Desktop Computer - History

History

Early computers took up the space of a room. Minicomputers generally fit into one or a few refrigerator sized racks. It was not until the 1970s when computers such as the HP 9800 series desktop computers were fully programmable computers that fit entirely on top of a desk. The very first large "programmable calculators/computers" (machines lacking keyboards for text input) were marketed in the second half of the 1960s, starting with Programma 101 (1965) and HP 9100 (1968). More desktop models were introduced in 1971, leading to a model programmable in BASIC in 1972. They used a smaller version of a minicomputer design based on ROM memory and had small one-line LED alphanumeric displays. They could draw computer graphics with a plotter. The Wang 2200 of 1973 led operating systems such as Mac (Macintosh) and Windows.

Read more about this topic:  Desktop Computer

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    ... in America ... children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.
    Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)

    The history of the genesis or the old mythology repeats itself in the experience of every child. He too is a demon or god thrown into a particular chaos, where he strives ever to lead things from disorder into order.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.
    Karl Marx (1818–1883)