This document provides a brief history of major computers and developments in computing technology from the 1930s to the 1990s. It describes some of the earliest computers like the Z1, ABC, MARK 1, and ENIAC. It then covers the development of stored-program computers, the transistor computer, UNIVAC, IBM 701, and FORTRAN programming language. Later sections discuss personal computers like the Altair, Apple, TRS-80, Commodore Pet, Osborne, Amiga 1000, and use of the Amiga for video editing with the Video Toaster. The document traces the evolution of computing from early mechanical calculators and vacuum tube machines to transistor-based computers and the rise of personal computing.

1. History of Computers
- Mark Mayuga

2. Konrad Zuse’s
Z1 Circa 1936
Konrad Zuse (19101995) was a
construction engineer
for the Henschel
Aircraft Company in
Berlin, Germany at the
beginning of WWII.
Konrad Zuse earned
the semiofficial title of
"inventor of the
modern computer" for
his series of automatic
calculators, which he
invented to help him
with his lengthy
engineering
calculations.

3. Atanasoff-Berry
Computer (ABC)
1942
The AtanasoffBerry Computer
represented several
innovations in
computing,
including a binary
system of
arithmetic, parallel
processing,
regenerative
memory, and a
separation of
memory and
computing
functions.

4. Harvard MARK 1
Computer by Howard
Aiken and Grace
Hopper 1944
The computer,
controlled by
pre-punched
paper tape, could
carry out
addition,
subtraction,
multiplication,
division and
reference to
previous results

5. ENIAC
Computer 1946
It contains 17,468
vacuum tubes, along
with 70,000 resistors,
10,000 capacitors,
1,500 relays, 6,000
manual switches and 5
million soldered joints.
The army needed a
computer for
calculating artilleryfiring tables, the
setting used for
different weapons
under varied
conditions for target
accuracy.

6. The Manchester Small
Scale Experimental
Machine 1948
The world's first storedprogram electronic
digital computer
successfully executed its
first program on 21st
June 1948. That program
was written by Tom
Kilburn who, along with
the late F.C. (Freddie)
Williams designed and
built the machine. It was
called the "Small Scale
Experimental Machine",
but was soon nicknamed
the "Baby". It is also
sometimes known as the
"Mark 1 prototype".

7. The
Transistor
1947
The experimental
Transistor Computer
was first
operational in
November 1953 and
it is believed to be
the first transistor
computer to come
into operation
anywhere in the
world.

8. UNIVAC
Computer
1951
The UNIVAC I was
the first American
computer designed at
the outset for business
and administrative
use (i.e., for the fast
execution of large
numbers of relatively
simple arithmetic and
data transport
operations, as opposed
to the complex
numerical calculations
required by scientific
computers)

9. IBM 701
EDPM 1953
IBM stands
for International
Business
Machines, the
largest computer
company in the
world today.
IBM is
responsible for
numerous
inventions
having to do
with computers.

10. FORTRAN
Computer
Programming
Language 1954
Fortran is still
used today for
programming
scientific and
mathematical
applications.
Fortran began as
a digital code
interpreter for
the IBM 701 and
was originally
named Speed
coding.

11. ERMA and
MIRC
computer 1955
ERMA was first
demonstrated to the
public in 1955
(September), and first
tested on real banking
accounts in the fall of
1956. Production models
(ERMA Mark II) of the
ERMA computer were
built by General Electric.
Thirty-two units were
delivered to the Bank of
America in 1959 for fulltime use as the bank's
accounting computer and
check handling system.
ERMA computers were
used into the 1970s.

12. Spacewar
Computer 1962
The PDP-1's
operating system
was the first to
allow multiple users
to share the
computer
simultaneously. This
was perfect for
playing Spacewar,
which was a twoplayer game
involving warring
spaceships firing
photon torpedoes.

13. Scelbi & Mark-8
Altair & IBM 5100
Computers 1974/75
In the March, 1974,
issue of QST
magazine there
appeared the first
advertisement for a
"personal computer."
It was called the
Scelbi(Scientific, Elec
tronic
and Biological) and
designed by the
Scelbi Computer
Consulting Company
of Milford,
Connecticut.

14. Apple I, II & TRS-80
& Commodore Pet
Computers 1976/77
The Model I
combined
the mainboard and
keyboard into one
unit, in what was to
be a common case
design trend
throughout the 8-bit
microcomputer era,
although it had a
separate power
supply unit

15. OSBOURNE
1981
The machine
featured a 5inch display,
64 kilobytes of
memory, a
modem, and
two 5 1/4-inch
floppy disk
drives.

16. The Amiga
1000 1985
It developed
a very loyal
following
and add-on
components
allowed it to
be upgraded
easily

17. Video
Toaster 1990
The Video
Toaster was a
video editing
and production
system for the
Amiga line of
computers and
included custom
hardware and
special software.