The history of the computer goes beyond the birth of Microsoft or Apple to a time when such machines saw use through the military or for experimental purposes. The current concept of a computer, one that is small enough to be stored in an office or backpack was unheard of until the 1970's. Up until that point, the computer was a gigantic behemoth of a machine used for purposes that would be too large for personal use.
The Prototype
The year 1940 saw a demonstration of the Complex Number Calculator, created by Bell Telephone Laboratories. This demonstration gave the public their first view of a working remote access computer and a precursor to the personal computer that would become in vogue during the late 20th century.
Computers During the 40's
The onslaught of World War II brought up a need for the military to gather and obtain information faster than normal. Scientists for the Allies and the Axis worked to build computers that would process such information. The British designed the world's first intelligence gathering computer, called the Bombe, which helped break several Nazi codes.
The United States took its own steps into the world of computers with a joint effort between the Navy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). This effort produced the first flight simulator, allowing pilots to train without having to use military airplanes. The originals contained an analog computer before switching to digital technology.
Computers in the 50's
By 1950, with the war five years in the past, computers began to be marketed to businesses. The ERA 1011 was the first commercially produced computer. It was sold to the United States Navy. During this decade, IBM became the leading provider of business based computer systems with the models 701, 650 and 7000 becoming profitable endeavors. Laboratories, airplane facilities and ports, and the federal government used these computers. 1958 saw a step towards the modern Internet with the creation of the SAGE, a limited radar system that connected various communication networks in Canada and the United States.
Computers and the Internet in the 60's
During the 1960's, air traffic controllers joined the federal government in using network interfaces. Specific airlines, such as American, used a system called the SARRE, which allowed for flight data to be transmitted at a maximum loading time of three seconds.
At the same time, there became a growing push among the leading computer manufacturers to create smaller computer devices. The first of these, the PDP-8 was smaller, cheaper and faster than the main IBM models of the day. This brought about a rush by other brands including Hewlett Packard, who sold the HP-2115, a smaller and faster model than the PDP-8.
Dawn of the Silicon Valley: The 70's
Xerox moved to Palo Alto, California in 1970, opening a new research center solely for computers. Palo Alto is located near the Silicon Valley, the birthplace of the modern computer era and home to such companies as Apple Computer.
The Ato was created by Xerox in 1974. Designed as a personal workstation, it featured a built in mouse and an operating system with menus and icons, a precursor to Windows and the early Macintosh computers. This model was not sold in stores, but was donated to universities, influencing engineering students who would have a hand in creating the personal computer.
Xerox would leave the personal computing business soon after, but their prototype set the foundation for Bill Gates and Paul Allen, whose BASIC program released in 1975 set the standard for how computer programming would run through the remainder of the 20th century. Computers would soon be even smaller, lighter and faster, with an emphasis on the personal instead of the bulky machines that been in vogue.
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