History of computing hardware (1960s–present)
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{{history of computing}}
The '''history of computing hardware''' starting at 1960 is marked by the conversion from [[vacuum tube]] to [[Solid state (electronics)|solid state]] devices such as the [[transistor]] and later the [[integrated circuit]]. By 1959 discrete transistors were considered sufficiently reliable and economical that they made further vacuum tube computers uncompetetive. Computer main memory slowly moved away from [[magnetic core memory]] devices to solid-state static and dynamic semiconductor memory, which greatly reduced the cost, size and power consumption of computer devices. Eventually the cost of integrated circuit devices became low enough that [[home computer]]s and [[personal computer]]s became widespread.
== Third generation ==
The mass increase in the use of computers accelerated with 'Third Generation' computers. These generally relied on [[Jack Kilby|Jack St. Clair Kilby]]'s invention of the [[integrated circuit]] (or microchip), starting around 1965. However, the [[International Business Machines|IBM]] [[System/360]] used [[hybrid circuit]]s, which were solid-state devices interconnected on a substrate with discrete wires.
The first integrated circuit was produced in September [[1958]] but computers using them didn't begin to appear until [[1963]]. Some of their early uses were in [[embedded system]]s, notably used by [[NASA]] for the [[Apollo Guidance Computer]] and by the military in the [[LGM-30 Minuteman]] [[intercontinental ballistic missile]].
By 1971, the [[Illiac IV]] supercomputer, which was the fastest computer in the world for several years, used about a quarter-million small-scale [[ECL]] logic gate integrated circuits to make up sixty-four parallel data processors. <ref> D. A. Slotnick, ''The Fastest Computer'', ''Scientific American'' February 1971, reprinted in ''Computers and Computation'', Freeman and Company, San Francisco 1971, ISBN 0-7167-0936-8 </ref>
While large '[[Mainframe computer|mainframe]]s' such as the System/360 increased [[Computer storage|storage]] and processing capabilities, the integrated circuit also allowed the development of much smaller computers. The [[minicomputer]] was a significant innovation in the 1960s and 1970s. It brought computing power to more people, not only through more convenient physical size but also through broadening the computer vendor field. [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] became the number two computer company behind IBM with their popular [[Programmed Data Processor|PDP]] and [[VAX]] computer systems. Smaller, affordable hardware also brought about the development of important new [[operating system]]s like [[Unix]].
Large scale integration of circuits led to the development of very small processing units, an early example of this is the processor was the [[classified]] [[CADC]] used for analyzing flight data in the [[US Navy]]'s [[F-14 Tomcat|F14A Tomcat]] fighter jet. This processor was developed by [[Steve Geller]], [[Ray Holt]] and a team from [[AiResearch]] and [[American Microsystems]].
In 1966, [[Hewlett-Packard]] entered the general purpose computer business with its [[HP 2100|HP-2116]], offering a computational power formerly found only in much larger computers. It supported a wide variety of languages, among them [[BASIC programming language|BASIC]], [[Algol programming language|ALGOL]], and [[FORTRAN]].
[[Image:Nova1200.agr.jpg|200px|left|thumb|<center><small>1969 [[Data General Nova]].</small></center>]]
In [[1969]], [[Data General]] shipped a total of 50,000 Novas at $8000 each. The [[Data General Nova|Nova]] was one of the first [[16-bit]] minicomputers and led the way toward [[Word (computer science)|word]] lengths that were multiples of the [[8-bit]] [[byte]]. It was first to employ medium-scale integration (MSI) circuits from [[Fairchild Semiconductor]], with subsequent models using large-scale integrated (LSI) circuits. Also notable was that the entire [[Central processing unit|central processor]] was contained on one 15-inch [[printed circuit board]].
In 1973, the [[TV Typewriter]], designed by [[Don Lancaster]], provided electronics hobbyists with a display of alphanumeric information on an ordinary television set. It used $120 worth of electronics components, as outlined in the September 1973 issue of Radio Electronics magazine. The original design included two memory boards and could generate and store 512 characters as 16 lines of 32 characters. A 90-minute cassette tape provided supplementary storage for about 100 pages of text. His design used minimalistic hardware to generate the timing of the various signals needed to create the TV signal. [[Clive Sinclair]] later used the same approach in his legendary [[Sinclair ZX80]].
== Fourth generation ==
The basis of the fourth generation was [[Marcian Hoff]]'s invention of the [[microprocessor]].
Unlike Third generation [[minicomputer]]s, which were essentially scaled down versions of [[mainframe computer]]s, the fourth generation's origins are fundamentally different. Microprocessor-based computers were originally very limited in their computational ability and speed, and were in no way an attempt to downsize the minicomputer. They were addressing an entirely different market.
Although processing power and storage capacities have increased beyond all recognition since the 1970s, the underlying technology of LSI (large scale integration) or [[VLSI]] (very large scale integration) microchips has remained basically the same, so it is widely regarded that most of today's computers still belong to the fourth generation.
===Microprocessors===
[[Image:c4004.JPG.jpg|thumb|left|170px|<center><small>1971: [[Intel 4004]].</small></center>]]
On [[November 15]], [[1971]], [[Intel]] released the world's first commercial microprocessor, the [[Intel 4004|4004]]. It was developed for a Japanese calculator company, [[Busicom]], as an alternative to hardwired circuitry, but computers were developed around it, with much of their processing abilities provided by a single small microprocessor chip. Coupled with one of Intel's other products - the [[Random Access Memory|RAM]] chip, based on an invention by [[Robert Dennard]] of IBM, (kilobits of memory on a single chip) - the microprocessor allowed fourth generation computers to be smaller and faster than previous computers. The 4004 was only capable of 60,000 instructions per second, but its successors, the Intel 8008, 8080 (used in many computers using the [[CP/M]] [[operating system]]), and the 8086/8088 family (the IBM [[Personal computer|PC]] and compatibles use processors still backwards-compatible with the 8086) brought ever-increasing speed and power to the computers. Other manufacturers also produced microprocessors which were widely used in microcomputers.
=== Supercomputers ===
[[Image:Cray-1-p1010221.jpg|thumb|right|160px|<center><small>1976: [[Cray-1]] supercomputer.</small></center>]]
At the other end of the computing spectrum from the [[microcomputer]]s, the powerful [[supercomputer]]s of the era also used integrated circuit technology. In [[1976]] the [[Cray-1]] was developed by [[Seymour Cray]], who had left Control Data in 1972 to form his own company. This machine, the first supercomputer to make [[vector processing]] practical, had a characteristic horseshoe shape, to speed processing by shortening circuit paths. Vector processing, which uses a single instruction to perform the same operation on many arguments, has been a fundamental supercomputer processing method ever since. The Cray-1 could calculate 150 million floating point operations per second (150 [[megaflop]]s). 85 were shipped at a price of $5 million each. The Cray-1 had a [[Central processing unit|CPU]] that was mostly constructed of [[Emitter coupled logic|ECL]] [[integrated circuit#SSI|SSI/MSI]] circuits.
== Mainframes and minicomputers ==
[[Image:Televideo925Terminal adjusted.jpg|thumb|[[Time-sharing|Time shared]] [[computer terminal]]s connected to central computers, such as the TeleVideo [[ASCII]] character mode smart terminal pictured here, were sometimes used before the advent of the PC.]]
Before the introduction of the [[microprocessor]] in the early 1970s, computers were generally large, costly systems owned by large institutions: corporations, universities, government agencies, and the like. Users—who were experienced specialists—did not usually interact with the machine itself, but instead prepared tasks for the computer on off-line equipment, such as [[Key punch|card punches]]. A number of assignments for the computer would be gathered up and processed in [[batch processing|batch mode]]. After the jobs had completed, users could collect the output printouts and punched cards. In some organizations it could take hours or days between submitting a job to the computing center and receiving the output.
A more interactive form of computer use developed commercially by the middle 1960s. In a [[time-sharing]] system, multiple [[computer terminal|teletype terminals]] let many people share the use of one [[mainframe computer]] processor. This was common in business applications and in science and engineering.
A different model of computer use was foreshadowed by the way in which early, pre-commercial, experimental computers were used, where one user had exclusive use of a processor.<ref> Athony Ralston and edwin D. Reilly (ed), ''Encyclopedia of Computer Science 3rd Edition'', Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1993 ISBN 0-442-27679-6, article ''Digital Computers History'' </ref> Some of the first computers that might be called "personal" were early [[minicomputer]]s such as the [[LINC]] and [[PDP-8]], and later on [[VAX]] and larger minicomputers from [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] (DEC), [[Data General]], [[Prime Computer]], and others. They originated as peripheral processors for mainframe computers, taking on some routine tasks and freeing the processor for computation. By today's standards they were physically large (about the size of a refrigerator) and costly (typically tens of thousands of [[United States dollar|US dollars]]), and thus were rarely purchased by individuals. However, they were much smaller, less expensive, and generally simpler to operate than the mainframe computers of the time, and thus affordable by individual laboratories and research projects. Minicomputers largely freed these organizations from the [[batch processing]] and bureaucracy of a commercial or university computing center.
In addition, minicomputers were more interactive than mainframes, and soon had their own [[operating system]]s. The minicomputer [[Xerox Alto]] (1973) was a landmark step in the development of personal computers, because of its [[graphical user interface]], [[bit-map]]ped high resolution screen, large internal and external memory storage, [[mouse (computing)|mouse]], and special software.<ref>Rheingold, H. (2000). Tools for thought: the history and future of mind-expanding technology (New ed.). Cambridge, MA etc.: The MIT Press.</ref>
== Microprocessor and cost reduction ==
[[Image:Science museum 025 adjusted.jpg|thumb|The [[Apple II]], one of the "1977 Trinity". The drive shown is a model designed for the [[Apple III]].]]
The [[minicomputer]] ancestors of the modern personal computer used [[integrated circuit]] (microchip) technology, which reduced size and cost, but processing was carried out by circuits with large numbers of components arranged on multiple large [[printed circuit boards]] before the introduction of the [[microprocessor]]. They were consequently physically large and expensive to manufacture. After the "computer-on-a-chip" was commercialized, the cost to manufacture a computer system dropped dramatically. The arithmetic, logic, and control functions that previously occupied several costly [[circuit board]]s were now available in one [[integrated circuit]] which was very expensive to design but very cheap to manufacture in large quantities. Concurrently, advances in the development of [[solid state memory]] eliminated the bulky, costly, and power-hungry [[magnetic core memory]] used in prior generations of computers.
There were a few researchers at places such as [[SRI International|SRI]] and [[Xerox PARC]] who were working on computers that a single person could use and could be connected by fast, versatile networks: not home computers, but personal ones.
==Altair 8800 and IMSAI 8080==
{{main|Altair 8800|IMSAI 8080}}
Development of the single-chip [[microprocessor]] was an enormous catalyst to the popularization of cheap, easy to use, and truly personal computers. The [[Altair 8800]], introduced in a ''[[Popular Electronics]]'' magazine article in the January 1975 issue, at the time set a new low price point for a computer, bringing computer ownership to an admittedly select market in the 1970s. This was followed by the [[IMSAI 8080]] computer, with similar abilities and limitations. The Altair and IMSAI were essentially scaled-down minicomputers and were incomplete: to connect a keyboard or teletype to them required heavy, expensive "peripherals". These machines both featured a front panel with switches and lights, which communicated with the operator in [[binary numeral system|binary]]. To program the machine after switching it on the [[bootstrap loader]] program had to be entered, without error, in binary, then a paper tape containing a [[BASIC]] interpreter loaded from a paper-tape reader. Keying the loader required setting a bank of eight switches up or down and pressing the "load" button, once for each byte of the program, which was typically hundreds of bytes long. The computer could run BASIC programs once the interpreter had been loaded.
[[Image:Altair 8800 Computer.jpg|thumb|right|160px|<center><small>1975: [[Altair 8800]].</small></center>]]
The [[Altair 8800|MITS Altair]], the first commercially successful microprocessor kit, was featured on the cover of ''[[Popular Electronics]]'' magazine in January 1975. It was the world's first mass-produced personal computer kit, as well as the first computer to use an [[Intel 8080]] processor. It was a commercial success with 10,000 Altairs being shipped. The Altair also inspired the software development efforts of [[Paul Allen]] and his high school friend [[Bill Gates]] who developed a BASIC [[Interpreter (computer software)|interpreter]] for the Altair, and then formed [[Microsoft]].
The MITS Altair 8800 effectively created a new industry of microcomputers and computer kits, with many others following, such as a wave of small business computers in the late 1970s based on the Intel 8080, [[Zilog Z80]] and [[Intel 8085]] microprocessor chips. Most ran the [[CP/M operating system|CP/M-80]] operating system developed by [[Gary Kildall]] at [[Digital Research]]. CP/M-80 was the first popular microcomputer operating system to be used by many different hardware vendors, and many software packages were written for it, such as [[WordStar]] and [[DBASE|dBase II]].
Many hobbyists during the mid 1970s designed their own systems, with various degrees of success, and sometimes banded together to ease the job. Out of these house meetings the [[Homebrew Computer Club]] developed, where hobbyists met to talk about what they had done, exchange schematics and software, and demonstrate their systems. Many people built or assembled their own computers as per published designs. For example, many thousands of people built the [[Galaksija]] home computer later in the early 80s.
It was arguably the Altair computer that spawned the development of [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], as well as [[Microsoft]] which produced and sold the [[Altair BASIC]] programming language interpreter, Microsoft's first product. The second generation of [[microcomputer]]s — those that appeared in the late 1970s, sparked by the unexpected demand for the kit computers at the electronic hobbyist clubs, were usually known as [[home computer]]s. For business use these systems were less capable and in some ways less versatile than the large business computers of the day. They were designed for fun and educational purposes, not so much for practical use. And although you could use some simple office/productivity applications on them, they were generally used by computer enthusiasts for learning to [[computer programming|program]] and for running [[computer game]]s, for which the personal computers of the period were less suitable and much too expensive. For the more technical hobbyists home computers were also used for electronics interfacing, such as controlling [[model railroad]]s, and other general hobbyist pursuits.
==Micral N ==
{{main|Micral}}
In France, the company R2E<ref>[http://www.feb-patrimoine.com/projet/micral/micral.htm R2E Micral1972<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> (Réalisations et Etudes Electroniques) formed by two former engineers of the [[Intertechnique]] company, [[André Truong Trong Thi]]<ref>[http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/informatique/0,39040745,39216252,00.htm Décès d'André Truong, inventeur du micro-ordinateur - Actualités - ZDNet.fr<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.silicon.fr/fr/silicon/news/2005/04/05/andre-truong-pere-micro-ordinateur-quittes André Truong, père du micro-ordinateur, nous a quittés Actualité - Silicon.fr<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and [[François Gernelle]]<ref>[http://members.fortunecity.com/pcmuseum/gernelle.htm Gernelle creator of the first micro computer<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> introduced in February 1973 a microcomputer, the [[Micral]] N based on the Intel 8008.<ref> Roy A. Allan ''A History of the Personal Computer'' (Alan Publishing, 2001) ISBN 0968910807 Chapter 4 (PDF: http://www.archive.org/download/A_History_of_the_Personal_Computer/eBook04.pdf)</ref>
Originally, the computer had been designed by Gernelle, Lacombe, Beckmann and Benchitrite for the [[Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique]] to automate hygrometric measurements.<ref>[http://febcm.club.fr/english/chronoa10.htm Groupe BULL chronology<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=352 OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The Micral N cost a fifth of the price of a [[PDP-8]], about 8500FF ($1300).
The clock of the Intel 8008 was set at 500kHz, the memory was 16 kilobytes.
A bus, called Pluribus was introduced and allowed connection of up to 14 boards.
Different boards for digital I/O, analog I/O, memory, floppy disk were available from R2E. The Micral operating
system was initially called Sysmic, and was later renamed [[Prologue]].
R2E was absorbed by [[Groupe Bull]] in 1978. Although Groupe Bull continued the production of Micral computers, it was not interested in the Personal Computer market. and Micral computers were mostly confined to highway toll gates (where they remained in service until 1992) and similar niche markets.
== Microcomputer emerges ==
{{main article|Personal computer}}
The advent of the microprocessor and solid-state memory made home computing affordable. Early hobby microcomputer systems such as the [[Altair 8800]] and [[Apple I]] introduced around 1975 marked the release of low-cost 8-bit processor chips, which had sufficient computing power to be of interest to hobby and experimental users. By 1977 pre-assembled systems such as the [[Apple II]], [[PET]], and [[TRS-80]] (later dubbed the "1977 Trinity" by ''Byte'' Magazine)<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.byte.com/art/9509/sec7/art15.htm
|title = Most Important Companies
|accessdate = 2008-06-10
|author =
|date = September 1995
|work = [[Byte Magazine]]
}}</ref> began the era of mass-market personal computers; much less effort was required to obtain an operating computer, and applications such as games, word processing, and spreadsheets began to proliferate. <!--CP/M small business systems, then IBM PC introduction, home computers, Windows and the resulting end of history as we know it -->
== See also ==
* [[History of computing hardware]] for before the 1960s
* [[Influence of the IBM-PC on the PC market]]
* [[Timeline of computing]]
* [[CPU design]] – a technical discussion of computing history
* [[History of operating systems]]
* [[History of the Internet]]
* [[History of the graphical user interface]]
* [[Programming language timeline]]
* [[Hardware description language]]
* [[Hardware abstraction layer]]
* [[Computer architecture]] – how computers are designed
* [[Computers in fiction]]
* [[Fifth generation computer systems project]]
* [[Quantum computing]]
* [[Curta calculator]]
* ''[[Pirates of Silicon Valley]]'' – [[docudrama]] about [[Apple Inc.]] and [[Microsoft]]'s early days.
* ''[[Triumph of the Nerds]]''
== Notes ==
{{reflist}}
== References ==
* {{cite book
| last = Freiberger
| first = Paul
| coauthors = Michael Swaine
| title = Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer
| origyear = 1984
| url = http://www.fireinthevalley.com/
| edition = 2nd edition
| year = 2000
| publisher = McGraw-Hill
| location = New York
| id = ISBN 0-07-135892-7
}}
== External links ==
*[http://ox.compsoc.net/~swhite/history.html Stephen White's excellent Computer history site] (the above article is a modified version of his work, used with [[History of computing/Permission|Permission]])
*[http://www.atariarchives.org/deli/ ''Digital Deli'', edited by Steve Ditlea, full text of the classic computer book]
*[http://oldcomputermuseum.com Collection of old analog and digital computers] at Old Computer Museum
*[http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/History/ Yahoo Computers and History]
*[http://computer.org/history/development/index.html IEEE computer history timeline]
*[http://www.icomm.ca/tpug/#CommodoreInformationOnline Links to all things Commodore]
*[http://www.bambi.net/bob/homebrew.html A homebrew computer club site]
*[http://www.computerhistory.org Computer History Museum]
*[http://www.oldcomputermuseum.com/ Old Computer Museum]
*[http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org Pictures and information on old computers]
*[http://www.itpartshopper.com ITPartshopper: a database of suppliers for obsolete computer parts]
*[http://pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/pcw.nsf/f2abee2df7582f36cc2569a4007e4ab9/b28f47e0ac75bfddcc256eba0080fe2f!OpenDocument History of Computers (1989-2004) in PC World excerpts]
*[http://davidguy.brinkster.net/computer/ ''How It Works - The Computer'', 1971 and 1979 editions, by David Carey, illustrated by B. H. Robinson]
*[http://www.pc-history.org PC History] Stan Veit's classic work on the history of Pre-IBM personal computers.
*[http://vlib.iue.it/history/internet/index.html WWW-VL: Internet History]
[[Category:History of computing hardware|*History of computing hardware]]
[[he:היסטוריה של המחשוב (1960 עד היום)]]