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The third part of the list of important occurences.
This look into a 15 year "chunk" of the history of computing is the busiest so far, with various companies vying for the market, targeting the hobbyists (and Amateur Radio enthusiasts are included in that group), then the general public with, for their time, startling graphics and glorious sounds! This page will be updated soon with other home computer offerings that have been omitted at this time due to the amount of research required to cover the more notable / popular ones.
Short articles for some of the more important or interesting items from the main list will appear soon.
If anyone wants to add something to the list or write a short article about an item already listed feel free to send it in, all contributions gratefully received.
Article coming soon. denotes that an article related to the subject is underway.
Computers built after 1972 are deemed to be "fourth generation" computers. Based on LSI (Large Scale Integration) of circuits, such as microprocessors, - typically 500 or more components on a chip. Later developments include VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) of integrated circuits - typically 10,000 components on a single IC. Modern circuits may now contain millions of components. This has led to very small, yet incredibly powerful computers. The fourth generation is generally viewed as running right up until the present (2009), since although computing power has increased the basic technology has remained virtually the same. | |
| 1972 |  Atari founded (as Syzygy) by Nolan Bushnell, who designed the game "Pong", which was released this year. Widely recognised as the first popular arcade video game. Briefly became reasonably popular but its' lack of excitement or variation meant it never captivated players like Space Invaders (1978) or other arcade games of the 1980s. |
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| 1973 | Prolog developed at the University of Luminy-Marseilles in France by Alain Colmerauer. It is often used for Artificial Intelligence programming.
Ethernet developed, this became a vero popular way of connecting PCs and other computers together enabling them to share data, and devices such as printers. A group of machines connected together in this way is known as a Local Area Network. |
| 1974 | Introduction of 8080. An 8 Bit Microprocessor from Intel. The first truly usable microprocessor.
MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) Altair 8800 - the first successful personal computer - introduced.  |
| 1975 | First implementation of BASIC (see 1965) by William Henry "Bill" Gates III and Paul Gardner Allen. It was
written for the MITS Altair - the first personal computer - this led to the formation of Microsoft later in the year.
Unix marketed (see 1970). IBM 5100 released. |
| 1976 |  Apple Computer, Inc. founded, to Market Apple I computer. Designed by Stephen Wozniak and Stephen Jobs. Sold as a fully assembled circuit board containing about 30 chips but, to make a working computer, users still had to add a case, power supply, keyboard, and display. Cost was $666.66, because Wozniak liked repeating digits, and because they originally sold it to a local shop for $500 and added a one-third markup. An optional board providing a cassette interface for storage was later released at a cost of $75.
Article coming soon. First laser printer introduced by IBM - the IBM 3800. Produced black & white printing only. The first colour versions came onto the market in 1988. Z80 CPU released by Zilog.  6502, 8 bit microprocessor developed and later chosen to equip the Apple II computer. Also fitted in the original Acorn machine, BBC Micro, Commodore 64 and Commodore PET.
Cray 1, the first commercially developed Supercomputer Pictured right). It was so large the base (power supply and cooling) was fitted with padded seating so that it could be used as a piece of furniture! Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman published their famous "key exchange" algorithm in an article called "New Directions in Cryptography". This algorithm was the first published that allowed two parties, communicating only over an insecure medium, to agree on a secret that they both knew but on which anyone evesdropping their communication could not discover. It is widely regarded as the beginning of public key cryptography as, until its' publication, many regarded secure communication in this manner as impossible. |
| 1977 | "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." Ken
Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. This quote is true, but out of context. What Ken was talking about was a powerful central computer that controlled all aspects of the home; turning lights on and off, regulating temperature, selecting entertainment, ordering foodstuffs that were required and even preparing and cooking the food! Introduction of 8085. Fully compatible with the 8080 in all ways except 1. The "5" denotes it runs from +5 volts, the 8080 requiring +5, -5 and +12 volts.  Commodore PET released. Based on a 1 MHz 6502 processor it displayed monochrome text on built in 9 inch monitor and had just 4 or 8 Kb of RAM. Programs were loaded from built in audio cassette. Later PET models used a larger keyboard with the cassette storage made external so the keyboard would fit. All versions had a separate numeric pad to the right of the keyboard (almost completely unheard of at the time, even as an option) Ronald Linn Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Max Adleman (their surnames making 'RSA') described an asymmetric algorithm for public key cryptography. This algorithm is widely used for encrypting traffic on the modern internet. Its' strength is derived from the belief that there are no efficient algorithms for finding integer factors of large numbers. It should be noted that a similar algorithm was devised by Clifford Cocks in 1973, while working for the British intellegence service at GCHQ. The discovery was, however, classified and not released until 1997, by which time The RSA algorithm was firmly established.  Apple II computer introduced. One of the first highly successful mass produced microcomputer products. The Apple II wasn't the first personal computer, or the most advanced one, or even the best-selling model of its age. But in many ways it was The Machine That Changed Everything. |
| 1978 |  Arcade Video game "Space Invaders" (right) released, starting a video game craze that has continued ever since.
Introduction of the 8086 by Intel, the first commercially successful 16 bit processor. It was too expensive to implement in early computers, so an 8 bit version was developed (the 8088), which was chosen by IBM for the first IBM PC. This ensured the success of the x86 family of processors that succeeded the 8086 since they and their clones are used in every IBM PC compatible computer. At its' introduction the 8 MHz version of the processor achieved 0.8 MIPs and contained 29,000 transistors. |
| 1979 | Language Ada introduced by Jean Ichbiah and team at Honeywell.
Introduction of 8088, a step down from the 8086 as it contains just an 8 bit data bus - but this makes it cheaper to implement in computers. The 68000 Microprocessor launched by Motorola. Used by Apple for the Macintosh and by Atari for the ST series. Later versions of the processor include the 68020 used in the Macintosh II. |
| 1980 |  Sinclair ZX80 was released for £99.95 (right), by Science of Cambridge Ltd., later to be better known as Sinclair Research. It was notable for being the first computer available in the United Kingdom for less than a hundred pounds but it was in kit form, requiring assembly and soldering. Pre built units were available for a slightly higher cost.
Tim Paterson's DOS 1.0 was 4000 lines of assembler code. Development of MS-DOS/PC-DOS began. (Page about MS-DOS / PC-DOS)  The VIC-20 (Germany: VC-20; Japan: VIC-1001). Based on the 6502 processor and equipped with 5 KB of RAM (although of this only 3583 Bytes was available to the user) this was the first microcomputer to sell one million units. |
| 1981 | "640k of memory ought to be enough for anybody.", allegedly said by William Henry "Bill" Gates III this year. While I can find no references to refute this quote I cannot find any corroboration for it either. The best explanation I can offer is my own thought that, if true, it was made at a time when memory was both expensive and lacking in computers.  For example the ZX80 was the cheapest computer at the time at just under £100, if you built it yourself from a kit, and had just 1k (1024 bytes) of memory. Imagine 640 times that. In perspective, if your PC has 1GB now, think of it with 640GB!
Sinclair ZX81 (right) released, for a similar price to the ZX80 (see 1980). Based on the Zilog Z80 processor it had 1k memory as standard. The Xerox 8010 ('Star') System, the first commerical system to use a WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointing Devices) graphic user interface - from which all modern WIMP and Windowing systems have evolved. Apple used these concepts when designing the interface for the Apple Macintosh (see 1984), and later alleged that Microsoft copied their 'look and feel' when designing Microsoft Windows. The Xerox 'Star' was the commercialisation of the 'Alto', which had available internally inside Xerox PARC since 1973. Sales of the 'Star' were terrible and the system rapidly fell into obscurity. Introduction of 80186 / 80188 processors. These processors are rarely found in PCs as they incorporate a built in DMA and timer chip - and thus have register addresses incompatible with other IBM PCs. They were generally used as embedded processors in other equipment.  The Osborne 1 released by Osborne Computer Corporation. It was the first commercially successful portable (though you needed a mains power for it, so no computing on the train!) microcomputer. It weighed 23.5 pounds (10.7 kg), cost $1795, and ran the, then popular, CP/M 2.2 operating system. Its' principal deficiencies were a tiny 5 inch (13 cm) display screen and single sided, single density floppy disk drives whose disks could not contain sufficient data for practical business applications. 
IBM Announced PC, the standard model was sold for $2880. This had 64Kb of RAM, a mono display and the cassette drive was an optional extra. Two 160Kb single sided floppy drives could be added. The machines success was largely due to the openness of its specification, anyone could produce new and improved parts or models of the computer - the original IBM PC usually had an INTEL processor, Tandon disk drives and an operating system from Microsoft. 100,000 orders were taken by Christmas. The first one sold in the U.K. cost £2080. An option of operating systems was actually available, but IBM/Microsoft's PC-DOS was by far the cheapest at $39.95.
MS-DOS 1.0 (PC-DOS 1.0) released. (Page about MS-DOS / PC-DOS) Pacman written. Originally it was going to be called Puckman, but the name was changed to reduce the damage that could be done by changing he P to an F with a black marker. MDA (Mono Display Adapter, text only) introduced with IBM PC. 
Epson announced its' HX-20 (pictured right). The first truely portable computer. A full QWERTY keyboard, a display, storage, power pack and even a printer in its' 28.4 x 21.3 x 4.4 cm casing, weighing in at just 1.7kg / 3lbs. A charged (Ni-Cd) power pack could keep the HX-20 running for an amazing 40 hours away from the mains - a staggering figure by todays' standards, where getting four or five hours out of a laptop battery is a major achievement! |
| 1982 |  Introduction of BBC Micro. Based on the 6502 processor it was a very popular computer for British schools up to the development of the Acorn Archimedes (in 1987). In 1984 the UK government offered to pay half the cost of such computers in an attempt to promote their use in secondary education. 80286 Released. It supports clock frequencies of up to 20 MHz and implements a new mode of operation, protected mode - allowing access to more memory (up to 16 Mbytes compared to 1 MB for the 8086. The virtual address space can appear to be up to 1 GB through the use of virtual memory). It includes an extended instruction set to cope with this new mode of operation. At introduction the fastest version ran at 12.5 MHz, achieved 2.7 MIPs and contained 134,000 transistors.  Commodore 64 (C64, C=64 or CBM64) released, costing just $595. although physically similar to the VIC-20, the case housed a very different beast. At its' heart was a 6510 processor (a modified 6502), a 6567 (NTSC) or 6569 (PAL) VIC-II (Video Interface Chip II) graphics chip and a 6581 SID (Sound Interface Device) chip for sound. The VIC-II and SID were responsible for the C64s' success. One major downfall was the optional 1541 floppy disc drive (single-sided 170 kilobyte drive for 5 1/4 inch disks) which was often slower at loading software than the standard C2N cassette drive. Sales totaled 30 million units, making it the best-selling single personal computer model of all time. Compaq released their IBM PC compatible Compaq Portable. MIDI, Musical Instrument Digital Interface, (pronounced middy) published by International MIDI Association (IMA). The MIDI standard allows computers to be connected to instruments like keyboards.  The Sinclair ZX Spectrum released. Based on the Z80 chip from Zilog, it ran at 3.5 MHz and had an 15 colour graphics display (8 colours with 2 brightness levels, black was black in both brightness levels) and very basic sound from an on-board speaker. You could buy the 16 Kb version for £125 or the 48 Kb version for £175 - remarkable prices when compared to the £1000+ IBM PC. IBM launch the double-sided 320K floppy disk drives and purchase 12% of Intel. |
| 1983 |  Apple announced their "LISA" computer in January, to be released in June. The LISA was one of the first computers to be sold with a GUI (graphical user interface), however it did not sell well. The main problems were the $10 000 price tag and the slow interface. The GUI based operating system struggled on the 5 MHz CPU. The GUI was based on ideas gained by Steve Jobs who saw the Alto while visting Xerox PARC.
TCP/IP became the official protocol of ARPANET (which became the Internet). TCP/IP still forms the basis of the Internet today. Borland Software Corporation formed by Niels Jensen, Ole Henriksen, and Mogens Glad. Originally caled Borland Ltd. IBM PC gets European launch at Which Computer Show.  IBM XT (eXtended Technology) released (right), it was basically an upgraded IBM PC (1981), using the same case and processor with room for an 8087 maths co-processor to be installed. The standard XT originally came with 128KB of memory, a 360KB double-sided 5 1/4 inch full-height floppy disk drive, a 10MB Seagate ST-412 hard drive and an Asynchronous Adapter (serial card), all for "only" $5000! MS-DOS 2.0, PC-DOS 2.0 introduced with the IBM XT. (Page about MS-DOS / PC-DOS) 
IBM released PC Junior (left) in an attempt to get further into the home market. 2 versions were released, the 4860-004 with 64kB RAM costing just $669 and the 4860-067 with 128kB RAM for $1269. Innovations included 2 cartridge slots and a wireless keyboard (which you could, if you wish, connect with a cable), 2 joystick ports and a lightpen port, all built in and ready to use! Cheaper alternatives from other companies were more preferable to the home buyer, but businesses continued to buy IBM.
PC-DOS 2.1 (for PC Jr). Like the PC Jr this was not a great success and quickly disappeared from the market. (Page about MS-DOS / PC-DOS) |
| 1984 |  Apple Macintosh released. Based on the 8 MHz version of the Motorola 68000 processor. The 68000 can address 16 Mb of RAM, a noticeable improvement over Intels' 8088/8086 family, which could only address 1 Mb. The Apple achieved 0.7 MIPs and originally came with just 128Kb of RAM. It was fitted with a monochrome video adapter. Later this year Apple released a 512KB version of the Macintosh - but there were no other major enhancements over the original Macintosh.
DNS (Domain Name Server) introduced to the Internet, which then consisted of about 1000 hosts. Turbo Pascal Introduced by Borland (see PASCAL, 1967). Hewlett-Packard release the immensely popular Laserjet printer, by 1993 they had sold over 10 million Laserjet printers and over 20 million printers overall. HP were also pioneering inkjet technology. 
IBM AT (Advanced Technology) released. Using the Intel 80286 processor, this machine incorporates a larger (16-bit) bus for expansion slots. Unfortunately it wasn't well specified, the ISA standard was eventually made (in 1991) to cope with this - but not until some ATs had been produced with buses that run far quicker the 8.33 MHz laid down in the ISA standard. Some AT compatible systems designed before the standard was introduced ran the bus at 12.5 MHz which caused some expansion cards to run hot, therefore becoming less efficient and slower,
eventually 'tripping over' and crashing the computer.
MS-DOS 3.0, PC-DOS 3.0 released for the IBM AT, it supported larger hard disks as well as High Density (1.2 MB) 5 1/4 inch floppy disks. (Page about MS-DOS / PC-DOS)  Sinclair ZX Spectrum+ released. The only major changes over the original 48 Kb version of the ZX Spectrum (1982) was the casing (now with adustable height on the rear for a more comfortable typing position), a reset button and an almost "proper" keyboard. It cost £179. |
| 1985 |  Postscript introduced by Adobe Systems, used in the Apple Laserwriter printer. Adopted by IBM for their use in March 1987.
Tetris (right) was written by Russian Alexey Pazhitnov. It was later released for various western games machines, the jewel in the crown being its inclusion with Nintendo's Gameboy in 1989. Alexey made nothing from the game, since under the Communist Regime it was owned by the people - although after the collapse of Communism he was able to move to the USA where he now works for Microsoft. 80386 DX released. It supports clock frequencies of up to 33 MHz and can address up to 4 GB of memory and virtual memory of up to 64 TERABYTES! It also includes a bigger instruction set than the 80286. At the date of release the fastest version ran at 20 MHz and achieved 6.0 MIPs. It contained 275,000 transistors. EGA released. MS-DOS 3.1, PC-DOS 3.1 This was the first version of DOS to provide network support, and provides some new functions to handle networking. Soon followed by MS-DOS 3.2 and PC-DOS 3.2. This version was the first to support 3 1/2 incn floppy disks, although only the 720KB ones. Version 3.2 remained the standard version until 1987 when version 3.3 was released with the IBM PS/2. (Page about MS-DOS / PC-DOS) Microsoft Windows Launched. Not really widely used until version 3, released in 1990. Windows required DOS to run and so was not a complete operating system (until Windows '95, released on August 21, 1995). It merely provided a G.U.I. similar to that of the Macintosh, in fact so similar that Apple tried to sue Microsoft for copying the "look and feel" of their operating system. This court case was not dropped until August 1997. 
Atari ST released by the Atari Corporation in 1985. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000 which has a 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals. Based on the Motorola 68000 CPU it launched with 512 KB of RAM and 3 1/2 inch floppy disks for storage. The Atari ST was the first computer to come with a fully bit-mapped color GUI, using a version of Digital Researchs' GEM released that February. It was also the first home computer with integrated MIDI support. Thanks to the built-in MIDI ports it enjoyed success as a music sequencer and controller of musical instruments among amateurs and professionals alike, being used in concert by bands such as Tangerine Dream, Fatboy Slim and 808 State.
LIM EMS (memory standard) introduced by Lotus, Intel and Microsoft. The first version introduced was version 3.2! The Commodore Amiga (also known as the Amiga 1000) was released. Amiga was a family of personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation, who had a turbulent history with no real revenue stream to support their development.  After a period of legal wranglings with Atari, Amiga were bought by Commodore. Their product was finally completed and brought to market under the 'Commodore Amiga' name. The system cost $1,295, a high price at the time (comparable to the pricey Apple Macintosh). You got what you paid for though, it was an impressive machine for the era. It featured a colour graphical user interface, a 16 bit processor, TV output and 256K of RAM. It also included a 'bit-blitter' for moving graphical data without tieing up the main CPU. In 1987 the Amiga 1000 was followed with the higher specification A2000, and the cheaper A500. It was the A500 which really pushed the Amiga brand forwards, spurred on by the development of various games for the platform (and to the detriment of the Atari ST which, until the A500, was the popular choice among gamers).
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| 1986 | Apple released another version of the Macintosh (the Macintosh 512Ke) which was basically the same as the 512K of Sept. 1984.
Apple released another enhanced version of the Macintosh (the Macintosh Plus) - this one could cope with 4 Mb of RAM and had a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface, a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices) adapter. 
Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128 released. It had 128 Kb of RAM, but little other improvement over the original ZX (except improved sound capabilities). Later models were produced by Amstrad - but they showed no major advances in technology.
Amstrad Announced Amstrad PC 1512, a cheap and powerful PC. Cost was just under £500, it included a slightly enhanced CGA graphics adapter, 512Kb RAM (upgradable to 640Kb), 8086 processor (upgradable to NEC V30) and an optional 20Mb hard disk. 
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