1 In order to understand and appreciate the functioning and the organization of
modern computer systems, let us have a look at their recent past. Soon we will also discuss their future.
YEAR WHAT HAPPENED
1942 ENIAC, the fi rst high-speed electronic calculator, was born.
1951 J. P. Eckert and J. W. Mauchly designed and built the UNIVAC computer; it was the fi rst calculator sold to the general public.
1953 IBM made the model 650, one of the fi rst widely used computers; the system was so successful that IBM built more than 1,000 units, an incredible amount in a period when computers were often unique samples.
1954 J. Backus and IBM invented the FORTRAN Computer Programming Language, the fi rst really usable high-level programming language.
1956 The fi rst transistorized calculator was built at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
1957 The IBM 305 RAMAC system was the fi rst model using a magnetic disk to save data. Compared to the fl oppy disks we employ today, its storage device was bigger in size and more expensive, but the
basic concept of magnetic data storage is the same.
1958 Transistor-based computers were put on the market. This event marked the beginning of a new generation of computers. J. Kilby and R. Noyce invented the integrated circuit, called "chip".
1960 "COBOL", a new programming language, was developed. Even if still complex, it represented an important step towards the easiness of use typical of high-level programming, as it used English- like phrases.
1962 D. Engelbart invented the mouse pointing device. S. Russel (MIT) coded the Spacewar computer game, the fi rst videogame ever invented.
1964 J. Kemeny and T. Kurtz invented the BASIC programming language, simpler to use than previous ones.
1969 IBM announced the possibility to buy some programs separately from the computers so that software companies were able to start up. The ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), a forerunner of the Internet, was started by the U.S. Department of Defence.
1971 IBM produced the 23FD fl oppy disk drive. It employed an 8-inch fl oppy plastic disk, called “memory disk”. Canada’s Automatic Electronic Systems released the fi rst programmable word processor with a video screen.
1972 B. Kernighan and D. Ritchie developed the C programming language, that would become one of the most popular and powerful languages.
1973 IBM built the fi rst hard disk drive, called Winchester. It required 50 24-inch disks to store 5 MB and cost roughly $ 35,000 a year to lease.
1976 S. Cray founded the Cray Research and developed the fastest computer in the world, called Cray-1.
1980 IBM asked Microsoft to develop the operating system for the soon to be announced IBM personal computer. Microsoft created MS-DOS (MicroSoft Disk Operating System).
Section
3
2
Inside Computing
1981 IBM released its fi rst personal computer, which became the best selling calculator for business.
1983 Lotus Development Corporation was started; its spreadsheet software, Lotus 1-2-3 combined spreadsheet, graphics and database programs all in one. The fi rst home computer with a graphic user interface was built by Apple.
1984 Hewlett Packard made the fi rst laser jet printer for personal computers.
1985 Microsoft Windows 1.0 was born. It had user-friendly features, such as icons, graphics and mouse support. The Amiga was made: it soon became the most popular games machine.
1990 T. Berners-Lee, a CERN computer scientist, invented the World Wide Web. Initially, it was just a way to share data and information in a local area made of offi ces and laboratories.
1992 Microsoft released Windows 3.1, a later version of Windows 1.0, with substantial novelties.
It spread so quickly that in two months 3,000,000 copies were sold.
Linus Torvalds developed a new version of Unix, called Linux. Nowadays, it represents one of the most credited opponents of Microsoft Windows in the fi eld of operating systems.
1993 The fi rst Pentium chip was produced.
M. Anderssen created the fi rst graphical Web browser, called Mosaic. This led to Netscape development.
1995 Microsoft released Windows 95. Sun Microsystems invented Java, a multiplatform programming language based on a software called Java Virtual Machine.
1997 DVD, (Digital Versatile Disk), a new type of optical disk for storage, was introduced.
IBM’s Deep Blue defeated the World Chess Champion G. Kasparov, demonstrating that computers had the power of human brain.
1998 Microsoft started selling Windows 98, an upgrade of Windows 95.
1999 Microsoft Windows 98 SE (Second Edition) was released: it contained new drivers and a good support for USB devices. Intel produced the fi rst Pentium III chip, named Katmai.
2000 Microsoft Windows 2000 became available in February; it provided a better user interface and supported the most recent hardware. Another new operating system released by Microsoft was Windows ME (Millennium Edition): it was the last descendant of Windows 95.
2001 Windows XP was released. It represented the unifi cation of the two families of Microsoft’s operating systems: Windows 95 and Windows NT. It provided a brand new interface, very attractive and user- friendly. It tried to introduce a new mechanism to avoid piracy and illegal copies.
Intel released the fi rst model of Pentium 4, named Willamette: it had 42 million transistors and worked at 1.4 GHz.
Apple introduces the first generation iPod revolutionizing the music industry by signing the five major record companies to join in selling music through the iTunes Store, an on-line music downloading service.
2002 A new type of storage device was born: named Pen Drive, it can be connected to a computer by USB port.
At the end of the year, Sony produced the fi rst “Dual RW” DVD writer, compatible with both the standards: DVD-R/Rw and DVD+R/Rw.
2003 Offi ce 2003 appears on the market. A new mobile processor, Intel Centrino, is conquering the market. A new generation of MP3 readers, using an internal hard disk, is now available.
2004 In January 2004, Steve Jobs launches the monochrome-screened 4GB iPod Mini.
In September 2005, Apple replaces the iPod Mini with a new model featuring a 1.5 inch colour screen and showing photos, the iPod Nano.
3 2005 Intel will release a processor named Itanium 2MP-Montecito, with a dual core, containing 1 billion
transistors. Big computer vendors expect to obtain such technological developments in performance that they will break Moore’s Law (stating that chip speed doubles every 18 months). For example, IBM should unveil Blue Gene, a supercomputer faster than today’s top 500 supercomputers combined. Besides, Sun is working on so-called “throughput computers” that cram the equivalent of eight huge servers onto a single chip, an advance that could boost the power of big Internet servers fi fteenfold by mid-decade.
2007 On January, Microsoft Windows Vista was released worldwide to the general public and was available for purchase and downloading from Microsoft’s Web site. On October, Apple Inc. released the newest version of OS X, known as Leopard.
The iPhone, a smartphone with multimedia functions is unveiled by Steve Jobs in January 2007.
The three-devices-into-one handy is endowed with a touchscreen portable music player, a revolutionary cell phone and Internet capability.
2010 Another product marketed by Apple in January 2010 is the iPad, a tablet computer designed for audio-visual media and Internet surfi ng.
