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3000 BCE
The Abacus
The abacus, also known as a counting frame, was a calculating tool that was in use in Russia, China and Europe. It was used by merchants, tradesman and clerks back in its day who used it to calculate cash payments as well as various other uses. -
The Difference Engine
The Difference Engine, also known as the Baggage Engine, was invented and designed by Charles Baggage. It was an automatic mechanical calculator with an intended purpose to tabulate polynomial functions. The desire to produce error free tables and calculations prompted Charles Baggage to design such a machine. The original one was shelved although Baggage created another analytical engines based on the original one between 1847 and 1849 which was an improved version of the first one. -
IBM Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator (SSEC)
The SSEC was an electromechanical computer built by IBM for Harvard University. It had many of the features of stored-program computer and was the first operational machine that treated its information as data, although it was not fully electronic. -
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer)
The ENIAC was the first electronic general purpose computer. It was Turing Complete, digital and could perform and solve a large form of numerical programs through reprogramming. Its original purpose was to calculate artillery firing tables for the US army, although its first program studied the feasibility of nuclear weapons. -
Modem
The first Modem was developed in 1949. It modulated digital data into sounds and demodulated digital data into sounds. It allowed computers to ‘talk’ over ordinary phone lines. It was adapted for computer use in 1953 and commercialized in 1958. -
IBM System 360
The IBM 360 was a mainframe supercomputer system developed by IBM in 1964. It was based and had many of the features of the previous IBM 7030. The IBM 360 was very successful as it allowed companies to purchase a smaller system, with the knowledge that it could be upgraded and modified if their needs grew without reprogramming of application software or replacing devices. This design made it one of the most successful computer designs in history, influencing computer design for decades to come. -
Microsoft
Microsoft is founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC-interpreters for the Altair 8800. It rose to dominate the PC operating system market with the MS-DOS in the 1980’s followed by Microsoft Windows, the current series of Microsoft operating systems. It is currently one of the world’s biggest companies and has made its founder, Bill Gates, the richest man in the world. It is currently dominant in the PC operating market and the office software suite market. -
IBM 5100
The IBM 5100 was the first personal computer to be put on the market. It was introduced in 1975, 6 years before the IBM personal computer. It had a CRT screen, keyboard, processor and 64 KiB of random access memory. It was an amazing technological advancement at the time to package a complete computer with impressive capabilities into such as small case, albeit at a hefty price. -
Apple (1976) Apple 2 (1977)
Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniack in 1976 in a home garage. The Apple 2 was an 8 bit home computer and one of the most successful mass produced home computers of its time. It was the second Apple product to be produced and was its first commercial success, propelling Apple into the public eye. -
The World Wide Web
The World Wide Web was created invented by British Scientist Tim Bernes Lee in 1989. It is an information space where documents and other web resources are identified by URL’s, linked by hypertext links, and accessed via the internet. The World Wide Web is central to the development of the Information Age and is a primary tool for billions around the world. It is one of the most important inventions of the 20th century and has been carried on and improved into the 21st century. -
IBM Simon
The IBM Simon is launched as the world’s first smartphone. It was a handheld, touchscreen mobile phone that could make and recive facsimiles, telephone calls, emails and cellularpages. It also had an array of features that were usually confined to computers at the time such as calendars, notebooks, maps, stocks and news. It was in some ways, a mini computer. The IBM Simon sold around 50,000 unit during its six months on the market with a price of between 899-1099 USD. -
Internet Explorer
Although not the first web browser, Internet Explorer by Microsoft is by far the most downloaded and well known browser during its 21 year life span. 11 versions of it have been created by Microsoft to date and it is one of the most popular browsers on the market, although its usage has declined with the advent of other browsers such as Firefox and Chrome. It is a common fixture in computers and connects users with the web. -
Google
Google was launched in 1996 as a research object by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The search engine ranked results that analysed the relationships between websites, while conventional search engines counted how many search terms appeared on a page. Google has turned into the most used search engine in the world over the last 10 years due to its simplicity and relevant results. It has a range of subsidiaries such as YouTube. Google and its companies are now owned by its holding company, Alphabet. -
iMac
The original iMac is launched. The original iMac was one of the most popular computers to hit the market at the time and was a huge hit. It is credited with turning around Apple following its economic and sale slump in the late 80’s to early 90’s. The iMac was noted for its innovative design through the use of translucent and brightly colored plastics. It was dramatically different from the other computers of its time due to its compactness and unique shape and design. -
Facebook
Facebook is launched. Facebook was a social media platform that allowed users to create a user profile, add others as 'friends', send and receive messages, post updates and photos, share videos and other functions. It was at first limited to Harvard students, although it was later extended to other universities in the country before being available to the general public. Facebook can be accessed through desktops, laptops and smart phones and is the most popular social media site in use today. -
iPhone
The original iPhone was launched in 2007. It had a simple design with one large touchscreen and a centre button. It could perform a range of tasks such as surfing the web, looking at emails, making phone calls, messaging… The iPhone was a mini computer and in some ways, was even better than some. An array of functions could be performed through the downloading of mobile apps. It has currently sold in excess of 1 billion units and is by far, Apple’s signature and most successful product.
