Category Archives: Computer history

35 years of Personal Computing

Posted on August 15, 2012 by GilPress

See Ars Technica for a great article on 35 years of personal digital devices, from the advent of PCs to smartphones and tablets. What’s most interesting is that the new and smaller personal computing devices have not replaced PCs, at … Continue reading →

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Personal Computing, 1977

Posted on July 27, 2012 by GilPress

In July 1977, IEEE’s Computer magazine quoted Jim C. Warren, Jr., of Dr. Dobb’s Journal of Computer Calisthenics and Orthodontia: “What happens when you have access to all the news–not just what’s fit to print–or to a shopping algorithm for price comparison … Continue reading →

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The Integrated Circuit: Bringing Mass Production to the Computer Industry

Posted on July 24, 2012 by GilPress

Today in 1958, Jack Kilby sketched a rough design of the first integrated circuit in his notebook. By the early 1960s, some computers had more than 200,000 individual electronic components–transistors, diodes, resistors, and capacitors–and connecting all of the components was becoming increasingly … Continue reading →

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From the Archives: First Mention of Computer Programs?

Posted on July 9, 2012 by GilPress

Today in 1836, Charles Babbage wrote in his notebook: “This day I had for the first time a general but very indistinct conception of the possibility of making an engine work out algebraic developments. I mean without any reference to the value of the letters. My … Continue reading →

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From the Archives: Storage Bottleneck Born

Posted on June 30, 2012 by GilPress

Today in 1945, John von Neumann published “A First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC.” Campbell-Kelly and Aspray call it in Computer: The History of the Information Machine “the technological basis for the worldwide computer industry.” In A History of Modern Computing, Paul … Continue reading →

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The Google Turing Doodle

Posted on June 22, 2012 by GilPress

Explanation here

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The IBM 1301 Disk Storage Announced

Posted on June 2, 2012 by GilPress

Today in 1961, IBM announced the IBM 1301 Disk Storage Unit. The storage capacity per square inch of surface was increased 13 times over what it had been with the first disk drive, the IBM 350 Disk Storage Unit, introduced five … Continue reading →

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Over Six Decades of Improving Computer Electrical Efficiency

Posted on May 28, 2012 by GilPress

“The electrical efficiency of computation has doubled roughly every year and a half for more than six decades, a pace of change comparable to that for computer performance and electrical efficiency in the microprocessor era. These efficiency improvements enabled the creation of … Continue reading →

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First WWW Conference

Posted on May 25, 2012 by GilPress

Today in 1994, the First International WWW Conference was held at CERN, Geneva. Tim Berners-Lee in Weaving the Web: “It was the first time the people who were developing the Web were brought together with all sorts of people who were using it … Continue reading →

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