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Floppy Disk
Originally developed by a group of IBM engineers in 1967, the first floppy disks were sold by the company in 1971. Initially marketed as a Type 1 Diskette, the term “floppy disk” caught on as an alternate name due to the flexible nature of their protective outer casing. This technology is currently obsolete, but it still remains a symbol of technological progress and is even the icon for the “save” button in Microsoft Word. -
Email
Who the true developer of Email was is somewhat disputed, but it's largely accepted that the original creator was Ray Tomlinson in 1971. Hired by ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), Tomlinson started developing Email to solve the computer communication issues ARPANET was facing. While he is likely the original creator of this technology, the name “EMAIL” can be credited to Shiva Ayyadurai, a young tech prodigy who developed a similar electronic communication system in 1978. -
Pong
One of the first arcade video games, Pong was developed by Alan Alcorn and released by iconic video game developer Atari in 1972. The game was a tabletop-tennis style game with simple 2-D graphics, and was a massive success after its release. -
Apple I
Designed by Steve Wozniak, the first computer ever sold by Apple was the Apple I 8-bit desktop computer in 1976. This piece was sold as a bare circuit board for $666.66, with only a television set and keyboard needed for the computer to function. The Apple I was the predecessor of the more accomplished Apple II, released in 1977 and considered a part of the “1977 trinity” of at-home computers, along with the Commodore PET 2001, and TRS-80 Model I. -
Walkman TPS-L2
First released by Sony in Japan in 1979, this was the first portable music player. The Walkman opened the doors for the future of portable music player developments, and the brand went on to be one of Sony’s best-selling of all time.