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Laser Printer invented at Xerox PARC
Prior to this invention, copy machines would expose a light sensitive drum to a paper original in order to produce a copy. in 1971, Gary Starkweather produced a printer that used a laser to "write". This was effectively the worlds first laser printer. -
Xerox PARC Alto Introduced
Developed by a team lead by Charles Thacker, The Alto was groundbreaking for the computer industry. It had windows, icons, a mouse, and was able to share files and print out documents with a later version of the Xerox laser printer. It could also run a paint program, graphics editor and send emails! This computer acted as an inspiration for many to come. -
MOS 6502 - Low Cost Microprocessor Introduced
A small team of former Motorola employees led by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch work together in order to produce a low cost competitor for microprocessors of the time. At $25, it quickly gained popularity among early computer designers and is still used today embedded in applications. -
Tandem Computers releases the Tandem-16
The Tandem-16 was one of the first commercial fault-tolerant computers, developed by a team led by Jimmy Treybig. Because it was able to run during repair or expansion, it was immensely important for the banking industry, leading to the Non-Stop series of systems which were used to monitor stock trades and early ATMs. -
Commodore PET Introduced
The PET was the first of several personal computers, and stayed a major competitor in the market into the 1990s. It came fully assembled with 8 KB of memory, a cassette tape drive and a membrane keyboard. With its speed and ease of use, it became extremely popular in schools and homes. It did not have one specific inventor but was developed by a team at Commodore International.
