Eckert the EDVAC was a computer based of the ENIAC. What made it better was that instead of giving it instructions manually they would do it electronically. This made the computer have less messes of wires and would make the computer run faster. It still took a long time to complete and three years before it was functional a brit created one that worked like it in 1949. Link -
FORTRAN
FORTRAN was invented by John Backus in 1957. It was the first successful HLL. It was simpler than other programming language and had more functions that other languages. It wasn't the first HLL but it was the first successful one. Link -
COBOL
COBOL was made by Grace Hopper in 1959. Basically different computers would use different languages. COBOL was a general purpose language that could be used on many computers and had a large syntax. It became the most used language in the world though today it is outdated and isn't used much. -
Computer Chip
The computer chip was conceived by two people in different places at around the same time. Basically the transistor was beginning to be too big despite the fact that it was already small. Then a man named Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments came up with the idea of a circuit made entirely out of silicone. He then created his circuit which was the size of a pencil tip. The same year another man named Robert Noyce had the same idea. Link -
The Computer Mouse
The first computer mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1963. It was was a wooden shell with two metal wheels on the bottom. The wheels would track the movement of the mouse. It was connected via a cord to the computer. A clicker would be on the screen and its location would be determined by the movement of the mouse. However the first operating system that could function this way was only created in 1970. Link -
The Floppy Disk
The floppy disk was invented in 1971 by Alan Stutgart. Originally computers used punch cards to download updates and such. Then researches at IBM thought of the idea to use a Mylar disk with magnetic material on it that spun around. They quickly grew to extreme popularity and were use around the world because of their efficiency as opposed to punched paper. Link -
Ethernet
The ethernet was invented in 1973 by Robert Metcalf. The ethernet is a device that can connect computers or TVs to the internet. It allowed for people to later have computer networks in their home as opposed to being restricted to military, commercial, or other professional uses. You could get a high speed connection simply by connecting your computer to a router via ethernet cable. Link -
TRS-80
Don French and Steve Leininger made it in 1977. It was a small computer. It only had 4k RAM and 4k ROM, and the only method of storage was a cassete recorder. Despite this not only was it a huge market success but it was a forward leap in computing technology. It even resembles a modern computer. Link Link -
Apple II - VisiCalc
Steve Jobs and Wozniak invented the Apple 2. Created around the same time as the TRS-80 the Apple II was very similar. It was designed for specifically business purposes. It was a small mass-produced computer like the TRS-80 but what made it special was that it had a program, called VisiCalc. VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet program. This allowed workers to complete calculations must faster. Most businesses bought it just for this application. Link -
IBM Personal Computer
William Lowe pioneered the IBM PC or "Personal Computer". The IBM was a computer like the Apple II or the TRS-80. However it was of higher quality(better specs), and, to make the development process faster used lots of parts from other companies like Microsoft or Intel. Like the Apple II it would become very popular in the office. Link -
Microsoft Windows Operating System
The Windows Operating System was made in 1985. The thing that made it a revolution was that instead of typing in commands for the computer to process instead you had a clicker to click buttons with. And the reason it is called 'Windows" was that it had windows, and an interface to manage them. In 1987 they would make an upgrade in Windows 2 which would allow for windows to overlap. They also added a control panel. Link -
Mac OS X
The Mac OS X was made by Andy Hertzfield in 2001. It was a hit as it was easy to use and could do many things including sound and video editing. It had a desktop, 128 KB of RAM and was a general innovation. Link -
iPhone
The iPhone was invented by Steve Jobs. It had 4GB to 16GB of RAM. It's primary feature was its small size and how you could touch the screen to click on things for the first time. Of course as we all know it became very popular. It had a variety of applications and was very easy to use. -
Chromebook
The Chromebook was a laptop with an Android Operating System. It was successful when it first came out in 2011.It is a cheap small computer but other than that it is not very special. Link -
Molecular Informatics
Molecular Informatics are an idea proposed by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). The idea is that instead of using electrical signals to process data instead they would use molecules. Molecules have numerous properties and structures and the idea is a molecule could be formed based off what the computer wants and then be used as a command for a computer as opposed to a 0 or 1 sent by an electric signal. Link