Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
1974 Scelbi advertises its 8H computer, the first commercially advertised U.S. computer based on a
microprocessor, Intel's 8008.
1975 Telenet, the first commercial packet-switching network and civilian equivalent of ARPAnet, is
born.
1975 The January edition of
Popular Electronics
features the Altair 8800, which is based on Intel's
8080 microprocessor, on its cover.
1976 Steve Wozniak designs the Apple I, a single-board computer.
1976 The 5 1/4-inch floppy disk drive is introduced by Shugart Associates.
1977 Tandy RadioShack introduces the TRS-80.
1977 Apple Computer introduces the Apple II.
1977 Commodore introduces the PET (Personal Electronic Transactor).
1979 Motorola introduces the 68000 microprocessor.
1980 Seagate Technology creates the first hard disk drive for microcomputers, the ST-506.
1981 Xerox introduces the Star, the first personal computer with a graphical user interface (GUI).
1981 Adam Osborne completes the first portable computer, the Osborne I, which weighs 24 pounds
and costs $1,795.
1981 IBM introduces its PC, igniting a fast growth of the personal computer market. The IBM PC is
the grandfather of all modern PCs.
1981 Sony introduces and ships the first 3 1/2-inch floppy disk drive.
1981 Philips and Sony introduce the CD-DA (compact disc digital audio) format.
1983 Apple introduces its Lisa, which incorporates a GUI that's similar to the one introduced on the
Xerox Star.
1983 Compaq Computer Corp. introduces its first PC clone that uses the same software as the IBM
PC.
1984 Apple Computer launches the Macintosh, the first successful mouse-driven computer with a
GUI, with a single $1.5 million commercial during the 1984 Super Bowl.
1984 IBM releases the PC-AT (PC Advanced Technology), three times faster than original PCs and
based on the Intel 286 chip. The AT introduces the 16-bit ISA bus and is the computer on which
all modern PCs are based.
1985 Philips introduces the first CD-ROM drive.
1986 Compaq announces the Deskpro 386, the first computer on the market to use Intel's 32-bit 386
chip.
1987 IBM introduces its PS/2 machines, which make the 3 1/2-inch floppy disk drive and VGA
video standard for PCs. The PS/2 also introduces the MicroChannel Architecture (MCA) bus,
the first plug-and-play bus for PCs.
1988 Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, who left Apple to form his own company, unveils the NeXT
Computer.
1988 Compaq and other PC-clone makers develop Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture (EISA),
which unlike MicroChannel retains backward compatibility with the existing ISA bus.
1988 Robert Morris's worm floods the ARPAnet. The 23-year-old Morris, the son of a computer
