The Advent of the first personal computers

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Technology & Social Theory

The Advent of the first personal computers

Since the birth of the first personal computer, the explosion of computer technology has been growing at an alarming rate.  But before the first ever PC was born it was dependent on two technical innovations; the integrated circuit (IC), developed in 1959; and the microprocessor, which first appeared in 1971.  These are the two main lifelines for any computer without these two components the PC would have never had even existed it’s like the brain and a heart of a PC.

Get a keyboard, video monitor and memory connect them to the microprocessor and the - MICROCOMPUTER is born!

The first desktop size system specifically designed for personal use appeared in 1975; it was called Altair, it was retailed for slightly less than US $ 400. It was designed around the Intel 8080 microprocessors and at the time cassette tape was used to store the information. The reaction to the Altair was un-expected by either the magazine (It was first introduced in the January, 1975 issue of Popular Electronics magazine) or by MITS who designed it.  Although it wasn’t the first available microcomputer BUT saying that it was the start of the computer industry.

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The demand for the Altair was unexpected, and overwhelming. Hundreds of small entrepreneurial companies immediately responded to this demand by producing computers for the new market. The first major electronics firm to manufacture and sell personal computers was a Tandy Corporation.  It introduced its computer model in 1977 and quickly took over the computer market being the dominate product, this was mainly because of the combination of two features: a keyboard and a cathode-ray display terminal (CRT)

Soon after this new craze, two engineers/programmers called Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs started a new computer manufacturing company named Apple Computers.  In ...

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