History of PCs

History of PCs

1. World War II is not generally remembered for triumphs of technology; however, it was during the war that computers were first created for a specific purpose. The British built a computer called Colossus to break the codes produced by the German Enigma encrypting machine. The Americans built the Electronic Numerical Integrator Analyzer and Computer (ENIAC) to produce missile trajectory tables. Reportedly, the Germans created a computer that was not limited to a specific task, but it was lost or destroyed in the war. These computers were by no means small or affordable; ENIAC cost $500,000 and weighed 30 tons.

2. The first computer that was affordable and could realistically be called a PC was the Altair 8800. It was produced in 1975 and had no keyboard. Programs and data were entered by flicking switches with results read by interpreting a pattern of small red lights. It didn’t take long for enthusiastic computer amateurs to find ways of expanding...