UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS From the Beginning: History of the Computer

Birth of the Personal Computer 1975 Altair kit: 1 st personal computer ($395) –All assembly required (soldering iron – finish circuit boards) –256 bytes of memory –S-100 bus (100 pins) After-market add-ons –Microsoft BASIC (programming language) Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code

Birth of the Personal Computer 1975 IBM 5100 (1 st PC) –16 KB memory –16 x 64 character line display –$9,000 (not mainstreamed) Hackers: built experimental computers ($500)

1976 Apple Computer –Apple I ($666.66) –Circuit board & plywood –Collectors ($20,000) 1977 Apple II –Set standard for microcomputers Birth of the Personal Computer

1977 Apple II –Set standard for microcomputers –Dominated microcomputer world –IBM starts to make noise! Birth of the Personal Computer

Past to Present