A Brief History of The Computer--لمحة تاريخية للكمبيوتر

ENIAC, 1946
Regarded as the first general purpose electronic computer, the
Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was initially
commissioned for the use in World War II, but not completed until one
year after the war had ended . Installed at the University of
Pennsylvania, its 40 separate eight-foot-high racks and 18,000 tubes
were intended to help calculate ballistic trajectories.




SAGE, 1954
A gigantic computerized air defense system, SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground
Environment) was designed to help the Air Force track radar data in
real time. Equipped with technical advances such as modems and
graphical displays, the machine weighed 300 tons and occupied one floor
of a concrete blockhouse.





NEAC 2203, 1960
Manufactured by the Nippon Electric Company (NEC), the drum-based
machine was one of the earliest transistorized Japanese computers. It
was used for business, scientific and engineering applications.





IBM System/360, 1964
Part of a family of interchangeable computers, the IBM System/360
mainframe was the first to cover a complete range of applications, from
small to large, from commercial to scientific. Users were able to
enlarge or shrink their setup without having to make headache-inducing
software upgrades as well. Higher-end System/360 models had roles in
NASA's Apollo missions as well as air traffic control systems.


CDC 6600, 1964
For a time the fastest machine in the world, Control Data Corporation'
s 6600 machine was designed by noted computer architect Seymour Cray.
It retained its speed crown until 1969, when Cray designed his next
supercomputer.


DEC PDP-8, 1965
The first successful commercial minicomputer, the PDP-8, made by the
Digital Equipment Corporation, sold more than 50,000 units upon its
release, the most of any computer up to that time. Years before Apple
and Gnu/Linux offered alternatives to the dominant IBM/Microsoft
paradigms, DEC proposed its own vision, by encouraging users to educate
themselves and take part in the evolution of the line.



Interface Message Processor, 1969
Conceived at the height of the Cold War, when the U.S. government
sought a way to keep its network of computers alive in case certain
nodes were destroyed in a nuclear attack or other hostile act, the IMP
featured the first generation of gateways, which are today known as
routers. As such, IMP performed a critical task in the development of
the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), the world's
first operational packet switching network, and the predecessor of the
contemporary global Internet.



Kenbak-1, 1971
Often considered the world's first "personal computer" the Kenbak was
touted as an easy-to-use educational tool, but it failed to sell more
than several dozen units. Lacking a microprocessor, it had only 256
bytes of computing power and its only output was a series of blinking
lights.


Cray-1, 1976
At the time of its release, the Cray-1, above, was the fastest
computing machine at the world. Despite its price tag between $5 and
$10 million it sold well. It is one of the many machines designed by
Seymour Cray, a computer architect who devoted his life to the creation
of so-called supercomputers, machines which prioritized processing
capacity and speed of calculation.



Apple I, 1976
Initially conceived by Steve Wozniak (a.k.a. "Woz") as a
build-it-yourself kit computer, Apple I was initially rejected by his
bosses at Hewlett-Packard. Undeterred, he offered it to Silicon
Valley's Homebrew Computer Club and, together with his friend Steve
Jobs, managed to sell 50 pre-built models to The Byte Shop in Mountain
View, California. The suggested retail price: $666. Though sales were
low, the machine paved the way for the smash success of the Apple II.



IBM Personal Computer, 1981
Featuring an independent keyboard, printer and monitor, the slick,
complete-looking package that was the IBM PC helped push personal
computing out of the hobbyist's garage and into the corporate and
consumer mainstream. Its immense commercial success made it the
hallmark of personal computing for many years and led other
manufacturers to produce similar desktop models.



Osborne 1 Portable Computer, 1981
The first commercial portable computer, the Osborne weighed 24 lbs. and
cost less than $2,000. It gained popularity because of its low price
and the extensive software library that came with it


Hewlett-Packard 150, 1983
Representing the first step in a technology widely available today, the
HP 150 was the first commercially available computer with touch screen
technology. The 9-inch computer screen was surrounded by infrared
transmitters and receivers that detected the position of the user's
finger.



Deep Blue, 1997
Begun at IBM in the late 80's, the Deep Blue project was an attempt at
using parallel processing to solve a difficult problem namely, beating
the best chess player in the world, Garry Kasparov. During a six-game
match, which Kasparov ultimately lost, the confounded master attributed
one move to "the hand of God."


iPhone, 2007
The handy little device introduced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2007 not
only brings together internet access, a regular cell phone, camera and
media player, it supports a wide variety of third party applications,
or apps, that supply everything from recipes to maps of the night sky,
and wraps it all in a sleek, glossy exterior.