Past Computers

 
Computers were designed to directly connect to a television for audio/video output. One of the trends which was relatively short-lived was to make video game systems which could be upgraded into computer systems. Another of the trends which extended from the late '70s through the mid '80s was that a large number of computer owners learned the basic programming language (it was built-in on many computers) and could create their own programs; many computer manuals (Commodore, T/S 1000, 800) provided detailed information on learning.

A new Timeline of the History of Computers and Related Technologies has been added. This site was designed to be used by students assigned topics about the history of computers and computing. Original articles are footnoted and related links are included. One important purpose of this Web page, is to debunk myths some people create, such as we have computers because of the military (Not true). We have computers because man wanted to quantify as early as the ancient Chinese Dynasties, when they created the abacus and used it for calculating, and adding and subtracting in particular... Babbage and Lovelace were "programming" machines as early as the 1800's before any military computer in this country. 1801 was the creation of the Jacquard loom which used "punch cards". Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) have been around since 1885 and the US gov't first used a computer in the 1950's.

The home computers between 1977 and about 1990 were different from today's uniform and predictable machines. During this time it made economic sense for manufacturers to make microcomputers aimed at the home user. By simplifying the machines, and making use of household items such as television sets and cassette recorders instead of dedicated computer peripherals, the home computer allowed the consumer to own a computer at a fraction of the price of computers oriented to small business. Today, the price of microcomputers has dropped to the point where there's no advantage to building a separate, incompatible series just for home users.