Follow Forum Members, have you ever taken the time to look into or reflect on the history of computers? Or would you like to know more about the history of computers? What hardware, people, standards, and OS brought us to where we are? If you ever though about these things. This thread and post is for you.
Disclaimer: The history I will go over is by no means all of it. It is only a tiny slice of it. Also the way I talk about it is not necessarily completely in chronological order.
Table of Contents
The origins of QWERTY
The QWERTY keyboard is and has been a standard for many years now. However the origins of QWERTY are older than most think. QWERTY was developed by Christopher Latham Shoules in the 1870s. The layout was little different than what we have now at first:2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 -
A E I . ? Y U O ,
B C D F G H J K L M
Z X W V T S R Q P N
Then it got sold to E. Remington and Sons and the layout was changed to following:
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - ,
Q W E . T Y I U O P
Z S D F G H J K L M
A X & C V B N ? ; R
A little closer to what we have now but not yet. Remington did eventually change to what is called the modern layout which is as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - =
Q W E R T Y U I O P [ ]
A S D F G H J K L ; ’
Z X C V B N M , . /
Now that is pretty much our QWERTY Layout for Typewriters which eventually made it’s way to computers.
Why is the QWERTY layout so important? It’s a standard. A known quantity that is easy to recognize follow and program for. The fact it is still used known is testament to it’s versatility and nullity.
ARPANET
The idea behind ARPANET was with the end game of having a network of computers with the ability to have access to major computer systems with powerful compute processes. Wait that sounds like what the Cloud is… Dear reader the concept of Cloud Compute is older than you realized.
Why was ARPANET important? It lead to the Creation of the Internet and the adoption of the TCP/IP Protocols. I’ll touch on those breifly in the Internet Section
Internet
Every Aspect of the Internet is governed by TCP/IP Protocols. From a connection to a website to send an email, to watching a video, etc. I can not stress how important the TCP/IP Protocols are. They are the standard by which our internet is run.Why The Internet Important? It is a literally utility for people. From Shopping to working. To News. The Internet is apart of people’s daily lives.
BASIC Programming Language
Before BASIC came along computers had been programmed with Punch Cards. BASIC stands for Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. It was designed to create programs for the computer.
Why was BASIC important? - It was and is a standard programming language the people could learn to write in code for computers. The fact before this people were using punch cards and now all they had to do was type is a big deal.
Macintosh and the Graphical User Interface
Consider Computers in 1983 for moment. Computers were just terminals with monitors. Everything was done by keyboard command. Then in 1984 Apple changed the game. They introduced the Macintosh with a mouse and an OS with a graphically user interface. For the first time there were icons and people could interact with their applications.Why was the Macintosh Important - It changed the Computer Industry. It redefined what a computer is and showed what it could be.
Apple M1 Chip
In a year when the world seems bleak. Apple comes along with something that has the potential to change the game again. Consider laptops for a moment. Intel has been king for decades. However Battery Life and Performance improvements have been dismal. Apple's Decision and choice to make there own chip does change things. First Apple has complete control. Meaning they control the price. Potentially allowing them to save money in the long run. 2nd they don't have to answer to Intel anymore.Why the Apple M1 Chip is Important? It is early on this but I think this is going to change things in the laptop industry. I’ve looked into the M1 Chip and I am very impressed with what I found. To the point I’m considering get an Apple with an M1 in it just so I can play with it.
Where are we headed?
The future of the computer industry is fun to think about. While we can’t necessary predicate everything there are a few things that are being potentially worked on that could change the game for industry. I’ll go over a few.
Intel's Consumer GPUs
Intel has been working internal for about 3 or 4 years on a graphic card. NVIDA and AMD have been the go to for consumer Graphic Cards for several years now. The question is how will Intel fare on it's first outing? It's too soon to tell and we won't know tell actually reviews. For now wait and see.Rumor Microsoft is Going to Make it's Own Chip for Laptops
This is just a rumor but it would make sense if Microsoft went and did it. After Apple unveiled the M1. This rumor of Microsoft is considering doing something for their own laptops similar came up. I can see them doing this but for now it's just a rumor.Do you have a favorite piece of computer tech history you’d like to share?
What do you think the future of the computer tech industry will be like?
