The History of Personal Computers

It is a device that literally has transformed society. The fact you are reading this text this very moment is proof you are using one. Since their introduction to the mass consumer market in the mid 1970s, computers have allowed people to perform an array of tasks--from balancing their checkbook to chatting with friends--and the list of options has only grown since the turn of the 21st century.

Introduction

While computers were around in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, they were large, stationary, clunky, unpredictable and usually reserved for use in labs. That began to change in the 1970s as technological advancements were made, and computers changed dramatically in size. According to digital media website CNET News, the first personal computer to hit the consumer market was in January 1975, when a company known as MITS began selling a model known as Altair 8800. It sold for $621 if assembled or $421 without assembly.

Early Inventions

Originally referred to as microcomputers, personal computers came into existence after two pivotal inventions. In 1959, a device known as the integrated circuit was created. It allowed for computer-memory circuits to be much smaller, thus allowing the machines to be portable. The other invention, the microprocessor, was first introduced in 1971. Microprocessors reduced computers' central processing units to the size of a single silicon chip.

Competitors

Several companies, many no longer in existence, quickly followed MITS in the growing personal computer market. Some of the companies releasing personal computers in the late 1970s included Apple, Commodore, Northgate, Zenith and Zeos.

Growth in the 1980s

According to CNET, personal computer sales shot up dramatically in the early 1980s when businesses began introducing computers into the workplace. IBM began manufacturing computers specifically for businesses because of this trend. Personal computer sales rose from 609,000 in 1975 to 1.6 million in 1981. From one year to the next, the number of personal computers manufactured and sold throughout the 1980s surged.

Pre-Internet Advancements

Early personal computers were used primarily for word processing, storing information and playing video games. As further technological refinements were made, and consumer demand continued to rise, new features were added. Some of these enhancements through the 1990s included CD-ROMs, hardware used for playing multimedia, and Zip drives, which were used in lieu of floppy disks and had greater memory storage capabilities.

Windows and the Internet

Starting in the mid 1990s, and into the new millennium, features on personal computers began to change dramatically. By the mid-1990s, Microsoft introduced its Windows platform, which made navigating a personal computer more user-friendly from any of the models introduced in the prior 20 years. Also in the mid-1990s, the World Wide Web also started taking off, and Internet browsers proliferated as memory capacity increased.

Modern Computers

Personal computers manufactured and sold after the turn of the 21st century are far more versatile than preceding models. As technological advancements have continued, computer users today can watch movies, download music, store photos and perform tasks that weren't possible on most PC models before 2000.

References

• Invention of the Personal Computer
• PCs: More than 1 billion served
• Birth of an Industry: 1976-77

Resources

• Chronology of Personal Computers