3. Magnetic tape allows for inexpensive mass storage of information and is a key part of the
computer revolution. The IBM 726 was an early and important practical high-speed
magnetic tape system for electronic computers. Announced on May 21, 1952, the
system used a unique ‘vacuum channel’ method of keeping a loop of tape circulating
between two points, allowing the tape drive to start and stop the tape in a split-second.
The Model 726 was initially sold in 1953 with IBM’s first electronic digital computer, the
Model 701, and could store 2 million digits per tape.
Evolution in 1951
UNIVAC introduces the "UNISERVO" tape drive for the UNIVAC I
computer. It was the first tape storage device for a commercial
computer, and the relative low cost, portability and unlimited offline
capacity of magnetic tape made it very popular. UNIVAC tapes were
½" wide, 0.0015" thick, up to 1,500' long, and made of phosphor-
bronze with a metallic coating. Weighing about three pounds, each
reel could hold 1,440,000 decimal digits and could be read at 100
inches/sec.
Evolution in 1952
4. Evolution in 1953
In 1953, MIT’s Whirlwind becomes the first computer
to use magnetic core memory. Core memory is made
up of tiny “donuts” made of magnetic material strung
on wires into a grid. Each core stored a bit,
magnetized one way for a “zero,” and the other way
for a “one.” The wires could both detect and change
the state of a bit. Though several inventors were
involved, it was MIT’s Jay Forrester who perfected
the technology. In 1971, the introduction of the Intel
1103 DRAM integrated circuit signaled the beginning
of the end for magnetic core memory in computers.
5. Evolution in 1954
Optical Fiber was invented by Indian physicist Narinder Singh
kapany. An optical Fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a
flexible, transparent Fiber made by drawing glass(silica) or plastic to a
diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical Fibers are
used most often as a means to transmit light between the two ends of the
Fibers and find wide usage in Fiber-optic communications, where they
permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths
(data transfer rates) than electrical cables.
A solar battery converts the sun's energy into electricity. In 1954, Gerald
Pearson, Calvin Fuller, and Daryl Chapin invented the first solar battery.
The inventors created an array of several strips of silicon (each about
the size of a razor blade), placed them in sunlight, captured the free
electrons and turned them into electrical current
6. Evolution in 1956
The era of magnetic disk storage dawns with IBM´s shipment of a
RAMAC 305 computer system to zellerbach Paper in San Francisco.
The computer was based on the new technology of the hard disk
drive — the world’s first. The RAMAC disk drive consisted of 50
magnetically coated metal platters capable of storing about 5
million characters of data. RAMAC allowed real-time random access
to large amounts of data, unlike magnetic tape or punched cards. A
working RAMAC hard disk assembly is demonstrated regularly at the
Computer History Museum.
7. Evolution in 1957
Japanese engineer Jun-Ichi Nishizawa invented the semiconductor laser
A laser diode ( LD, also injection laser diode or ILD, or diode laser ) is
a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode in which a diode
pumped directly with electrical current can create lasing conditions at the
diode's junction.
Evolution in 1958
American engineer Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit (IC).An integrated
circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or
a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip")
of semiconductor material , usually silicon. Large numbers of
tiny MOSFETs (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors) integrate
into a small chip. This results in circuits that are orders of magnitude smaller,
faster, and less expensive than those constructed of discrete electronic
components.
8. Evolution in 1959
MOSFET (MOS transistor) invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon
Kahng at Bell Labs .The metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect
transistor (MOSFET, MOS-FET, or MOS FET) is a type of field-effect
transistor (FET), most commonly fabricated by the controlled
oxidation of silicon. It has an insulated gate, the voltage of which
determines the conductivity of the device. This ability to change
conductivity with the amount of applied voltage can be used for
amplifying or switching electronic signals. A metal-insulator-
semiconductor field-effect transistor or MISFET is a term almost
synonymous with MOSFET. Another synonym is IGFET for insulated-
gate field-effect transistor.
9. Evolution in 1960
Evolution in 1961
The Ferranti Sirius is announced. The Sirius was a small, low-cost business
computer using a simple programming language. Its main memory was a
Magnetostrictive delay line. The medium here was a thin strip of special
metal rolled into a coil, with transducers at either end. Like all delay lines,
bits were fed into one end, detected at the other, and continuously
recirculated. Although this type of delay line was considered to be
somewhat slow, its low cost made it attractive to computer designers.
American engineer Theodore Harold Maiman developed a LASER.A laser is a
device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on
the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation . The word "laser" is
an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation .first laser
was built at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work
by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow.
10. Evolution in 1962
Nick Holonyak Jr. invented the LED.A light-emitting diode (LED) is
a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows
through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron
holes, releasing energy in the form of photons (Energy packets). The
color of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photons) is
determined by the energy required for electrons to cross
the band gap of the semiconductor White light is obtained by using
multiple semiconductors or a layer of light-emitting phosphors on
the semiconductor device.
11. Evolution in 1963
The Compact Cassette or Music cassette (MC), also commonly called the tape
cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an
Analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. It was
developed by the Dutch company Philips in Hasselt, Belgium, by Lou Ottens
and his team. It was introduced at the Berlin Radio Show on August 30, 1963.
Evolution in 1964
IBM's 2315 disk cartridge is announced. This 1MB disk cartridge was
used with the IBM 1800 and 1130 computers, and it provided easily
transported “personal storage” for users of those small computers. Each
2315 consisted of a magnetically coated, direct access disk encased in
a plastic cartridge that easily fit into built-in disk drives. When it was
inserted into the disk drive, a power drive engaged the disk and spun it
at 1,500 revolutions per minute. Simultaneously, an arm extended to
perform read and write functions on the disk's magnetic surfaces.
12. Evolution in 1965
The IBM 2314 direct access storage facility is introduced. It was an
improvement over the 2311 disk storage drive and provided higher data
storage density. Eight drives (plus a spare) with removable 29 MB disk
packs shared one control unit. The extra drive was a spare for the user
or could be worked on by a field engineer while the other eight were in
use by the customer. Attached to a System/360 computer, it supported
applications like online banking, ATMs, and just-in-time manufacturing.
Evolution in 1966
Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one
place to another by sending pulses of infrared light through an optical Fiber.
The light is a form of carrier wave that is modulated to carry information .Fiber
is preferred over electrical cabling when high bandwidth , long distance, or
immunity to electromagnetic interference is required .This type of
communication can transmit voice, video, and telemetry through local area
networks or across long distances.
13. Evolution in
1967
The IBM 1360 Photo-Digital Storage System is
installed at Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory. The system could read and write up
to a trillion bits of information—the first such
system in the world. The 1360 used thin strips
of film on which were written data created by
an electron beam and a wet photographic
development process. The system used
sophisticated error correction and a pneumatic
robot to move the film strips to and from a
storage unit. Only five were built.
14. Evolution in 1968
Liquid Crystal Display by George H. Heilmeier.A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is
a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the
light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid
crystals do not emit light directly,instead using a backlight or reflector to produce
images in color or monochrome LCDs are available to display arbitrary images
(as in a general-purpose computer display) or fixed images with low information
content, which can be displayed or hidden. For instance: preset words, digits,
and seven-segment displays, as in a digital clock, are all good examples of
devices with these displays.
Evolution in 1969
The Astron wristwatch, formally known as the Seiko Quartz-Astron 35SQ,
was the world's first "quartz clock" wristwatch It is now registered on the List of
IEEE Milestones as a key advance in electrical engineering
15. Evolution in 1970
First microprocessor (4004, 60,000 oper/s) invented by intel. A
microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing
logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small
number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the
arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry required to perform the
functions of a computer's central processing unit. The integrated
circuit is capable of interpreting and executing program instructions
and performing arithmetic operations.[1] The microprocessor is a
multipurpose, clock-driven, register-based, digital integrated circuit
that accepts binary data as input, processes it according to
instructions stored in its memory, and provides results (also in
binary form ) as output. Microprocessors contain both
combinational logic and sequential digital logic, and operate on
numbers and symbols represented in the binary number system.
16. Evolution in 1971
Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process. It produces high-
quality text and graphics (and moderate-quality photographs) by repeatedly
passing a laser beam back and forth over a negatively-charged cylinder
called a "drum" to define a differentially-charged image. The drum then
selectively collects electrically-charged powdered ink (toner), and transfers
the image to paper, which is then heated to permanently fuse the text,
imagery, or both, to the paper.
Evolution in 1972
First modern ATM(IBM 2984) by IBM..An automated teller
machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an
electronic telecommunications device that enables customers
of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash
withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance inquiries or account
information inquiries, at any time and without the need for direct
interaction with bank staff.
17. Evolution in 1973
Mobile Phone by John F. Mitchell and Dr. Martin Cooper of
Motorola. A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cell
phone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes
shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a
portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio
frequency link while the user is moving within a telephone
service area. The radio frequency link establishes a connection
to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, which
provides access to the public switched telephone
network(PSTN). Modern mobile telephone services use
a cellular network architecture and, therefore, mobile
telephones are called cellular telephones or cell phones in North
America
18. Evolution in 1974
Programmable pocket calculator by Hewlett-Packard. Programmable
calculators are calculators that can automatically carry out a sequence of
operations under control of a stored program. Most are Turing complete,
and, as such, are theoretically general-purpose computers. However, their
user interfaces and programming environments are specifically tailored to
make performing small-scale numerical computations convenient, rather
than general-purpose use.
Evolution in 1975
First personal computer (Altair 8800)) by Roberts .The Altair 8800 is
a microcomputer designed in 1974 by MITS and based on
the Intel 8080 CPU. Interest grew quickly after it was featured on the
cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics and was sold
by mail order through advertisements there, in Radio-Electronics, and
in other hobbyist magazines.
19. References
1.Memory & Storage | Timeline of Computer History | Computer History Museum
2.Timeline of electrical and electronic engineering - Wikipedia.