History of the microcomputer

Further development of the microcomputer started with the Altair by the avalanche rolled with incredible speed. Computer to computer came on the market. The chip-Special No.14 - the computer catalog - from the year 1984 contains the data of some 220 personnel and home computers in the field of 100 marks to some 10,000 marks. A small overview of some important micro-computer table on page. In it you can clearly see the trend shows that the micro-computers with more memory and ever new, ever faster microprocessors on the market. Another effect can be seen in magazines: the price decline after the launch of a system is always faster. Could the Apple II over five years at its price of around 1200, so much is the newest generation of IBM-compatible PC two years after the launch including 8 megabytes of memory and hard disk with some 3500 DM only one third to one fourth of the introduction of price . Meanwhile, the market is also polarized, it does not come any more microcomputers for all applications in question. Thus, the IBM-compatible for the field office and business applications emerged, and they are relatively cheap, small systems to computers to workstation-class to get. The area to the Apple MacIntosh with the specialized, it is especially desktop publishing (creating artwork under GUI) and more recently multimedia. Apple also sets great emphasis that their computer without lengthy learning an operating system can use. Just like the Atari ST or Amiga are the few who as a home computer or semi are left. Depending on the equipment they will be as pure and home-computer game, for private or similar word processing applications. However, they offer the possibility of professional music or video applications to be able to use. Among them there are the games consoles, which is the computer that they are no longer committed. They are aimed primarily at children, where the game is in the foreground or a complete PC which is too expensive. For the professional field, there are workstations with particularly high computing performance and other characteristics. They represent the upper end of the range of ‘personal’ computer dar.

An IBM PC At the beginning of the 80s played well at IBM, until then, manufacturers of large-scale computing facilities, some engineers with the idea of a personal computer to build. The company’s management was initially skeptical, but after a few trials and convictions provocations (IBM employees threw before, not in a position to be such a small computer to build) got the developers’ group to Don Estridge in Boca Raton the contract, a personal computer develop. It was for IBM ratios totally uncharacteristic approach: the machine was released from purchase parts, including Intel’s 8088-processor, built. The operating system was in a foreign company commissioned. The first company, when demand was Digital Research. But Gary Kildall was just not there, and his wife did not want to return without the language requested by IBM to sign confidentiality agreements. Anecdotes told that Kildall on this day with his private plane was underway and thereby the millions lost business with IBM. The IBM people were in a hurry, and so the contract went to Microsoft. Microsoft was already one of the major software houses, known primarily by Microsoft BASIC, which almost every microcomputer was available. Bill Gates, founder and CEO of Microsoft, bought some local programmers a set of floppy disks routines, which are at the core of MS-DOS were. During the negotiations with IBM Gates was so cleverly, MS-DOS itself to everyone to be able to sell, not only to IBM. This finally brought Microsoft millions to be the first IBM-Compatible appeared and needed an operating system. And later in Microsoft software business is benefiting today from the fact that accurate information about the internals of MS-DOS only within the company are known.

The IBM PC appeared in 1981. The reactions were varied. The business world responded enthusiastically, because now, when the computer giant IBM PC on the market was the final PC hoffähig and grow its infancy. The success of the IBM-PC is expected to be mainly psychological reasons. The Apple engineers who at the time of Lisa and MacIntosh worked, commented the IBM PC so: ‘We looked forward their PC to the market closely. First, we found it embarrassing how bad it was apparatus. Then we shifted its success in horror. We hoped that the people MacIntosh would show what the IBM PC was a trite, banal attempt on the basis of the old technology. ” . Steve Jobs commented on the IBM PC as follows: ‘If we for some reason a big mistake and IBM wins, we will be my personal conviction after 20 years in a dark computer-medieval life. [...] The IBM PC is just a new packaging and slight enlargement of the Apple II.

personal computer

Technorati Tags: computer, microcomputer, personal computer

Workstations and Sun Microsystems

 

A further development of the personal computer are workstations. But this is just no precise definition possible, as it is not possible for home and personal computers to distinguish from one another. The only existing definition is: ‘A workstation is a relatively large, expensive personal computers, which will be used by professionals to work.’But the weaknesses of these single definition are already visible if you are calling into mind that workstations with multi-user operating system UNIX or derivatives thereof be operated, and it is quite normal that in universities and companies working at the same workstation. Some authors do not see Sun at the first workstation manufacturer. In the Xerox Star, the calculator, for the graphical user interface mid-seventies was invented, was called as the first ’staff worstation. This concept was invented at Xerox. But the star was a bit too early because he sold virtually impossible.  

 

Workstations: have been developed so that today high performance computing, multi-user operating system, networking, a lot of great memories and disk storage, and compatibility with existing software is expected. Because of these claims will find on all workstations UNIX like operating systems. The range of workstations ranges from the performance of an expensive personal computers to expensive multiprocessor system, which, depending on the application, as a developing system or as a graphic or computer. The price starts around the workstations from $4000, which is not far above the prices for fully equipped, fast personal computer is. The upper limit is fairly open, depending on the equipment. Nowadays, the trend away from mainframe computers in data centers to a network of workstations. This has the advantage that is not purchased and expensive mainframes for years to be dimensioned, but computing power or centrally involved there can be made available where and when it is needed. The network is expandable to the computer that is currently needed. But how they came up with the idea to build it?  

 

Sun Microsystems: We go back to the year 1981. At Stanford University was Andreas Bechtolsheim just finished his doctoral thesis. To support this work he had assembled a computer. His reasoning: “I found that there was no machine that only approximately the specifications under consideration, I would have used. So, I decided to build my own workstation’. Bechtolsheim had initially not intend to market his computer. He offered, however, licenses for reproduction for 10000 dollars. Even a marketing student named Vinod Khosla, he offered a license to. But he proposed instead to set up a company and finished the computer market. On 22.2.1982 the company Sun Microsystems was founded with 300,000 U.S. dollars startup capital. The capital came from two investors. Moreover, the two realized that they have a management and a consistent approach needed. They decided to use the UNIX operating system on their computers, because the target groups, universities, companies and data centers, using mainframes or Unix. Moreover, it was better possible to attract some well-known hardware and software specialists. These were followed by a numerous good developers to Sun. Moreover, it was possible until the autumn of 1982 a total additional 4 million U.S. dollars from investors to get. Until 1986, Sun was almost unrivaled, at best HP and Apollo (later bought by HP) built a similar machine. Accordingly, the business situation, every year has doubled the sales of the company. Meanwhile set but many other manufacturers such as HP, IBM and DEC (bought from Compaq and then from HP) in the workstation market.

 

Others, such as Silicon Graphics and Apple with its Macintosh, reported by the current wave of multimedia, record sales with powerful workstations with many special coprozessors. The current trend seems toward multiprocessing (multiple processors working simultaneously on a Unix system) and 64-bit processors to go. But on the workstation of the future can hardly suspect that the technology is developing too quickly.  

Workstations

Personal computer blog - gift ideas for her - Kredit ohne Schufa - Niki - Super Lastminute Reisen

Technorati Tags: computers, multiple processors, personal computer, personal computers, workstation, Workstations

The transistor and its consequences

 

1947 William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain invented the transistor. Initially, it was only used as amplifiers, but soon recognized its suitability as a fast switch. At the beginning of the 50s then the transistor was in mass produced and major customers was the military. Shockley and his colleagues received the 1956 Nobel Prize for inventing the transistor. Shortly before he was founding his company Schockley Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory. It provides eight engineers, mainly from the east coast of America - the so-called Shockley Eight. He settled his company near Palo Alto, because of the climate and proximity to the university and also because his mother came from there and therefore he was a little locals.

 

However, engineers abandoned in 1957 because of disagreements over the product Shockley and founded their own company: Fairchild Semiconductors. It was the first company to exclusively produce silicon semiconductors. Its founders were Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore. Fairchild Semiconductor manufactured significant things like the “planarprocessor”. Then like an explosive new start-ups were founded. Almost all can be found at Shockley /Fairchild back. Even the beginnings of well-known companies such as National Semiconductor and Advanced Micro Computer Devices (AMD) are to find at Fairchild. 1968 withdrew Robert Noyce of Fairchild back and founded Intel (Integrated Technology). Texas Instruments and Motorola are two of the few major semiconductor companies that are not in Silicon Valley have emerged. Almost the entire rest of the semiconductor manufacturer in North America began in Silicon Valley.

 

The transistor

free credit report for you - business software download - Catalog Shopping - 10 keywords

Technorati Tags: fast switch, transistor, transistors