The evolution of computers until today

Computers have been around much longer than you thought, and their meaning has changed for decades. In fact, the electronic computer we have in mind was developed in the middle of the 20th century. But it didn't become popular for home consumption until the 1980s, after the advent of Microsoft and Apple operating systems that combined text and graphics. This replaced the text-only systems of the 1970s. Later, in 1990, computers already had improved multimedia and communication applications, making them indispensable for the daily life of many people. You want to know more? Here we tell you about the evolution of computers and their history until today.

What is a computer?

To know the evolution of computers, the first thing you should know is that the original definition of "computer" was a person who performed calculations. This definition is from the 1600s and runs until the mid-20th century when "computer" began to refer to a machine.

The computer is based on the same concept as the abacus, which dates back centuries. Technology made a major leap with punch cards, developed by Joseph-Marie Masquard in 1801. In fact, this system was even used to involve music, where piano coils assigned actions to notes on a piano. In 1835, Charles Babbage combined punch cards with a steam engine to invent a "the analytical machine. "

IBM PC 5150.

Mechanical information processing

Later, in 1880 the IBM company arose from the invention of the tabulator, which was developed by Herman Hollerith. This was the first use of punch cards that represented data rather than automating a mechanical function. So, the information processing world of the 1950s was based on a combination of tabulator, punch card, and punch machine.

The first calculators appeared in the 1930s. These analog machines began to be replaced by the digital concept of 0 and 1 at the time of World War II. The first computer developed was UNIVAC, developed by Remington Rand in 1951. Then IBM introduced its mainframe computer model a year later.

Computer integration

Each Remington computer went on to sell for more than a million dollars, however, IBM took advantage by selling smaller, more affordable machines. In 1954, IBM developed Fortran which is an original mathematics-based computer programming language . In this same decade, transistors, microprogramming and integrated circuits were developed that allowed reducing the size of a computer.

At the same time, the CPU and storage memory were improved, allowing a higher processing speed. Then, in the 1970s, thanks to Intel and Texas Instruments, the first microprocessors arrived. This allowed for much smaller and much more powerful computers.

Who had access to a PC?

Until the 1970s, computers were primarily used by universities, governments, and large companies. It wasn't until the end of that decade that personal computers first appeared. Apple introduced the Apple I in 1976 and the Apple II in 1977, ushering in an era of home computers.

Apple IIGS.

From that moment, the software industry began to be born, with Apple and Microsoft being the most important. Microsoft gained popularity by marketing its DOS operating system on IBM computers from 1984. While Apple released Macintosh in 1984, it featured graphics and text, replacing machines that only displayed text. From this moment, Apple has called its system "Mac" to differentiate it from the rest of personal computers.

A multimedia machine

In the 1990s, the computer was already too popular, being a common device in homes. Microsoft's Windows 95 system caused its use of computers to grow, as the World Wide Web caught the attention of shoppers.

Tandy 1000, the first computer with MS-DOS.

Almost all professions would already need a personal computer to improve services and products. In the first decade of 2000, Microsoft introduced its versions of Windows XP and Vista, while Apple offered OS X Leopard. These operating systems combined with popular software meant that users had access to very large multimedia tools.