300 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
300 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
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A LITTLE PC HISTORY
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WHERE WE'VE BEEN WITH NO IDEA WHERE WE'RE GOING!
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In the beginning . . .
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Computing or calculating by machine began in the middle east
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with the use of pegs or stones in trays or channels. The
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Babylonians developed the idea of stone or bead counters into
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the more modern abacus - modern in the sense that the abacus is
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still in use today and in the hands of an experienced operator
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can calculate results faster than a computer!
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The beauty of the abacus is its simplicity in construction and
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operation. Inexpensive beads of stone or wood and a simple frame
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make up the abacus and the uneducated could quickly be trained
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in its use.
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In the 8th and 9th centuries we note the rise of the Arabic
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numeral system which slowly spread through Europe and the then
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civilized world. Although a superior calculating system, Arabic
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numerals required the user to understand the more complicated
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numerical theory associated with the system.
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By the early 1600's Napier (often associated with the
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development of logarithms and their practical application)
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introduced a series of rods which could be used for
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multiplication - a crude slide rule system.
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Soon, ever more complicated "calculating engines" or primitive
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mechanical computing devices appeared. One example is the
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complex Pascaline invented by Blaise Pascal.
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By 1791 the stage was set. Babbage, an English mathematician and
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inventor with the help of Ada Byron (daughter of lord Byron, the
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famous poet) developed the ideas for two mechanical calculators
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or "number engines." The Difference Engine was a device to solve
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polynomial equations by the methods of differences. The
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Analytical Engine (which was never built)) was designed as a
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general computing device. Both were mechanical in concept using
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gears, rods and cams to perform calculations. Unfortunately
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neither machine was built since the tooling and machining
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technology of the day was imprecise and could not construct the
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accurate parts needed.
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However the models and planning of Babbage and Byron did lead to
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important preliminary computing concepts still in use today. As
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an aside, we should note from the work of Babbage and Byron that
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computing even in its infancy was strongly influenced by BOTH
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women and men - let's face it, computing is NOT gender specific!
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Next we jump to the United States. By 1880 a problem had arisen
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with the United States census. By that time, it took 7 years to
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process all of the information gathered by the Census Bureau
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since all tabulation was done by hand on paper. It was assumed
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that the 1890 census might take 10 to 12 years to tabulate.
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Clearly a better method was needed to crunch the volume of
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numbers and data. A public competition was held to produce a
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better indexing or mechanical system to tabulate future census
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results. Herman Hollerith, a census employee, handily won by
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suggesting the use of punch cards and a form of punch card
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reader which tabulated the results in six weeks. Hollerith, wise
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in the ways of computing devices and seeing a good opportunity
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went on to found the Tabulating Machine Company (later changed
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to IBM). Hollerith might be thus thought of as our first
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computer entrepreneur!
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The advent of World War II provided the impetus for the
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development of more refined computing devices. The Mark I was an
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electromechanical device using relays. IBM built that computer
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for the Navy. Later, the Colossus was built for the British and
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used for wartime code breaking of German radio transmissions.
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The ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) was constructed at Iowa State
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and was the first fully electronic digital computer.
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Admiral Grace Hopper, known as "Amazing Grace" to some, was a
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naval officer and pioneer in the field of computer programming
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during the 1940's and 50's. An innovative and fundamental
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thinker, she recognized that computers could be used for
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business applications - a pioneering insight beyond the then
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conventional use of computers for scientific and military
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applications. Her programming language called "Flowmatic" later
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evolved into COBOL, the most common and still popular language
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for programming business software. She died in 1992 and is
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buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
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Computing science continued to evolve rapidly . . .
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Eniac was the most famous of the early computers and contained
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18,000 vacuum tubes and was used by the Army for ballistics
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calculations.
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Edvac was the first stored memory computing device which did
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away with rewiring tasks associated with changing computer
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programs and represented a true computer breakthrough. This
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first generation of machines running from roughly 1951 through
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1958 featured computers characterized by the use of radio type
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vacuum tubes. But the pace was increasing . . .
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Second generation machines such as the famous Univac were
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designed as true general or universal purpose machines and could
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process both alphabetic and numeric problems and data. Punch
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cards still formed the major input path to the machines of this
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era and all programming was done in complex low level machine
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language commands.
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By 1959 with the invention of the transistor, computers began to
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shrink in size and cost and operate faster and more dependably
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than the huge vacuum tube models. Programming languages began to
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feature English-like instructions rather than cumbersome machine
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code or assembly language. Fortran and Cobol are two modern
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"high level" languages developed during this period and still in
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use today.
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In many respects, the personal computer industry began in 1974
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when the Intel corporation introduced a CPU integrated circuit
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chip named the 8080. It contained 4,500 transistors and could
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address 64K of memory through a 16 bit data bus. The 8080 was
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the integrated circuit brain behind the early MITS Altair
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personal computer which fired popular interest in home and small
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business computing when it appeared on the July 1975 cover of
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Popular Electronics Magazine. The first MITS Altair contained no
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keyboard or monitor, only crude LED lights and tiny flip
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switches to facilitate programming.
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Four years later in 1978 Intel released the 8086 chip which had
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a tenfold increase in performance over the 8080 chip. When IBM
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began the design phase of the first desktop PC units in 1980 and
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1981, they chose the cousin of the 8086, the Intel 8088 chip, to
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power the first PC which was designed for modest corporate use
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but quickly exploded in popularity due to an excellent design,
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spectacular keyboard and openess to upgrade by the addition of
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"plug in" boards and cards.
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Early IBM PC computers retained a link with the past by allowing
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the addition of a small "Baby Blue" circuit board which could
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run software programs based on the then dominant CPM operating
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system.
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Finally we come to the present decade . . .
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August 1981. Original IBM PC (personal computer) introduced. Has
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options for monochrome and CGA color display. Receives generally
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good reviews and acceptance by business users and a few home
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users. Original DOS version 1.0 released which supported only
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single sided disks (160K capacity). Later version 1.1 corrected
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bugs (problems) in the DOS programming code and provided double
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sided disks (320K capacity), and faster disk access, date and
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time stamping and better serial communications.
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August 1982. Monochrome resolution of PC screen increased with
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introduction of the Hercules graphics card circuit. Combined
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with the LOTUS 123 spreadsheet, the IBM PC was now a hot choice
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for corporate computing.
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November 1982. Compaq portable arrives. First IBM clone on the
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market. The IBM PC standard is growing in popularity. Clone
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makers start to copy the PC in earnest. Software companies such
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as Phoenix technologies prepare BIOS and SYS programs which run
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the same as the IBM BIOS program without the copyright violation
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which every clone computer tries to avoid. BIOS stands for basic
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input and output system and is the core software essential to
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keyboard, disk and screen input/output. The BIOS is considered
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legally protected IBM software code, but can be simulated (or
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emulated) closely by a clever programmer in an attempt to do the
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same job, without using exactly the same programming code.
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March 1983. IBM introduces the PC XT (increased memory and hard
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drive capability). DOS version 2.0 released. This second DOS
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version includes hard drive capability, filter commands (sort,
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find, more), and a new floppy format system for 360K capacity
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per floppy. IBM bios code upgraded.
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October 1983. IBM PC JR released. Market disappointment for that
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IBM entry into the home market with the underpowered PC JR. The
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larger IBM PC standard is rapidly growing as the standard for
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personal computers and clones.
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March 1984. IBM PC portable introduced. Portable clones already
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on the market with small but growing success.
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August 1984. IBM PC AT machine arrives. More power, a new
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processor (Intel 80286). New screen display standard (EGA). Also
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new version of DOS 3.0. This version of DOS now takes into
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account the AT high density floppy drive (1.2 meg or million
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characters of capacity), read only files and a new disk write
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system for better file recovery in case of errors. Shortly
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thereafter, DOS 3.1 addresses file sharing.
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November 1985. Microsoft windows graphic display environment
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released. NEC multisync monitor is released.
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December 1985. DOS 3.2 supports the new 3.5 inch 720K diskettes.
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DOS now addresses up to 32MB on a single hard disk.
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April 1986. Older IBM PC standard model discontinued for newer
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models. IBM PC convertible model is released.
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September 1986. Compaq jumps the gun on IBM with release of new
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(80386) processor computer with more power than the PC AT.
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April 1987. IBM PS/2 models 30, 50 and 60 released. DOS 3.3
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released. VGA video standard arrives. IBM blesses the new 3.5
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inch minifloppy already in use on Apple Macintosh computers by
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offering that format on IBM machines. 1.44MB format is supported
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for high density floppy users. OS/2 operating system announced.
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August 1987. Microsoft windows version 2.0 arrives.
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November 1988. DOS 4.01 released which includes a shell menu
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interface system. This release of DOS, largely developed by IBM,
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generally ignored due to poor performance and large memory
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requirements. Many users stick with DOS 3.3.
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1988 Laptop computers, smaller versions of desktop computers,
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are sold in large volumes. Size as well as features become
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issues in computer sales.
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1990 Microsoft introduces Windows version 3.0 which includes a
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superb graphical user interface (GUI) display for the PC.
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Improves on earlier versions of Windows. Using software is more
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productive with multiple graphical software windows and the
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possibility of jumping between several software tasks operating
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on screen. But windows can only run acceptably on more expensive
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"high end" machines such as those containing the 386DX or 386SX
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chip. For many users in small offices or home offices, Windows
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may not be a necessity where simple DOS applications offer
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affordable functionality on low priced PC's not equipped to run
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Windows applications.
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1991 Laptop computers, portable FAX systems, and cellular
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portable phone technology allow computers to function anywhere
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on the go for a practical "portable office" concept. Still newer
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"palmtop" computers about the size of portable calculators now
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offer full IBM compatable functionality.
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June 1991. DOS 5.0 is released which includes excellent new
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features including an improved menu interface, full-screen
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editor which improves on the Edlin editor, some limited task-
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swapping abilities, unformat/unerase utility, improved Basic
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interpreter, and ability to load system files to High Memory on
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machines having at least 1MB for improved performance and
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increased conventional memory availability for primary applications.
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DOS 5.0 is seen to be a major and highly necessary update to the
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PC operating system. Generally receives good reviews from computer
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trade press.
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The future? Difficult to predict, but the consensus of industry
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observers is that the IBM PS/2 computers will migrate into the
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office scene while many home and home/office users will stay
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with older XT computers and AT models. Best entry level computer
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system at this time is judged by many experts to the a 386SX PC
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system which allows many types of software both current and
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future to work reliably. Prices continue to tumble on AT and XT
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compatibles ($400 to $500 range) and AT clones ($700 to
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$900 range). The operating system for AT and higher class machines
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(using 80286/80386 processors) is called OS/2 but requires more
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memory and the 80286/80386 processor found only in higher
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priced computers. OS/2 or Windows may slowly replace the older
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DOS system, but for many users of home and home/office machines
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not needing LAN networks (many computers talk to each other and
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share data), the DOS standard will live a long time. The Microsoft
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Windows 3.0 system may delay the acceptance of OS/2 for several
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years.
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In general expect things to happen faster, computers to become
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still smaller and prices to descend still further! Graphical
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user interfaces or GUI's will gradually become the standard so
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that users can point and click at small icon pictures and lists
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of tasks on screen to accomplish the work at hand rather than
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fight with terse and cryptic commands. Computing will become a
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standard in many small and home offices owing to the incredible
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power, accuracy and affordablity of personal computers. Laptop
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computers and even smaller palmtop computers will become new
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standards. Computers and modems linked by wireless cellular
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radio/telephone technology allow a single computer user the
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power of "large office computing" on the go from anywhere in the
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world! Shareware software will make strong inroads into the
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market as users evaluate commercial "high priced" software
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against user support "low cost" shareware software.
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Tutorial finished. Be sure to order your FOUR BONUS DISKS which
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expand this software package with vital tools, updates and
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additional tutorial material for laptop users! Send $20.00 to
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Seattle Scientific Photography, Department LAP, PO Box 1506,
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Mercer Island, WA 98040. Bonus disks shipped promptly! Some
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portions of this software package use sections from the larger
|
|||
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PC-Learn tutorial system which you will also receive with your
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order. Modifications, custom program versions, site and LAN
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licenses of this package for business or corporate use are
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possible, contact the author. This software is shareware - an
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honor system which means TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. Press escape key to
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return to menu.
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