The history of the computer dates back to the 1800's, when many scientists began to develop various computing machines. However, the modern computer was developed in the 1930's, when Konrad Zuse created the first programmable computer, the Z1. Which could do additions and subtractions very quickly. In 1941, he created the Z3,
known as the world's oldest digital computer. Unfortunately, the computer was destroyed during World War II, but later, in 1950, Konrad Zuse launched the Z4,
the world's first commercial digital computer. Another important moment in the history and
evolution of the computer was also in 1941, when J.V. Atanasoff, a physics and math teacher, and his student, Clifford Berry, designed a computer
that could solve 29 equations simultaneously. However, Atanasoff-Berry Computer was the first
computer capable of storing data in its memory. In 1944, the Harvard Mark-1 / Colossus was inaugurated, a huge computer that occupies an entire room. It was used during World War II to break the
complex Lorenz ciphers used by the Nazis. Colossus offered immediate solutions and it is believed that
its use significantly shortened the duration of the war. Another computer that stood out at the time was the ENIAC, created by John Mauchly and Presper Eckert. The computer was created for ballistic analysis,
used by the military during World War II. ENIAC occupied a room of 1500 square meters, weighing 30 tons and had 6000 switches and 18,000 vacuum tubes. A few years later, the two built UNIVAC, the first commercial computer for business and government applications. Another important step in the evolution of computers
was the time when transistors replaced vacuum tubes. Thus, in 1953, the first prototype computer
with transistors was created, "Manchester TC". In 1953, Grace Hopper developed the
first computer language, called COBOL. At the same time, IBM created its first computer, called the IBM 701. In the early 1960's, IBM launched the 7000 series
of mainframe computers that used transistors. The 7030 model, also called Stretch, was part of this series, with nine such computers being sold to scientific laboratories. The technologies used for this computer led to the development of the IBM 360,
IMB's most successful series of computers. Slowly, the evolution of the computer
was approaching what we know today to be. In 1965, Program 101 was the first desktop
computer sold to the general public. It cost $3200, was the size of a typewriter,
had 37 keys and a built-in printer. At the same time, the world's first 16-bit commercial
microcomputer, the DDP-116, was developed and sold for $28,500. The year 1970 is marked by Intel, which launches
Intel 1103, the first dynamic access memory chip, DRAM. A year later, IMB invented the floppy disk,
which allows data to be shared between computers. Now, who hasn't heard of Altair 8800?! It was launched in 1975 and used the BASIC programming
language, developed by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Altair 8800 was very popular computer, being the model
that invented the term "personal computer". In 1976, Apple appeared on the computer market with the Apple I, the first computer with a single-circuit board and ROM,
to which you had to add a keyboard, a power supply and a case. A year later, they launched Apple II, which was a great success. It was an 8-bit computer and came with a switching power supply, keyboard, case, manual, game paddles,
and a box containing the Breakout game. In 1981, IBM launched the first IBM PC,
officially known as the IBM Model 5150. It was based on a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor and used the Microsoft MS-DOS operating system. This was the computer that revolutionized the development of computers, being cloned on a large scale and thus generating
the creation of many software and peripherals. Apple launched Apple Lisa in 1983, the first personal computer to have a graphical user interface. It had a drop-down menu and icons,
a Motorola 68000 microprocessor, 1 MB of RAM, a 12-inch black and white monitor,
dual floppy disk drives, and a 5 MB hard drive. A year later, Apple introduced the Macintosh, the first successful computer mouse with a graphical user
interface and based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor. In 1984, Michael Dell created PC's Limited, where he developed the first self-designed computer called the Turbo PC. In the early 1990's, Dell was one of the leading computer developers. In 1987, IBM released Personal System 2, the first IBM system with the Intel 80386 chip. The computer also came with a new operating system, OS2, which for the first time allowed the use of a mouse for IBM computers. The 1990s were marked by an innovation introduced by Apple. Their new iMac, the 1998 G3, came with a clear, customizable case. It was sold for $1,300, and included a 4GB hard drive,
32MB Ram, a CD-ROM, and a 15-inch monitor. Apple also marks the 2000s. In 2003, it launched the Apple G5, the most powerful Macintosh to date. The computer had anodized aluminum case and was
named the first true 64-bit personal computer. So, in the 1990's, with the advent of the Internet,
personal computers began to be widely used in all fields. Gradually, computers evolved drastically,
both in terms of design and performance. Thus, the market for computer
components began to grow more and more, with users being able to create their own
PC system according to their own needs. Moreover, it is incredible how from computers that
occupied an entire room and performed very simple actions, technology has come to offer us today very small PCs such as the APPLE Mac mini Desktop PC system, which offers very high performance when working or doing a gaming session. So, we have all the evidence that technology is not standing still, but constantly evolving from day to day. What do you think computers will look like in the coming years?
