History Of Personal Computing.


Hilbert College

History of Mass Communications:

History of Personal Computing.

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(Note: this paper was produced at the University of South Carolina)

Becca Stein, Toby Taylor

November 2, 1999

Communication has been around as long as mankind. Through the ages, communication has evolved just as man has. From cave drawings to newspapers to radio to televsion. Perhaps it is time to add another means of communication onto the growing list: Personal Computing. Personal Computers have revolutionized America and the world. With many types of software and especially the Internet, communication has become easier, more reliable and faster.

The history of computers can be traced back as far as the advent of mathematical tools in 3000 BC when the abacus was invented. But it was not until thousands of years later that the concept of a computer was born. The invention of the calculator also contributed to the early ideas of a machine that could perform any mathematics. In 1862, Charles Babbage dreamt of a machine that would mechanize thoughts. He made very detailed plans for his machine, which are the fundamentals for today's computers. Augusta Ada, the first software genius, actually wrote software for Babbage's computer. However, there was not much fervor to produce Babbage's computer because it did not work. The concept of the computer did not resurface until the 1930's. Alan Turning built his Universal Turning Machine in 1936. The Turning Machine could duplicate the work of any other machine and could perform practically any mathematical task. His computer was like a "human calculator."

It was not until there was a threat of war that the evolution of the computer really took off. There is a little bit of a controversy surrounding who actually built the first computer (Golden 1999). In 1937, a physicist named John Atanansoff and his graduate student, Cifford Berry at Iowa State built a computer that used binary numbers but was not reprogrammable. Nonetheless, John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert are commonly credited as the inventors of the first computer. Mauchly and Eckert built ENIAC (the electronic numerical integrator and computer) in 1946. Unlike Atanasoff's machine, ENIAC did not use binary numbers but it was reprogrammable. It was also the size of two semi- trucks. It was built at the University of Pennsylvania to calculate trajectories of projectiles and bombs during World War II. The government has always been the largest consumer of processing power and has always been in the driver's seat of computer technology.

During that same year, John Von Neumann constructed his computer named the EDVAC. The EDVAC was the blueprint for the computers that followed. It had a memory, stored programs, and a central processor for number crunching. However, at that time no one imagined the possibility of computers. The president of IBM, Thomas Watson Sr., is famous for having said "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." In 1951, the first commercially available computer, the Univac, is built at Remington Rand for the US Bureau of Census. Ten years later Jack Kirby of Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce of Intel figure out how to integrate all the components of an electronic circuit on a single flake of silicon. This discovery allows for smaller computers. In 1964, the first personal computer comes about, the Linc. It costs $40,000 and it had a keyboard, interactive display and is transportable. In that same year, Dartmouth begins the tradition of involving college students in the evolution of computers by developing BASIC (beginners all-purpose symbolic instruction code). Basic gave students access to big computers.

The personal computer as we know t today was not possible without the microprocessor chip made by Intel's Ted Hoff in 1969. In that same year, the first version of Unix was written. By 1972, Xerox puts it $30,000 Alto on the market. This computer has a keyboard, windows, a mouse, and a high-resolution display. Computers are beginning to really resemble what we think of today. In that same year the wonderful game of Pong came out. By the mid-seventies, the competition for faster computers was on its way.

A vast majority of advancements in the world of personal computing occurred after 1974. In the mid-seventies, the world witnessed rapid technological growth in the computer world. This rapid expansion was felt not only by those directly involved with the nursing and development of personal computers, but also those who knew nothing at all about computers. Perhaps no one suspected personal computers to saturate and revolutionize our personal lives, our nation, and our world.

In 1975, personal computing was learning to crawl, and the minds of several PC moguls were just beginning to create the ideas that would one day form the paradigm governing personal computing. Prices for computers were already steep when considering what the computers could do. The MITS Altair 8800, which was simply a hobbiest's kit cost, approximately $800. It had only 256 bytes of RAM. Several primary computer engineers began to show promise in '75. The "two Steves", Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs started the prolific Apple Computers in the garage of the Jobs family. Paul Allen and Bill Gates wrote a specific version of BASIC for the Altair. Rounding off the year was the opening of the first computer store in the USA. It was called simply, "The Computer Store". Later, in 1976, Wozniak and Jobs officially founded the Apple Computer Company and the Apple 1 computer was introduced. The term "Microsoft" was registered. Microcomputers were abundant, coming from a variety of individuals and corporations alike. By 1978, Wozniak had designed an inexpensive floppy disk drive for Apple's second attempt, the Apple 2. Intel introduced the 8086 16-bit CPU chip that contained nearly 30,000 bytes.

With the start of the new decade came continuing computational advancements. The Osborne 1 became available, becoming the first "portable" computer in history. On August 12, 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer. It had 4.77 MHz, Intel 8088 CPU, 64K of RAM and 160KB floppy drive. (Much improved from its forerunners.) In addition that year, PC-DOS 1 and MS-DOS were introduced. 672,000 PC's had been sold in the US. Computers became updateable with more, yet costly RAM. Mitch Kapor started Lotus Development; this made the IBM the number one choice of businesses (Donaldson 1987). By 1983, the number of computers sold in the US had skyrocketed to over 1.3 million. Microsoft introduced Windows 1.0, but it did not fly until '85.

In 1984, the world first began to see the advantages of the Internet; over 1,000 host computers were connected. Hewlett-Packard designed and began to sell the first LaserJet printer. Also in 1984, Apple made an invaluable decision to advertise the Macintosh during the Superbowl causing sales to take off. Apple also introduced its graphical user interface, a near copy of the Xerox version. In 1985, Steve Jobs left Apple, his brainchild, and started NeXT Computer. In '86, NSFNET was created and linked to the still new ARPANET. DOS 3.3 was popular and innovative. The late 80's saw much significant advancement. Microsoft Word was introduced for Windows, closing out DOS and other popular software. Over 80,000 hosts were on the Internet. The 'ideal' computer of '86 contained 20 MHz, 2 MB of RAM, 1.44 MB and 1.2 MB floppy disks, a 40-MB hard disk, and a 14" EGA monitor. It ran for approximately $4,000.

The 1990's have, without a doubt, turned our society upside-down with technology. The early 90's saw the DOD introduce the Internet to Universities and government agencies (Ceruzzi 1999). Over 313,000 host computers were connected, and the first server materialized at the CERN lab. Tim Berner-Lee invented the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) at the CERN lab in Switzerland. Users were stunned. This was the basis for the World Wide Web (WWW). By 1992, 13.5 million PC's had been sold in the US. Microsoft upgraded Windows 3.0 to Windows 3.1 and wind32 was added to supplement Windows NT. The code name "Chicago" ran rampant through out the computer society. It later became Windows 95. In 1993, Intel introduced its 60 MHz Pentium that contained over 3 miLlion transistors. DOS 6 was being marketed.

By 1994, laptop computers were abundant, and the availability of CD-ROM drives increased demand. Netscape Navigator was released for public testing (Farrington 1996). 1995 was the year of the Intel Pentium Pro. It was the first machine that could perform three instructions simultaneously. The official launch of Windows 95 boosted computer sales to 23.8 million. It was the first version permitting full 32-bit applications and actual mulit-tasking. Microsoft began to create Internet Explorer.

In 1996, Microsoft began to promote Internet Explorer 3.0 Web Browser and Windows NT 4.0. Windows CE began to downsize computers by designing hand-held computers. By 1998, Intel had a computer with over 4.5 million transistors. Microsoft had finally released the long awaited Office 97. Windows 97, because of late shipping was now called Windows 98 and was released (Goff 1999).

Having presented the history of personal computing, it seems unfair to glide over the (arguably) most important feature of the PC world; The Internet. With countless numbers of users connected to the Internet, the entire world has come upon a tool that will shatter all previous methods of communication. Email has taken over the former "snail mail" and research can now be done with ease. The Internet has made life a little easier for all, and will continue to do so.

The future of computing appears bright. While no one can predict exactly where the industry will go, much can be expected. It is predicted that speeds of up to 800 MHz will be around and a chip called the "McKinley" chip, created by Intel will appear with twice the performance speed of the already speedy "Merced". As expected, there are countless numbers of personal computers in the making even at the time of this publishing. Some predict microscopic chips, digital ink and even computers that act and think as humans (Levy 1999). Some even go as far as to predict computers without monitors or keyboards.

Wherever the PC world goes from here, it will always have a rich history. Many have speculated that "there is nothing more to be discovered". The authors of this paper know this to be false and leave the reader with the pretense that this research will soon be outdated, as will the computer making the reading possible...

Ceruzzi, Paul. (1999) History of Modern Computing. MIT press.

Donaldson, Rory. (1987) "An incomplete History of Microcomputing." Whole Earth Review. Point Foundation Publishing.

Farrington, Gregory C. (1996) "ENIAC: The Birth of the Information Age." Popular Science. Times Mirror Magazine INC.

Goff, Leslie. (1999) "Genesis of the Computer." Computerworld.

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