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1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOME
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

2.  Computer technology seems to progress at such
an astronomical rate that it’s hard to imagine a
time when they weren’t part of the everyday
lifestyle. Of course, it wasn’t so long ago when
the home computer was just a vision in
someone’s mind, and it has really been since the
1970’s that things have really taken off. Here’s an
evolution of home computer technology
featuring the major events and breakthroughs
that have lead to where we are today.

3. 1970’s
 In 1974, the first workstation with a built-in mouse was designed
by Xerox. It was called the Alto, and although it was never sold
commercially, it was able store several files and link to a local
area network.
 In 1976, Steve Wozniak of Apple fame designed the Apple I. It
was a single board computer and helped launch he and Steve
Jobs into the business of computers. The Apple I was replaced by
the more complete Apple II in 1977 after around 200 of the
original ones were sold. The Apple II featured a
keyboard, printed circuit motherboard, A/C power cord and
game paddles.
 Also in 1977, Atari launched the first video computer system
game console. It was later renamed the Atari 2600, and sold over
20 million units during the 1980s.
 1979 was a busy year for computer news. Atari introduced the
Model 400 and 800 computers and IBM introduced it’s own
personal computer. The IBM computer ran on a 4.77 MHz Intel
8088 microprocessor and utilized the Microsoft MS-DOS
operating system.

4. 1980’s
 By 1981, Sony had begun shipping the first 3 ½ inch floppy drives and diskettes.
Hewlett-Packard was the first larger company to use the 3 ½ inch floppy with its
systems.
 In 1982, the Commodore 64 came out with a price tag of almost $600. The C64
as it was known, had 64KB of RAM and graphics that were better than anything
else that was available at the time. The C64 sold 22 million units by the time it
was discontinued in 1993.
 Also in 1982, Lotus 1-2-3 was developed by a man named Mitch Kapor. This
software was written directly into the IBM PC video system and ran much faster
than its competitors.
 The first PC that had a graphical user interface was introduced by Apple in 1983.
It was called ‘Lisa’ and it didn’t fair well due to its slow speed and a high price tag.
 On the opposite end, Compaq introduced the very first PC clone is 1983, that
turned out to be a rousing success. It used the same software as the IBM PC, and
resulted in a first year sales total of $111 million.
 Microsoft announced its first version of Word in 1983, and distributed 450,000
disks that demonstrated how it worked.

5. 1980’s
 During the 1984 Superbowl, Apple introduced the Macintosh computer. It
included many of the Lisa’s features with a much more reasonable price tag.
 In 1985, the National Science Foundation formed an organization called
NSFNET, and linked five super computer centers together, in what would be the
first step toward the modern-day internet. Also in 1985, the PageMaker
program that was designed for use on the Macintosh was announced. It allowed
users to combine text and graphics to simplify the desktop publishing process.
 In 1986, the Compaq introduced the Deskpro 386, which used Intel’s new 80386
chip, giving PCs the same speed and power as the older mainframe computers.
 A graphics and special effects company called Special Effects Computer Group at
Lucasfilm was purchased by Steve Jobs in 1986 and renamed Pixar.
 Throughout the remainder of the decade, all the big players in the industry
continued to try and outdo one another with more advanced microprocessors,
storage capabilities and interface units.

6. 1990’s
 In 1990, a researcher named Tin Berners-Lee developed Hyper Text Markup Language, also known
as HTML, and the worldwide web was born. HTML allowed the internet access to the world wide
web with features like Uniform Resource Locator or URL and Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, or
HTTP. The first world wide web server and browser were available to the general public in 1991.
 1990 also saw the release of Windows 3.0 by Microsoft. It used an 80386 Intel microprocessor and
allowed multiple programs to run simultaneously. In order to enhance the whole Windows 3.0
launch, Microsoft also offered enhanced versions of Microsoft Word and Excel.
 In 1993 the Pentium microprocessor was released, enabling personal computers to run faster than
ever. The Mosaic web browser was also introduced in 1993, allowing users graphical access to
content on the internet.
 The company Netscape delivered its first browser in 1994, and quickly took off in popularity and
value. The internet boom of the 1990s had finally begun in earnest.
 The remainder of the decade saw the advance of the internet and the launch of Hotmail in 1996.
In 1995, Sony released its first edition of the Playstation.

7. 2000’s
 The 2000’s have seen even more advances in computing and
the internet. In 2001, Mac OS X was released by Apple,
replacing the classic Mac OS for Macintosh computers.
 Microsoft released a couple new versions, XP and Vista.
 The first Blackberry smartphone was introduced by Research In
Motion during the first decade of the new century, as was the
Apple iPhone.
 Other popular names like Wii, Google and Facebook were also
brought into the public consciousness from 2000 through 2010.
There’s no question that the evolution of home computing has
really just begun, and with any luck the next thirty years will be
just as interesting as the last thirty.