Resources listed within this category are focused on the history of computers and may include sites representing brick-and-mortar computer history facilities or online histories of computing.
The development of the computer probably began with the human desire to understand his environment. In order to enhance and to extend the power of the human mind, people began recording things on various types of physical media. The abacus, an early computing device, was created more than two thousand years before Christ, and wax tablets served as an early data storage device.
Computers, as we know them today, were a long time coming, and were preceded by a series of devices of increasing complexity, and included the invention of the slide rule and Thomas de Colmar's arithmometer, and Charles Babbage's difference engine. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, engineers came up with the idea of using holes in cards and tape to represent repeating patterns of information that could be stored and automatically acted upon, an early version of would later become the IBM card.
With the control of electricity came further advances, allowing computing to progress from mechanical to electrical computation, which more closely resembles the modern computer.
Vacuum tubes were invented in 1906, and they were first used in calculators in the 1940s, then largely replaced by solid-state computing. Semiconductors were discovered in the 1800s, but it wasn't until the mid-1900s that semiconductor electronic switches were perfected, and found to be faster and require less power.
They could also be made smaller than the eye can see. The first transistorized computers appeared in the early 1950s. Before long, they had replaced vacuum tubes throughout computer systems, with the exception of the monitor, in which they were used until they were replaced by flat-screen monitors in the 2000s.
Although the first parallel computer (ENIAC) was developed in 1943, they weren't commercially viable until the 1980s, and didn't become commonplace until the 2000s.
The first programmable, fully automatic digital computer was the Z3. Developed by Konrad Zuse, a German inventor, in 1941, the Z3 executed a program on punched celluloid tape, and was capable of performing addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and square roots, and could convert decimal points to binary for input, and binary floating points back to decimal for output.
The Atanasoff-Berry Computer was built at Iowa State College in 1942 by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry. It was an automatic, electronic digital desktop computer, although it weighed seven hundred pounds. The project was abandoned when Atanasoff was called up for military duty in World War II.
ENIAC was the first electronic computer. Developed by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania, it weighed more than thirty tons and used an IBM punch-card reader for input and a card punch for output.
The first electronic digital computer was Colossus. Ten of these machines were built and used during World War II by the United Kingdom to crack German military codes. Although more sophisticated than the Bombe machines designed by Alan Turing to crack the Enigma code, all of the Colossi were destroyed after the war.
Incidentally, the trackball was designed more than twenty years before the mouse. Designed in 1946, the trackball was considered a British military secret until 1947, when it was patented by Ralph Benjamin, the inventor. The first mouse was introduced to the public in 1967, although work on it began in the early 1960s.
The dot matrix printer came out in 1968, dominating the business and home computer market until well into the 1990s, and are still manufactured and in use today.
The Internet had its start with ARPANET in 1969 when three computers in California and one in Utah were connected and started to exchange messages.
Created in 1970, the floppy disk served as a compact system for storing data. Over the years, they were distributed in 8-inch, 5.25-inch, and 3.5-inch disk sizes.
The Xerox Alto was the world's first personal computer featuring a graphical user interface, and the Altair is generally credited as being the first personal home computer. Other significant early home computers included the Honeywell series, the MITS Altair, Acorn Atom, the Sinclair, the Apple II series, Atari series, Radio Shack's TRS-80, the Coleco Adam, the Commodore series, and the IBM PCjr, although many other computers and earlier computing devices have played a role in the history of computing.
The history of computers and computing is the focus of topics in this category.
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@Vintage Computers |
Recommended Resources
Created and maintained by Mindy DeMars, the site offers a history of computers and computing, from a basic introduction to an account of computers and computer technologies associated with the first generation, second generation, third generation, fourth generation, and fifth generation of computers, as well as a tribute to Grace Murray Hopper, a pioneer in computing. Its generational studies list the defining points of each generation as well as computers representing each.
https://demarscomputerhistory.weebly.com/
American Computer & Robotics Museum
Originally known as the American Computer Museum, the museum traces the history of computing, communications, artificial intelligence, and robotics. Located in Bozeman, Montana, the museum was founded as a non-profit organization in 1990. Its strategic plan, mission and vision, history and financial reports, board of directors, and contact data are posted, and several levels of membership are available. Its awards programs, robotics team, and hours are included.
https://acrmuseum.org/
The CCH was established in Cambridge, England as a permanent public exhibition that highlights the story of the information age, serving as a repository for vintage computers and associated artifacts, and hosting hands-on exhibitions, educational workshops, and a variety of activities and events for people of all ages. Sponsors, volunteers, staff, and board members are acknowledged, and a calendar of events, visitation schedules, and educational programs are featured.
https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/
Classic Computer Magazine Archive
Begun in 1996, the original goal of the archive was to archive the full text of Antic Magazine, a goal that was met by September of 2000, at which time its goal expanded to Antic’s sister magazine, STart, which was completed in 2001. Since then, other magazines have been added, such as Creative Computing, Compute!, Hi-Res, Antic Amiga Plus, Whiz Kids, II Computing, and other classic computer magazines, which may be viewed as HTML pages.
https://www.atarimagazines.com/
Established in 1996, the CHM is located in Mountain View, California. Created to present stories and artifacts of the information age, the museum explores the advents of computers, its predecessors, and the impact of computing on society. It includes the Exponential Center and Software History Center and offers programs for youth, an awards program honoring computer pioneers, an Internet history program, and corporate history partnerships, as well as memberships.
https://computerhistory.org/
Located in Roswell, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, the CMoA was created to preserve the history of computers and to educate visitors on the past and future of computing, empowering the innovators of tomorrow. A history of the museum itself is presented, along with an overview of its pop-up exhibits, exhibits of early computers, and other exhibits. Future plans include a tech village, the office of the future, educational programming, spaces for makers, and social spaces.
https://computermuseumofamerica.org/
The site offers a history of computers, which includes profiles of some of the people whose ideas would eventually lead to the inventions of the first computer-like gadgets, as well as those who played a part in the computer revolution. Calculating tools and mechanical calculators, which were the forerunners of the computer, are highlighted, as are many of the more significant early computers, the birth of the modern computer, and the implementation of the Internet.
https://history-computer.com/
Previously known as the Charles Babbage Foundation, the IT History Society supports the history of the information technology fields, encouraging and facilitating the archival of documents and artifacts, historical research, and organization of annual gatherings. The organization offers four levels of membership and acknowledges lifetime donations to its work. Featured are galleries of IT hardware and IT software, IT companies, and an honor roll of IT contributors.
http://www.ithistory.org/
Living Computers Museum & Labs
Founded by Paul G. Allen, the Seattle, Washington computer museum operates as a non-profit charitable organization, with a focus not only on exhibiting vintage computers but in allowing visitors to use them. The museum features restored and usable vintage supercomputers, mainframes, minicomputers, and microcomputers, as well as modern technology exhibits, hands-on labs where visitors can develop computer science skills, and computer restoration efforts.
https://livingcomputers.org/
Largely completed by Stan Velt between 1999 and 2002, the site documents the history of computers prior to the IBM PC. Significant computer devices are profiled, and historical timelines of the PC virus, computer forensics, ISO 17799 and ISO 27001, the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), and Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) are presented. Other resources include a gallery of photographs.
https://www.pc-history.org/
Created and maintained by Steven Stengel, the Sysop, the site exhibits the computers in his personal collection as well as some of those that he is currently looking for, and is not intended to include all of the computers ever made. Included computers are sorted by the year of their release, beginning with the Datapoint 2200 in 1970 and going through the year 19933, some of which are merely listed, while most include photos and several details, with a space for comments.
http://www.oldcomputers.net/
Articles in a wide variety of topics related to early computing, early computers, gaming, gaming devices, and technology history, interviews with people who have been involved with the same, and related subjects have been published here since 2005, largely written by Benj Edwards, a freelance tech journalist. Topics may be found by topical category or by monthly archives. An introduction to the author is presented, along with advertising opportunities and support data.
http://www.vintagecomputing.com/
