THE EVOLUTION OF THE COMPUTER AND COMPUTINGBy- J’von Rourk, Fernando Santos, and Anthony Gilliam

THE Z1 COMPUTER

• From the year 1936 through 1938 the Z1 Computer was built by Konrad Zuse, a German engineer. Zuse later went on to build the Z2 and Z3 computers. The Z1 was significant because, it was the first programmable computer.

THE ATANASOFF-BERRY COMPUTER (ABC)

• The Atanasoff-Berry Computer, or ABC for short, was built between 1937 and 1942 by John Vincent Atanasoff and Cliff Berry. The technological significance of this computer is that it was the first electronic digital computer. It was also the first computer to use vacuum tubes.

THE TRANSISTOR

• In the year 1947 the point transistor was invented by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley. William Shockley was not directly involved in the creation of the point transistor, which angered him greatly. Because of this, William decided to invent the junction transistor a month later. The transistor is important, because it sends one of two signals to the computer, yes or no. Depending on what the transistor says, the computer will do something different.

THE WHIRLWIND MACHINE

• The Whirlwind Machine, the first computer to use RAM, was built in 1955 by the Jay Forrester, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This was significant, because it was the first computer that could remember and reuse previous functions.

TX-0

• The Transistorized eXperimental computer zero or TX-0 was the first computer to become transistorized (use a transistor). This computer was created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1956. The reason why this computer was so important is that it was the first of many computers to use

KENBAK-1

• The Kenbak-1 was a computer created by John V. Blankenbaker in 1971. This computer was important because it is recognized as the first personal computer (PC) ever.

OSBORNE 1

• The Osborne 1 was a computer created by the Osborne Computer Company. It was technologically significant, because it was the first truly portable computer that still had the same functions as a regular computer.

SOURCES

• http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/6170/Zuse-Z1-built-by-Konrad-Zuse/

• http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/a/abc.htm

• http://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/TimLenoir/SiliconValley99/Transistor/RiordanHoddeson_Inventtransistor.pdf

• http://www.technologystudent.com/elec1/transis1.htm

• http://www.i-programmer.info/history/8-people/439-jay-forrester.html

• http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Electronic/Whirlwind.html

• http://museum.mit.edu/150/23

• http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=1259

• http://www.oldcomputers.net/osborne.html

THE END