January 2004

History of Technology

by Denise Watson

Can you come up with the answers to these questions?

1. What is the name of the English mathematician whose “Difference Engine” was the precursor to modern day computers?

2. What role did the Russians and nuclear war play in the development of the Internet?

3. What office tool was Pellegrino Turri credited with inventing in 1808?

4. What was the name of the model of the first personal computer and in what year was it first sold?

5. Who was the creator of the basic tools of browsing that turned the Internet into a World Wide Web?

Technology is integral to our lives. Stop for a moment and think of the various tools you use every day. Most of us use computers daily, either at work or for entertainment at home. We communicate with each other through chat rooms, cell phones, video conferencing tools, E-mail and fax. We have grown up with technological aids surrounding us and have continued to learn the latest technologies along the way. Photographs that were once taken on film cartridges are now digitally recorded and stored on memory sticks to be printed out on photo printers. Fifteen years ago telephone communication was tied to the wiring of our homes or a nearby pay phone. Now you just reach into your pocket and pull out your cell phone to reach anyone, anywhere, anytime.

When out of the office or in business meetings you often carried a bulky time management book to store your calendar, business contact information or other essential data. Now you can pull out your pocket PDA and quickly access vital information anywhere, anytime. The Internet has allowed businesses around the world to communicate and do business instantaneously. The physical borders of our world are erased and communication is seamless. The technological tools at our disposal today are many—and they significantly impact our productivity in a positive way.

The Virtual Alliance will be running a series of articles on the technology in our lives: how it began, its evolution and how we use it today. From typewriters to cell phones to the Internet, we will view these essential tools and their impact to our lives. We hope you will enjoy this series over the next few months. Who knows—you may even learn a fact or two to win that trivia game! Interested in seeing if you knew the answers? See below.

1. In 1856 Charles Babbage designed a machine that could perform multiple mathematical tasks and calculations, the essence of which today’s computer systems were designed. For this reason Charles Babbage is often referred to as the Father of Computing. Now you know why there is a computer store chain called Babbage’s!

2. The USSR’s launching of Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite into space, prompted President Eisenhower to establish a special agency under the Department of Defense called the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to compete with Russia’s technological advancements. In 1969 ARPA began to develop technology to create communications technology that included building a network that would be flexible enough to ensure stability in the event of a partial shutdown of the network, i.e., a nuclear attack on the United States. ARPA titled this project ARPANet and university researchers throughout the country worked on establishing this strong and flexible network. Success was first realized with communications being established between researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles, Sanford University, University of California at Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah.

3. The typewriter—while his machines did not survive, documents typed on his machines still exist today. Christopher Sholes created the first commercial typewriter. He sold the patent for his invention to Remington & Sons. The Remington Model 1 was placed on the market in 1874 and Remington was the leading manufacturer of typewriters for many years to come.

4. In 1974, the Altair 8080 was the first desktop computer designed for personal use. It retailed at around $400 and was advertised in Popular Electronics magazine as the “World First Microcomputer Kit to Rival Commercial Models” and sold by mail-order only. The offering of this system triggered a young Bill Gates and his friend Paul Allen to create a version of BASIC software that would run on the Altair in order to sell it to the manufacturer of the Altair—Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). Within a year after selling the rights to the software to MITS, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard and began Microsoft.

5. Tim Berners-Lee was the creator of the first web browser software called WorldWideWeb in 1990. It was later renamed as Nexus to avoid confusion with the coined term “World Wide Web” that people began to refer to when discussing the Internet. This program originated the software concept of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get).