Introduction - Computer Busses - page 4

code, FORTRAN or COBOL. These languages were often difficult for inexperienced users
to use. So, in 1964, John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz at Dartmouth College developed the
BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) programming language. It was a
great success, although has never been used much in 'serious' applications, until Microsoft
developed Visual BASIC, which used BASIC as a foundation language, but enhanced it with
an excellent development system. Many of the first personal computers used BASIC as a
standard programming language.
The third generation of computers started in 1965 with the use of integrated circuits
rather than discrete transistors. IBM again was innovative and created the System/360 main-
frame. In the course of history, it was a true classic computer. Then, in 1970, IBM introduced
the System/370, which included semiconductor memories. All of the computers were very
expensive (approx. $1 000 000), and were the great computing workhorses of the time.
Unfortunately, they were extremely expensive to purchase and maintain. Most companies
had to lease their computer systems, as they could not afford to purchase them. As IBM
happily clung to their mainframe market, several new companies were working away to
erode their share. DEC would be the first, with their minicomputer, but it would be the PC
companies of the future who would finally overtake them. The beginning of their loss of
market share can be traced to the development of the microprocessor, and to one company:
Intel. In 1967, though, IBM again showed their leadership in the computer industry by
developing the first floppy disk. The growing electronics industry started to entice new
companies to specialize in key areas, such as International Research who applied for a patent
for a method of constructing double-sided magnetic tape utilizing a Mumetal foil inter layer.
The beginning of the slide for IBM occurred in 1968, when Robert Noyce and Gordon
Moore left Fairchild Semiconductors and met up with Andy Grove to found Intel Corpora-
tion. To raise the required finance they went to a venture capitalist named Arthur Rock. He
quickly found the required start-up finance, as Robert Noyce was well known for being the
person who first put more than one transistor of a piece of silicon.
At the same time, IBM scientist John Cocke and others completed a prototype scientific
computer called the ACS, which used some RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) con-
cepts. Unfortunately, the project was cancelled because it was not compatible with the IBM's
System/360 computers.
Several people were proposing the idea of a computer-on-a-chip, and International Re-
search Corp. were the first to develop the required architecture, modelled on an enhanced
DEC PDP-8/S concept. Wayne Pickette, at the time, proposed to Fairchild Semiconductor
that they should develop a computer-on-a-chip, but was turned down. So, he went to work
with IBM and went on to design the controller for Project Winchester, which had an en-
closed flying-head disk drive.
In the same year, Douglas C. Engelbart, of the Stanford Research Institute, demonstrated
the concept of computer systems using a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, and windows at the
Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco's Civic Center. He also demonstrated the use of
a word processor, a hypertext system, and remote collaboration. His keyboard, mouse and
windows concept has since become the standard user interface to computer systems.
In 1969, Hewlett-Packard branched into the world of digital electronics with the world's
first desktop scientific calculator: the HP 9100A. At the time, the electronics industry was
producing cheap pocket calculators, which led to the development of affordable computers,
when the Japanese company Busicom commissioned Intel to produce a set of between eight
and 12 ICs for a calculator. Then instead of designing a complete set of ICs, Ted Hoff, at
Intel, designed an integrated circuit chip that could receive instructions, and perform simple
integrated functions on data. The design became the 4004 microprocessor. Intel produced a