Technology Progression: 1970s

By adam.bradley
  • Period: to

    The 1970s

  • Barcode

    Barcode
    A pack of Wrigley's gum is the first product to use barcode technology. The gum was sold at a grocery store in Ohio.
    Barcodes have since become the industry standard for storing pricing and product information.

  • Microsoft

    Microsoft
    Microsoft is founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, NM. The pair's first product was an interpreter for the BASIC programming language. About a decade later, the duo would release Microsoft Windows.

  • Supercomputer

    Supercomputer
    Cray Research, Inc. introduces the Cray-1, the first supercomputer. It is installed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, NM.

  • Personal Computer

    Personal Computer
    The Apple II, the Commodore PET, and the Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 were all introduced in 1977. This trio of machines helped launch the "personal computer" industry.

  • Global Positioning System (GPS)

    Global Positioning System (GPS)
    The first satellite in the modern Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) is launched. It would take an additional 22 years to become available to non-military users.