The history of apple computers

A 2nd generation iPod iPod mini with the user interface set to German In OctoberApple introduced its first iPod portable digital audio player. Then iPod started as a 5 gigabyte player capable of storing around songs.

History of The Computers What is a Computer? In its most basic form a computer is any device which aids humans in performing various kinds of computations or calculations.

In that respect the earliest computer was the abacus, used to perform basic arithmetic operations. Every computer supports some form of input, processing, and output.

This is less obvious on a primitive device such as the abacus where input, output and processing are simply the act of moving the pebbles into new positions, seeing the changed positions, and counting.

Regardless, this is what computing is all about, in a nutshell. We input information, the computer processes it according to its basic logic or the program currently running, and outputs the results.

Modern computers do this electronically, which enables them to perform a vastly greater number of calculations or computations in less time. Despite the fact that we currently use computers to process images, sound, text and other non-numerical forms of data, all of it depends on nothing more than basic numerical calculations.

In other words every image, every sound, and every word have a corresponding binary code.

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It was programmed using plugboards and switches, supporting input from an IBM card reader, and output to an IBM card punch. It took up square meters, weighed 27 tons, and consuming kilowatts of power. It used thousands of vacuum tubes, crystal diodes, relays, resistors, and capacitors.

IBM Second Generation Computers — The second generation of computers came about thanks to the invention of the transistor, which then started replacing vacuum tubes in computer design.

The first transistor computer was created at the University of Manchester in The most popular of transistor computers was IBM Making circuits out of single pieces of silicon, which is a semiconductor, allowed them to be much smaller and more practical to produce.

This also started the ongoing process of integrating an ever larger number of transistors onto a single microchip. During the sixties microchips started making their way into computers, but the process was gradual, and second generation of computers still held on.

They were much smaller, and cheaper than first and second generation of computers, also known as mainframes. Minicomputers can be seen as a bridge between mainframes and microcomputers, which came later as the proliferation of microchips in computers grew.

History of Apple Inc. - Wikipedia

Fourth Generation Computers — present First microchips-based central processing units consisted of multiple microchips for different CPU components. The drive for ever greater integration and miniaturization led towards single-chip CPUs, where all of the necessary CPU components were put onto a single microchip, called a microprocessor.

The first single-chip CPU, or a microprocessor, was Intel The advent of the microprocessor spawned the evolution of the microcomputers, the kind that would eventually become personal computers that we are familiar with today. First Generation of Microcomputers — Altair First microcomputers were a weird bunch.

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They often came in kits, and many were essentially just boxes with lights and switches, usable only to engineers and hobbyists whom could understand binary code. It is arguable which of the early microcomputers could be called a first. The reason some might consider it a first microcomputer is because it could be used as a de-facto standalone computer, it was small enough, and its multi-chip CPU architecture actually became a basis for the x86 architecture later used in IBM PC and its descendants.

Plus, it even came with a keyboard and a monitor, an exception in those days. Altair in particular spawned a large following among the hobbyists, and is considered the spark that started the microcomputer revolution, as these hobbyists went on to found companies centered around personal computing, such as Microsoft, and Apple.

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As microcomputers continued to evolve they became easier to operate, making them accessible to a larger audience. They typically came with a keyboard and a monitor, or could be easily connected to a TV, and they supported visual representation of text and numbers on the screen.

In other words, lights and switches were replaced by screens and keyboards, and the necessity to understand binary code was diminished as they increasingly came with programs that could be used by issuing more easily understandable commands.

The consequence was a predictable exponential increase in processing power that could be put into a smaller package, which had a direct effect on the possible form factors as well as applications of modern computers, which is what most of the forthcoming paradigm shifting innovations in computing were about.

Doug Engelbart and his team at the Stanford Research Lab developed the first mouse, and a graphical user interface, demonstrated in It took Steve Jobs negotiating a stocks deal with Xerox in exchange for a tour of their research center to finally bring the user friendly graphical user interface, as well as the mouse, to the masses.

In Apple introduced the Macintosh, the first mass-market computer with a graphical user interface and a mouse. Microsoft later caught on and produced Windows, and the historic competition between the two companies started, resulting in improvements to the graphical user interface to this day.

As it turned out the idea of a laptop-like portable computer existed even before it was possible to create one, and it was developed at Xerox PARC by Alan Kay whom called it the Dynabook and intended it for children. The first portable computer that was created was the Xerox Notetaker, but only 10 were produced.Discover the innovative world of Apple and shop everything iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple TV, plus explore accessories, entertainment, and expert device support.

Company History. Apple Computers, Inc. was founded on April 1, , by college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who brought to the new company a . Exhibit Content Team Dag Spicer, Senior Curator Marc Weber, Founding Curator, Internet History Program Chris Garcia, Curator Alex Lux, Research Assistant.

Apple Inc.—originally known as Apple Computers—began in Founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak worked out of Jobs' garage at his home in Los Altos, California. On April 1, , they debuted the Apple 1, a desktop computer that came as a single motherboard, pre-assembled, unlike other personal computers of that era.

A brief history of the company that changed the computing world forever. Includes specifications, a description and pictures of every Apple computer ever made. Apple Confidential The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company [Owen Linzmayer, Owen W.

Linzmayer] on initiativeblog.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Apple Confidential examines the tumultuous history of America's best-known Silicon Valley start-up--from its legendary founding almost 30 years ago.