5. What Invention Allowed For The Development Of Small Personal Computers?

5. What Invention Allowed For The Development Of Small Personal Computers
Invention of the Personal Computer: Postwar Innovations – ENIAC and other early computers demonstrated to many universities and corporations that the machines were worth the significant investment of money, space, and manpower that was required to operate them.

This led to the development of the personal computer.
(For instance, the ENIAC was able to solve the issue of a missile’s trajectory in thirty seconds, but it would have taken a group of human “computers” twelve hours to do it.) During this same time period, advances in technology made it feasible to construct computers that were more streamlined and could fit into smaller spaces.

In 1948, Bell Labs created the transistor, an electronic device that transported and amplified electrical current but was considerably smaller than the unwieldy vacuum tube. The vacuum tube had been the standard electronic component until the transistor came along.

After ten years, researchers at Texas Instruments and Fairchild Semiconductor came up with the idea of an integrated circuit.
This was an innovation that combined all of the electrical components of a computer, such as transistors, capacitors, resistors, and diodes, onto a single silicon chip.
The microprocessor, on the other hand, was one of the most important innovations that opened the way for the revolution brought on by personal computers.

Before the development of microprocessors, every single one of a computer’s operations required to be handled by a distinct integrated circuit chip. (This was one of the reasons why the machines remained as enormous as they were.) The microprocessors were about the size of a thumbnail, and they had capabilities that the integrated-circuit chips did not have.

Which invention made the rise of the personal computer possible?

Invention of the Personal Computer: Postwar Innovations – ENIAC and other early computers demonstrated to many universities and corporations that the machines were worth the significant investment of money, space, and manpower that was required to operate them.

This led to the development of the personal computer.
(For instance, the ENIAC was able to solve the issue of a missile’s trajectory in thirty seconds, but it would have taken a group of human “computers” twelve hours to do it.) During this same time period, advances in technology made it feasible to construct computers that were more streamlined and could fit into smaller spaces.

After ten years, researchers at Texas Instruments and Fairchild Semiconductor came up with the idea of an integrated circuit. This was an innovation that combined all of the electrical components of a computer, such as transistors, capacitors, resistors, and diodes, onto a single silicon chip. The microprocessor, on the other hand, was one of the most important innovations that helped pave the way for the personal computer revolution.

What led to the development of computers?

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(Photo courtesy of Getty Images and the Science & Society Picture Library) The origins of computers may be traced back more than two centuries. During the 19th century, mechanical calculating machines were first conceptualized by mathematicians and entrepreneurs.

Later on, during this same century, these machines were created and manufactured in order to address the more sophisticated number-crunching issues. Early in the 20th century, advances in technology made it possible to create computers with ever-increasing levels of complexity. Concurrently, these machines grew in size and processing capacity.

Computers of today are almost indistinguishable from the designs of the 19th century, such as Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, or even from the enormous computers of the 20th century, which occupied whole rooms and were known as the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator.

What computer that is also known as personal computer?

A microcomputer is a full-fledged computer that is scaled down to a smaller size and is intended for use by a single user at a time. An obsolete word, a microcomputer is now more often known as a personal computer (PC), which is another name for a device that is based on a microprocessor contained on a single chip.

Laptops and desktops are two examples of common types of microcomputers.
In addition to traditional personal computers, the term “microcomputer” can refer to devices such as calculators, mobile phones, laptops, workstations, and embedded systems.
A microcomputer, which is significantly smaller than both a mainframe and a minicomputer, has its central processing unit comprised of a single integrated semiconductor chip ( CPU ).

In addition, they have input/output (I/O) ports, memory on the form of read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM), and a bus or system of interconnecting cables, all of which are included in a single unit that is typically referred to as a motherboard.

How do they make computers so small?

The age of integrated circuits: The transition from transistors to integrated circuits in the 1960s marked the beginning of the next technological revolution. This innovation marks the beginning of the third generation of computing and was made possible by the introduction of very small MOS transistors (metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor), which are also referred to as MOSFETs.

The size of the big transistor was reduced so that electronic circuits could be made on a layer of material that was flat (silicon is the most widely used material for IC).
This increased the computing capability while at the same time reducing the size of the computer.
A single integrated circuit may store thousands of bits in an area no larger than the palm of your hand.

Super tiny transistors (Photo Credit: Andrei Kuzmik/Shutterstock) This new advancement caused an exponential increase in the amount of processing power that was accessible, which ultimately led to the present time in which we find ourselves living.

How were computers used in the 70s?

Alterations Made to Computers During the 1970s – Over the course of the previous few decades, computers have made significant advancements in both broadening people’s access to the world and enhancing its overall quality. In the 1970s, there were very few people who were completely unaware of where their computer technology would eventually go.

Even fewer of them undoubtedly had the foresight to see that they would develop into what they are now in the future.
In contrast, the widespread use of computers did not start to catch on until the decade of the 1970s.
As a consequence of this, a number of businesses have been extending their operations and making improvements to their computer technology in order to raise the potential income and to make personal home computers more accessible and enjoyable to use for everyone.

A rough estimate of how commonplace computers were in the 1970s Atari Video Computer System $199 1979 in New York City Computer Model TRS-80 Sold at Radio Shack $399 Illinois 1978 In the 1970s, one of the most successful corporations in the computer technology industry was the Tandy Corporation.

The TRS-80, which would go on to become their most famous product, first appeared on store shelves in the late 1970s and was an instant hit. People anxiously awaited the launch of this product, which was going to be available nowhere else than at Radio Shack. With a price tag of about $600, a personal computer is within reach of the budgets of a large number of common people.

In point of fact, more than 10,000 TRS-80s were purchased in the very first month that the product was available to consumers. Over 55,000 people acquired a Tandy TRS-80 to use in their homes or offices during its first year on the market, and during 250,000 of these computers were sold over the subsequent several years.

The TRS-80 was discontinued in 1981 to make room for other brands and models that were both more advanced and more popular.
The TRS-80 home computer produced by Tandy Corporation included both a keyboard and a motherboard into a single unit.
This eventually turned into a standard practice that other corporations adopted for their own personal computer offerings.

In addition to this, it had a 1.77 MHz processor, which was practically unheard of for personal computers at the time that it was brought to market. The data was stored on regular cassette tapes, and the display on the monitor was a white-on-black monochrome screen that showed almost exclusively capital characters.

Owners of a TRS-80 might choose to extend their storage capacity by purchasing a separate floppy disk drive or update their existing drive for an additional fee. The fact that it included software that users could use to play famous video games of the era, such as Pac-Man, Centipede, and Galaxian, contributed to the product’s widespread adoption in many households.

The TRS-80 was also equipped with office programs, such as a word processor, calculator, and capability for early spreadsheets. The Apple II computer was initially released by the Apple Company in the year 1977. The Apple II was developed primarily with broad market appeal in mind, which contributed to the product’s favorable reception from consumers.

Because it was the first of the successful home computer systems in the United States, many people feel that this model was the start of the personal computer revolution. In point of fact, this is the model that many people perceive to be the beginning of the personal computer revolution. This model was so long-lasting and well-liked by consumers that it continued to be in demand well into the early 1990s; in fact, some of them are still being utilized in educational settings to this very day.

Computer users had the option of purchasing an Apple II and connecting it to their television set in order to use it as a monitor for a fee that ranged from $1300 to $2600 depending on the amount of memory they choose. The Apple II was packaged in a sturdy carrying case and boasted color graphics with a high resolution as well as an outstanding sound system.

Both the Applesoft and Integer programming languages were utilized within the device, and both of these languages were derived from the BASIC (Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) programming language.
The product was housed within a computer.
The hard drive was also a 1 MHz with 4 kilobytes of memory, which, at the time, was a tremendous quantity of storage capacity that people could utilize for a number of reasons.

People were able to use this storage capacity for a variety of things. Users of the Apple II may upgrade to a floppy disk drive or purchase an external floppy disk drive the year after it was first made available to the public in order to replace cassette tapes as their primary storage medium.

Not only was this method more convenient, but drives also offered a greater capacity for storing data than other options.
The use of personal computers first became widespread in the late 1970s, and their development has not slowed down since that time.
Numerous businesses were aware of the developments occurring in the computer industry during the decade and made efforts in the next decade to enhance the quality of their existing offerings.

People in the late 1970s were quick to embrace the personal computer and utilized them for a number of purposes, including gaming, office applications, home finance management, data storage, and many other choices. This trend continued throughout the 1980s.

Companies and individuals alike were aware of the boundless opportunities afforded to them by the possession of their very own personal computer, and they took full use of a great deal of those opportunities.
Although IBM’s personal computer, known as the PC, did not become available to consumers until 1981, the foundational technologies that were required to construct the PC began to emerge in the 1970s from companies such as Intel and Microsoft.

Apple and Commodore have already established that there is a market for their products and have built a sizable customer base, making them the first “killer app” in the corporate sector. The spreadsheet application VisiCalc is developed to operate on Apple computers, which transforms the Apple from a toy for enthusiasts into a highly desirable and practical financial tool for businesses.

What computers were available in 1970?

Questions and Answers (Frequently Asked Questions) Regarding Computers in the 1970s – In 1970, what kinds of computers were available? PDP, Atari, Micral, Apple, Intel, and IBM were some of the computer brands that saw the greatest amount of consumer adoption in the 1970s.

Naturally, these names for computers were not the only ones that ever existed; in fact, there were probably numerous other names for computers that were used during this decade.
The ones that are given above are simply the ones that are the most typical.
Why is the year 1970 significant in computing? The decade of the 1970s was a pivotal one in the annals of computer history because it marked the point at which two distinct courses of computer development diverged: On the one hand, research and development efforts were focused on creating larger mainframes and supercomputers, while on the other hand, research and development efforts were focused on creating personal and home computers.

Both demonstrated that the actual concept of a computer went beyond any one size, shape, or function, which is why they should both be considered equally essential. How much did it cost to buy a computer in 1970? In the 1970s, the cost of a computer was very variable and totally dependent on the kind of machine that the buyer desired.

It’s possible that you won’t have to spend more than a few hundred dollars on a computer for your hobbies.
When it comes to supercomputers, you should plan on spending easily six figures.
However, the majority of home and personal computers cost less than or no more than $10,000 on average.
What kind of tasks did people perform on computers back in the 1970s? In the 1970s, computers were utilized for a wide variety of activities, including employment, play, science, mathematics, research, data storage, communication, networking, tracking, and even some of the most fundamental types of commerce, such as purchasing an airline ticket.

What were the most significant leaps forward in computer technology that took place in the 1970s? The most significant technological breakthroughs of the 1970s included the creation of the microprocessor, the expansion and improvement of a variety of programming languages, the incorporation of microchips for use in personal computers, the development of the home computer, the establishment of the Internet, and the advancement of video gaming systems.

Did people have computers in the 70s?

5 Inventions That Will Change The World of Personal Computers

Prior to the year 1970, computers were cumbersome devices that required thousands of individual transistors. Specialized technicians, who often worked in white lab coats and were frequently referred to as a “computer priesthood,” were the ones in charge of operating these machines.

The equipment were not only costly but also complicated to use. Very few individuals, including the people who were programming them, had direct interaction with them. The typical interaction went as follows: a programmer would code instructions and data onto preformatted paper, a keypunch operator would transfer the data onto punch cards, a computer operator would feed the cards into a card reader, and the computer would either carry out the instructions or store the information on the cards for later use in processing.

Through time-sharing and the use of cathode-ray tube terminals or teletype machines, more advanced installations may enable users to have a limited level of contact with the computer in a manner that is more directly yet still remotely accessible. At the turn of the 1970s, there were fundamentally two categories of computing devices on the market.

Companies like as IBM and CDC would construct a single mainframe at a time, and each one would be the size of an entire room and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
There were also a few companies, such as Digital Equipment Corporation and Hewlett-Packard Company, that built smaller, less expensive, mass-produced minicomputers for scientific laboratories and businesses.

These minicomputers cost tens of thousands of dollars and were mass-produced. They were cheaper. They were mass-produced. However, the majority of people did not have any direct interaction with either sort of computer, and the machines were commonly perceived as impersonal gigantic brains that posed a danger to the existence of employment due to automation.

What happened in the computer world in the 1970’s?

A remarkable leap forward in technological development was in full swing when the 1970s began. During this decade, significant technological advances were made, including the invention of the first microprocessor, the first email, the foundation of Xerox PARC at Stanford University, and the development of Unix.1971 saw the transition of the Computer Group into what is now known as the IEEE Computer Society.

The 1970s were a decade that saw substantial expansion for the Computer Society in terms of the depth and breadth of the services they provided. The amount of members more than tripled. From 5 to 10, the total number of cops more than doubled. By the time the 1970s came to a close, the number of members of the Computer Society had increased to 43,930.

This figure included 7,833 students and 3,943 affiliates. There were more than one hundred chapters, with thirty of them being student branch chapters.1977 saw the formation of the IEEE 754 floating-point working group, and 1985 saw the completion of the IEEE 754-1985 binary floating-point arithmetic for computer microprocessors by the Microprocessor Standards Committee.

The publication program of the organization saw tremendous expansion. The Computer Group News was renamed Computer in 1972, and the following year, the newspaper started appearing monthly. In 1973, it also saw a major rise in the amount of content devoted to instructional topics. Computer is now the sole magazine that is automatically received with society membership after IEEE Transactions on Computers was unbundled at the same time.

Computer was formerly the only publication that was packaged with it. The organization discovered that it could grow its publishing program independent of the membership dues structure, which led to a healthy maintenance of the subscriber base for the transactions that are now optional.

In 1975, the organization published the first issue of IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, and in January 1979, it published the first issue of IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.
Over the course of the decade, more than 25,000 pages were published in periodicals, including approximately 13,500 pages for the IEEE Transactions on Computers, approximately 4,100 pages for the IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, more than 400 pages for the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis & Machine Intelligence, and more than 8,000 editorial pages for Computer.

In addition, during this time period, the organization formally organized its non-periodical publications under the Computer Society Press. During this decade, the Computer Society Press was responsible for publishing mostly conference proceedings, tutorial materials, and reprints.

By the conclusion of the time period, there were a total of twenty different technical communities, of which fourteen were newly established. The communities made a substantial contribution to the rise in the number of specialized conferences and meetings. In the late 1970s, the Computer Society sponsored or cosponsored over fifty technical conferences, seminars, and symposia, the majority of which were in conjunction with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

Additionally, the Computer Society was the first IEEE society to form student branch chapters of the organization.1974 marked the beginning of this endeavor, which was initially conceived as an experiment and was afterwards taken up by the IEEE. In addition, throughout this decade, the awards program that the society had been running was codified and enlarged.

At the tail end of the decade, the society initiated the practice of having its members directly elect officers and members of the board of governors (BOG). Prior to that time, each officer, including chairmen, presidents, and members of the Board of Governors, was chosen by the board itself. Although there was only one contender for each post, petition candidates may still run.

It wasn’t until 1984 that the election started to attract serious candidates. The workforce that provided operational assistance for the society also increased.1971 was the year that saw the introduction of the role of executive secretary. At the end of the decade, the staff of the Computer Society consisted of a total of sixteen permanent employees, two of whom worked from the home office of the executive secretary in Silver Spring, Maryland, and fourteen of whom worked from rented space in Long Beach, California, rented by the publishing group.

In addition, there were several temporary part-time employees working in both locations. The publishing organization’s requirements and profitability increased to the point that, before the end of the decade, the society began the process of purchasing its own building in the city of Los Alamitos, which is located in the state of California.

By the time the 1970s came to a close, membership in the Computer Society had increased to a total of 43,930 people, including 7,833 students and 3,943 affiliates. At this point, there were more than one hundred chapters, including around thirty student branch chapters.1970 saw the formation of the IEEE Computer Society from the Computer Group.

The Distinguished Visitor Program kicks off by sending speakers to various chapters all around the country.
The Computer Society will soon have its first president after the election.1972 At the Computer Program Test Methods conference, the necessity for software engineering standards is presented for the first time.

The former publication known as Computer Group News is now known as Computer magazine.1973 saw the launch of the Society’s main publication, which was now a monthly journal called Computer.1974 The Computer Society is the first IEEE society to launch student branch chapters of the organization.

The inaugural issue of IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering has been published.1975 marks the beginning of publication for the IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.1976 The Software Engineering Technical Community launches a working group on establishing quality assurance standards for software.

The Education Committee unveils the very first version of its model curriculum.1977 A floating-point working group for the IEEE 754 standard is established.1978 marks the beginning of publication for the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.