History Of Pc
...circuits via the transistor is a key development making personal desktop computers small, reliable, and affordable.
1958
At Texas Instruments, Jack Kilby completes building the first integrated circuit.
1960
Digital Equipment introduces the first minicomputer, the PDP-1. It is the first commercial computer equipped with a keyboard and monitor. The minicomputer represents an important size and power step from mainframe toward personal computers.
1964
John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz develop the BASIC programming language at Dartmouth College. BASIC becomes the most popular introductory programming language for microcomputers.
1968
Douglas C. Engelbart, of the Stanford Research Institute, demonstrates his system of keyboard, keypad, mouse, and windows at the Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco's Civic Center. He demonstrates use of a word processor, a hypertext system, and remote collaborative work with colleagues.
1970
Engineers at Intel turn a calculator chip-set design into the first commercial 4-bit CPU architecture, the 4004 microprocessor.
1973
Engineers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) create the Alto workstation, with a bit-mapped video screen.
In France, the Micral microcomputer is introduced, based on the Intel 8008 processor.
The Scelbi Computer Consulting Company introduces the Scelbi-8H microcomputer kit, using an Intel 8008 microprocessor, for US$565, with 1 kB programmable memory.
Gary Kildall writes the CP/M operating system.
1974
Intel releases the 2 MHz 8080 processor, capable of directly addressing 64 kB of memory.
MITS creates the Altair microcomputer, based on the Intel 8080 processor. Kits are sold for about US$400.
1975
Bill Gates and Paul Allen implement BASIC for the Altair, and found Microsoft.
1976
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple Computer, and begin selling Apple I computer boards....
View Full Essay
