Technology History Project

By sds

  • First Computer: Difference Engine

    First Computer: Difference Engine
    source in 1822 the Difference Engine was made by Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace. Sadly, due to lack of funds, a full-scale functional version was never made.
  • Period: to

    First programmable computer: Z1

    sourceGerman Konrad Zuse created the Z1 inbetween 1936 and 1938. Unfortunately for his parents, he made it in their living room.

  • The first digital computer: ABC

    The first digital computer: ABC
    sourceShort for Atanasoff-Berry Computer, the ABC began development by Professor John Vincent Atanasoff and graduate student Cliff Berry in 1937. Its development continued until 1942 at the Iowa State College (now Iowa State University).The ABC was an electrical computer that used vacuum tubes for digital computation, including binary math and Boolean logic and had no CPU.

  • First electronic programmable computer

    First electronic programmable computer
    sourceThe Colossus was the first electric programmable computer, created by Tommy Flowers, and first reveled in December 1943. The Colossus was created to help the British code breakers read encrypted German messages.

  • arpanet founded

    arpanet founded
    source ARPANET was a early packet switching network and the first network to implement the protocol suite TCP/IP. Both of these became the technical foundation of the Internet.

  • The first microprocessor

    The first microprocessor
    sourceIntel makes the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004 on November 15, 1971.

  • The first micro-computer

    The first micro-computer
    source André Truong Trong Thi, with Francois Gernelle, developed the Micral in 1973. Considered as the first "micro-computer".

  • The first personal computer

    The first personal computer
    source the first personal computer is the KENBAK-1, which was first introduced in 1971. The computer relied on a series of switches for inputting data and output data by turning on and off a series of lights.

  • The first laptop or portable computer

    The first laptop or portable computer
    sourceOn September 1975 the IBM 5100 was released as the first portable computer, it weighed 55 pounds. In the picture is an ad of the IBM 5100.

  • The first Apple computer

    The first Apple computer
    The Apple I (Apple 1) was the first Apple computer. The computer kit was developed by Steve Wozniak in 1976.

  • The first IBM personal computer

    The first IBM personal computer
    IBM's first personal computer was called the IBM PC and made in 1981. The computer was code named and still sometimes referred to as the Acorn.

  • The first PC clone: Compaq Portable

    The first PC clone: Compaq Portable
    sourceThe Compaq Portable is the first PC clone and was released in March 1983 by Compaq. The Compaq Portable was compatible with IBM computers and was capable of running any software developed for IBM computers.

  • The first multimedia computer

    The first multimedia computer
    source In 1992, Radio Shack became one of the first companies to release a computer based on the MPC standard with its introduction of the M2500 XL/2 and M4020 SX computers.