Dakota - History of computers

By 17fosterda

  • Z3 Computer

    German engineer Konrad Zuse working in complete isolation from developments elsewhere, uses 2,300 relays, performs floating point binary arithmetic, and has a 22-bit word length.

  • Hardvard mark 1 is complete

    Conceived by Harvard physics professor Howard Aiken, and designed and built by IBM, the Harvard Mark 1 is a room-sized, relay-based computer

  • Public unveiling of the ENIAC

    Started in 1943, the ENIAC computing system was built by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania.

  • First computer program ran on a computer

    University of Manchester researchers Frederic Williams, Tom Kilburn, and Geoff Toothill develop the Small-Scale Experimental Machine, better known as the Manchester "Baby." The Baby was built to test a new memory technology developed by Williams and Kilburn

  • CSIRAC runs first program

    Built in Sydney, Australia by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research for use in its Radio physics Laboratory in Sydney, CSIRAC was designed by British-born Trevor Pearcey

  • ERA 1101 introduced

    One of the first commercially produced computers, the company's first customer was the US Navy.

  • Ferranti mark 1 sold

    The title of “first commercially available general-purpose computer” probably goes to Britain’s Ferranti Mark I for its sale of its first Mark I computer to Manchester University.

  • IAS computer operational

    The Institute of Advanced Study computer is a multi-year research project conducted under the overall supervision of world-famous mathematician John von Neumann.

  • RAND Corporation completes Johnniac computer

    The Johnniac computer is one of 17 computers that followed the basic design of Princeton's Institute of Advanced Study computer.

  • Direct keyboard input to computers

    At MIT, researchers begin experimenting with direct keyboard input to computers, a precursor to today´s normal mode of operation.

  • CDC 6600 supercomputer introduced

    The Control Data Corporation 6600 performs up to 3 million instructions per second —three times faster than that of its closest competitor, the IBM 7030 supercomputer.

  • The TV typewriter plans are published

    The TV Typewriter is an easy-to-build kit that can display alphanumeric information on an ordinary television set.

  • Apple II introduced

    Sold complete with a main logic board, switching power supply, keyboard, case, manual, game paddles, and cassette tape containing the game Breakout, the Apple-II finds popularity far beyond the hobbyist community which made up Apple’s user community until then.

  • Apple Computer launches the Macintosh

    Apple introduces the Macintosh with a television commercial during the 1984 Super Bowl, which plays on the theme of totalitarianism in George Orwell´s book 1984. The ad featured the destruction of “Big Brother” – a veiled reference to IBM, through the power of personal computing found in a Macintosh.

  • PowerBook series of laptops is introduced

    Apple's Macintosh Portable meets with little success in the marketplace and lead

  • The iMac, a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers, is launched

    Apple makes a splash with its Bondi Blue iMac, which sells for about $1,300. Customers got a machine with a 233-MHz G3 processor, 4GB hard drive, 32MB of RAM, a CD-ROM drive, and a 15" monitor.

  • Apple Iphone is released

    Apple launches the iPhone, a combination of web browser, music player and cell phone, which could download new functionality in the form of apps from the online Apple store.

  • Apple ipad was released

    The iPad combines many of the popular capabilities of the iPhone, such as built-in high-definition camera, access to the iTunes Store, and audio-video capabilities, but with a nine-inch screen and without the phone.

  • Nest Learning Thermostat is Introduced

    The Nest Learning Thermostat is an early product made for the emerging “Internet of Things," which envisages a world in which common everyday devices have network connectivity and can exchange information or be controlled.

  • Apple Watch

    Building a computer into the watch form factor has been attempted many times but the release of the Apple Watch leads to a new level of excitement.