The first computers. When and by whom was the very first computer made? The very first computer in the world - when did it appear and who created it? The first computer, Mark 1, was manufactured in

Today, the computer has become an integral part of every person's life. This device is available in every home, and often not even one. Every workplace is equipped with a computer in one format or another. The PC has long become commonplace and an obvious item of work and home use. And, of course, no one remembers for a long time what the very first computer in the world was like, but the process of evolution to miniature but powerful devices did not take so much time.

However, the device has undergone enormous changes. So, let's take a short excursion into history and remember how and when the first computer appeared.

Before moving on to the question of when the first computers appeared, it is worth talking about those inventions of mankind that were made earlier and made a significant contribution to the main achievement.

• The very first attempt to create a device that simplifies counting was made 3 thousand years BC. The ancient abacus (abacus) is considered the most distant predecessors of the first computers.
• In 1642, Pascal created a digital computer. This is the first device presented to the general public and received great fame. The scientist’s development added and subtracted first five-digit numbers, and after modification, eight-digit numbers. At that time, this invention was considered unique and it was it that marked the beginning of a series of developments that led to the appearance of the first computer in the world.
• The first tangible invention was made in 1938. German engineer Konrad Tzue created the Z1, although a mechanical, but already programmable machine.
• Developments did not stand still and already in 1941, the same scientist introduced the Z3 to the world. The computer already had the basic characteristics of a full-fledged computer. But it’s too early to say that this is the first computer.

Unfortunately, Z3 was destroyed in May 1945 when Russian troops entered Germany. But today in one of the museums in Munich you can see a recreated copy of it. The mechanism is striking in its size and it is already very difficult to compare this colossus with modern miniature gadgets.

ENIAC - the very first computer in the world

What is ENIAC? Literally, it is an electronic numerical integrator and calculator. This machine was the first proof that it was actually possible to create a computer. That an electronic machine is capable of performing complex calculations. And that this is only the beginning of the greatest discoveries and developments.

History of the ENIAC project

The development of the very first computer in the world began in 1943. At the height of the Second World War, the United States required large volumes of calculations of firing tables, without which artillery could not hit the target accurately. At that time, this responsibility was assigned to women; calculations were performed manually using adding machines. In terms of time, such calculations took up to 16 days per calculation. To fully calculate one table, a large number of computers were involved and a lot of time was required.

In 1942, the University of Pennsylvania in the USA was offered a design for the first electronic computer based on vacuum tubes and a proposal to build it. The institute's management did not appreciate the project and sent it to the archives. Subsequently, the Ballistic Laboratory became interested in the computer. Such a solution would significantly speed up the calculation of shooting tables from several days or even months to several hours.

In 1943, the project, again recreated from memory by the developer, was presented to the scientific department of the Ballistic Laboratory. To prevent the innovation from being rejected by the military, the machine was called an electronic differentiated analyzer. The representatives of the commission were very familiar with the mechanical analyzer and got the impression that the engineers simply wanted to make it electronic. According to the developers, the future machine will be able to calculate the firing trajectory in 5 minutes.

The idea was approved and funds in the amount of almost 62 thousand US dollars were allocated to create the world's first computer. In the first development document, the machine was called “Electronic Numerical Integrator”; the additional word “Computer” was added to it a little later, after which the well-known and most famous abbreviation in the history of PC creation was formed.

In February 1944, all the drawings and diagrams of the future vehicle were drawn up. And a group of engineers under the leadership of the main developers was ready for the final assembly and implementation of the project. In the summer of the same year, two test modules were assembled into one device, which were used to add numbers. They multiplied two numbers and gave the correct answer; the results of the experiment were provided to the management of the institute and laboratory and confirmed that the engineers’ project was completely feasible.

ENIAC was finally assembled in 1945 at the end of the war and was no longer useful for military purposes. In this regard, the American military department decided to use the machine’s capabilities in calculations for the development of thermonuclear weapons. ENIAC was presented to the public only a year later. It successfully carried out its work for 10 years and was permanently disconnected from power in October 1955.

How the computer was used

Ten years of continuous service is a very impressive period for the first computer. What did ENIAC manage to accomplish during this period?

• As mentioned above, after creation and successful testing, the computer was disassembled and transported to the Ballistic Laboratory for calculations related to the creation of thermonuclear weapons. The latter required large capacities and ENIAC, although it simplified the process, was not completely suitable for full-fledged modeling. As a result of approximate and greatly simplified calculations of the first computer, the possibility of creating a hydrogen bomb was proven.
• Then Monte Carlo calculations were performed at ENIAC.
• Then the British physicist used the first computer to solve the aerodynamic problem of air mass flowing around an airplane wing at supersonic speed. The computer produced fairly accurate results.
• Von Neumann calculated the values ​​of Pi and e on a computer with very high accuracy.
• Also, this computer was used for the first time to calculate a numerical weather forecast. This calculation took place over 5 weeks, after which the results were analyzed.

Despite the duration, the very first computer in the world produced very impressive results.

Design characteristics

In total, the creation of ENIAC cost almost 500 thousand US dollars and 200 thousand man-hours. The design consisted of 17.5 thousand lamps of 16 types, 7.2 thousand silicon diodes, 1.5 thousand relays, 70 thousand resistors and 10 thousand capacitors. The machine absorbed so much electricity that during the calculations, the nearest city was left without electricity for many hours.

ENIAC had the following parameters and characteristics:

• the weight of the structure is 27 tons;
• memory – 20 number of words;
• required power – 174 kW;
• computing power - 257 multiplication operations or 5 thousand additions per second;
• clock frequency – 100 kHz;
• Data input and output were performed using an IBM punched card tabulator.

To calculate multiplication, the machine used repeated addition, so the power in this direction of calculations is reduced. All calculations were performed in the decimal system, and the binary system was familiar to the developers, but they preferred the first (he’s not in the photo below - just a picture for atmosphere)

To solve each specific problem, ENIAC was recommuted until 1947, that is, programmers re-formed a program to calculate a new problem by rearranging blocks and commutators. Then each calculation task was used as a subroutine, which greatly simplified programming the machine.

Development team

So, who is the developer of the first computer? The authorship of the main project belongs to John Presper Eckert and John William Mauchly. A whole group of highly qualified specialists worked directly on the creation of the machine.

• Robert F. Shaw - function tables;
• Thomas K. Sharpless – lead programmer;
• Jeffrey Chuan Chu – square root and division modulus;
• Arthur Burks – multiplication module;
• Jack Davey – batteries;
• Harry Husky – module for reading data to output;
• John Von Neumann - participated in the project as a scientific consultant.

In addition to these specialists, a team of programmers consisting of six girls worked on the computer:

• Marilyn Meltzer;
• Kathleen Rita McNulty;
• Frances Elizabeth Snyder;
• Ruth Lichterman;
• Betty Jean Jennings;
• Francis Bilas.

Thus, it is difficult to determine who the creator of the ENIAC computer is in the singular. Many specialists worked on both the design and creation of computers.

Further developments and creation of the first personal computers

In 1945, the first report was provided from EDVAC, Von Neumann's improved version of the first computer. He performed calculations not only using punched cards, but also using his own memory, this reduced the number of lamps and speeded up the calculation process.

The first PCs for sale appeared after the creation of microprocessors. IBM tried to organize the first sales already in 1974. But the devices were not in demand at all. These devices used cassettes as memory, and the cost of the machines was no more and no less - 10 thousand US dollars. Hence the lack of demand.

The answer to the question of who created the first computer available for home use is obvious from the name of the machine - IBM 5100. This machine had 64 KB of memory and could run some programs. Despite the cost and unclear purposes of use, the first sales still took place.

Domestic developments

Engineers in the Soviet Union also did not sit still and developed their own product. Who created the computer in the USSR? The project was led by S. A. Lebedev. Work began in 1948. The car was built only towards the end of 1950. And already in 1952, serious calculations of scientific and technical problems were carried out on Soviet MESMs.

It is worth noting that when creating the very first computer in the USSR, Lebedev, independently of Von Neumann, came to the decision of using a program stored in memory to perform calculations.

Despite the fact that the Small Electronic Calculating Machine had low speed and a small amount of memory, it had fairly developed algorithms. It also had a storage device for long-term storage of commands and immutable constants.

History of computer games

I wonder what the very first game in the world was? It was created in 1962 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Of course, the development of this product was carried out by engineers during non-working hours.

The first game was called Spacewar. The plot is based on a battle between two space liners that attack each other with special missiles. The game was launched on a separate processor with a speed of 100 thousand operations per second and a memory of 9 KB.

A star map with liners was displayed on the display. The gun was controlled and fired using joysticks and a keyboard. The number of missiles each enemy had was limited, which added excitement to a simple shooter. Each player had to not only hit the enemy, but also avoid his attacks. It was possible to maneuver between stars or make hyperjumps in space.

The game was released commercially, and it was planned to make a good profit from the product. But the toy never gained much popularity, although it made its creators famous in narrow circles. Nevertheless, subsequent developments in this direction were already in demand.

The creation of ENIAC, the very first computer in the world, was the start of developments in the direction of electronics and computer technology. Today, humanity has achieved quite a lot of success, but progress does not stand still and sometimes it is difficult to even imagine what awaits us ahead.

The term “the world’s first computer” can mean several different models. On the one hand, these are gigantic machines created in the middle of the 20th century.

On the other hand, humanity became directly acquainted with computers, and even got the opportunity to use them in everyday life, much later.

And the history of the first personal computers begins in the mid-1970s.

In our material we will tell you about the creation of the first prototypes of modern computers and huge computing machines, which scientists call the first computers.

The first "giants" of computing technology

At the very beginning of the computer era, in the 1940s, several independently developed models of huge computing devices were created.

All were developed and assembled by scientists from the USA and occupied tens of square meters of area.

By modern standards, such equipment can hardly be called a computer.

However, at that time, there were no more powerful machines that could perform calculations at a speed much faster than the average person.

Rice. 1 One of the first computers, UNIVAC, is brought into the installation room.

Mark-1

The programmable device "Mark-1" is rightfully considered the world's first computer.

The computer, developed in 1941 by a group of 5 engineers (including Howard Aiken), was intended for military purposes.

After completing the work, checking and adjusting the computer, it was transferred to the US Air Force. The formal launch of the Mark-1 took place in August 1944.

The main part of the computer, the total cost of which exceeded 500 thousand dollars, was located inside a metal case and consisted of more than 765 thousand parts.

The length of the equipment reached 17 meters

The height is 2.5 m, as a result of which a huge room at Harvard University was allocated for it. Other device parameters include:

• total weight: more than 4.5 tons;
• length of electrical cables inside the housing: up to 800 km;
• length of the shaft synchronizing the computing modules: 15 m;
• power of the electric motor that drove the computer: 5 kW;
• calculation speed: addition and subtraction - 0.33 s, division - 15.3 s, multiplication - 6 s.

“Mark-1” could be called a huge and powerful adding machine - this is the version adhered to by those who consider the ENIAC model to be the founder of computer technology.

However, thanks to the ability to execute user-specified programs in automatic mode (which, for example, the German Z3 computer created a little earlier could not do), it is the Mark-1 that is considered the first computer.

Working with punched paper tape, the machine did not require human intervention.

Although, due to the lack of support for conditional jumps, each program was recorded on a long and looped tape roll.

After the device’s power became insufficient to complete the new tasks that customers set for the developers, one of the computer’s authors, Howard Aiken, continued to work on new models.

So, in 1947, the second version, “Mark-2”, was created, and in 1949, “Mark-3”.

The last version, called Mark IV, was released in 1952 and was also used by the US military.

Rice. 2 The first computer Mark-1.

ENIAC

The ENIAC computer was intended to perform approximately the same tasks as the Mark-1.

However, the result of the development was a truly multitasking computer.

The first launch of the device took place almost at the end of 1945, so it was already too late to use it for military purposes in World War II.

And the most complex computer at that time, which, according to contemporaries, worked “at the speed of thought,” participated in other projects.

One of them was a simulation of a hydrogen bomb explosion.

The operating frequency of these elements reached 100 thousand pulses every second.

In order to increase the reliability of such a number of devices, the developers used a method designed for the operation of musical electric organs.

After this, the accident rate decreased several times, and out of 17 thousand lamps, no more than two burned out in a week.

In addition, an equipment safety monitoring system was developed, which included checking each of the 100 thousand small parts.

Computer settings:

• total development time: 200 thousand man-hours;
• project price: $487 thousand;
• weight: about 27 tons;
• power: 174 kW;
• memory: 20 alphanumeric combinations;
• operating speed: addition - 5 thousand operations per second, multiplication - 357 operations per second.

A tabulator was used to input and output data to the ENIAC at speeds of 125 and 100 cards per minute, respectively.

During the tests, the computer processed more than 1 million punched cards.

And the only serious drawback of the machine, which sped up the calculation process hundreds of times compared to its predecessor, even for its time, was its size - almost 2 times larger than that of the Mark-1.

Rice. 3 The second ENIAC computer in the world.

EDVAC

The improved EDVAC computer (also created by Eckert and Mosley) could carry out calculations not only on the basis of punched cards, but also using a program contained in the memory.

This opportunity arose as a result of the use of mercury tubes, which store information, and the binary system, which significantly simplified the calculations and the number of lamps.

The result of the work of a group of American scientists was a computer with a memory of about 5.5 KB, consisting of the following elements:

• devices for reading and writing information from magnetic tape;
• an oscilloscope to monitor the operation of a computer;
• a device that receives signals from control elements and transmits them to computing modules;
• timer;
• devices for performing calculations and storing information;
• temporary registers (in modern terminology - “clipboards”), storing one word at a time.

A computer occupying an area of ​​45.5 square meters. m., spent about 0.000864 seconds on addition and subtraction and 0.0029 seconds on multiplication and division.

Its mass reached only 7.85 tons - much less compared to ENIAC. The power of the device is only 50 kW, and the number of diode lamps was only 3.5 thousand pieces.

Rice. 4 Computer "Advac".

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Domestic developments

In the 1940s, domestic science also carried out developments to obtain electronic computers.

The result of the work of the laboratory named after S. A. Lebedev was the first MESM model on the Eurasian continent.

Following it, several other computers appeared, no longer so famous, although they made a significant contribution to the scientific activity of the USSR.

MESM

The abbreviation MESM, a computer created from 1948 to 1950, stood for “Small Electronic Computing Machine”.

The computer received this name due to the fact that at first it was just a prototype of a “large” device.

However, the positive test results obtained led to the creation of a full-fledged computer, assembled in a two-story monastery building.

The first launch took place in November 1950, and the first serious problem was solved in January of the following year.

Over the next 6 years, the MESM was used for complex scientific calculations, then used as a teaching tool, and finally dismantled in 1959.

The operating parameters of the device were as follows:

• number of lamps: 6 thousand;
• three-address command system with 20 binary digits;
• memory: constant for 31 numbers and 63 commands, RAM of the same size;
• performance: frequency 5 kHz, execution of 3 thousand operations per second;
• area: about 60 sq. m.;
• power: up to 25 kW.

Rice. 5 Soviet entry-level computer MESM,

BESM-1

Work on another Soviet computer was carried out at the same time as on MESM.

The device was called the Large Electronic Calculating Machine and worked at triple speed - up to 10 thousand operations per second - while reducing the number of lamps to 730 pieces.

The number of digits for the numbers that the computer operated was 39 units, and the accuracy of calculations reached 9 digits.

As a result, the machine could work with numbers from 0.000000001 to 1000000000. Just like the MESM, the large device was produced in one copy.

The car, whose designer was also S. A. Lebedev, was considered the fastest in Europe in 1953. While the American IBM 701 was recognized as the best computer in the world.

IBM's first commercial computer performed up to 17 thousand operations per second.

Rice. 6 The first full-fledged computer in the USSR BESM-1.

BESM-2

The improved version, BESM-2, became not only the next fastest computer in the country, but also one of the first mass-produced Soviet devices of this type.

From 1958 to 1962, Soviet industry produced 67 computer models.

On one of them, calculations were carried out for the rocket that delivered the pennant of the Soviet Union to the Moon. The speed of BESM-2 was 20 thousand operations per second.

At the same time, the RAM reached, in terms of modern units, about 11 KB and worked on ferrite cores.

Rice. 7 Soviet computer BESM-2.

The first mass-produced models

By the early 1970s, computer technology had developed to the point where it was possible to purchase a computer for personal use.

Previously, only large organizations could do this, since the cost of equipment reached tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars in the USA and approximately the same amount in rubles for the USSR.

As computers get smaller, they become truly personal.

And the first among them can be called a prototype that did not leave a big mark in history, but was still released in the amount of several thousand copies - Xerox Alto.

The release date of the first model was 1973.

Among the advantages were a decent memory of 128 KB (expandable to 512 KB) and a storage device of 2.5 MB.

The disadvantage is a huge “system unit” the size of a modern one for A3 format.

It was the dimensions that prevented production from becoming quite widespread, although organizations purchased the computer because of its convenient graphical interface.

Rice. 8 The Xerox Alto computer is powerful, but expensive.

On the territory of the USSR in 1968, they also tried to create a prototype of a PC.

Omsk engineer Gorokhov patented a computing device, the functionality of which was approximately equivalent to the first personal computers of the 1970s.

However, not a single actually working model was created, not to mention mass production.

And the first mass-produced PC (albeit with limited functionality) was the Altair 8800, produced since 1974.

It can be called the prototype of the first modern computers - it was the Intel chipset that was installed on the computer’s motherboard.

The cost of the assembled model was just over $600, and about $400 when disassembled.

This low cost led to massive demand, and the Altair sold in the thousands.

In this case, the device was just a system unit that had neither a monitor, nor a keyboard, nor a sound card.

All of these peripherals were developed later, and buyers of the first Altair 8800 models could only operate it using switches and lights.

Rice. 9 Altair 8800 model with monitor and keyboard combined together.

It is no longer possible to imagine life without a computer, it has become so deeply integrated into the spheres of activity. The computer is used by both first grade students and developers of new technologies; it helps optimize the work process and stores a huge amount of information, although outwardly it is a compact device. Computer technologies have helped facilitate the process of data processing and protect personal information from public access.

True, with such significant advantages of computers, there is also something that worries people extremely, this mainly concerns parents. The emergence of computer games, especially with improved graphics, causes addiction in children, most often of school age. In this case, parents are forced to literally “wage war” with the computer or even abandon it altogether, returning the child to the real world.

But computers were not always distinguished by speed of information processing, high-quality graphics and compact dimensions. So let's remember what the first computer looked like when the PC was invented, and what the first computer game was.

The first computer in the world

The very first programmable computer was introduced to the world on February 14, 1946 in the United States of America - ENIAC. It weighed 30 tons and contained 18,000 vacuum tubes. True, the speed of the machine was only 5,000 operations per second. In total, this computer model worked for 9 years.

Of course, before 1946, work was underway to create computers, and even suitable options were presented, but they were not brought to practical use.

For example, in 1912, the Russian scientist A. Krylov developed a machine for solving differential equations.

Then, in 1927, the first analog computer was invented in the USA, and in 1938, German engineer Konrad Zuse created a programmable mechanical digital model of the Z1 computer, but it was a trial one and underwent a number of upgrades. Already in 1941, the 3rd version of the machine appeared - Z3, which more closely resembled a modern computer than others, but still required modifications.

In 1942, the creation of the ABC electronic digital computer also continued in the United States, but the model was not completed because the developer, John Atanasoff, was drafted into the army. The unfinished model was studied by John Mauchly and began to create his own computer, ENIAC, and in 1946 the scientist completed many years of work. Mauchly's ENIAC was a computer that performed tasks assigned to the computer and had the binary number system on which modern computers are built.

The first computer was developed to solve problems in war conditions and was used by the United States Army. The main goal was to automate calculations during bombing by artillery and aviation. And if earlier numerous departments were created for calculations using slide rules, then with the creation of computers the need for calculations in such a slow and complex way disappeared.

History of the creation of a personal computer (PC)

Of course, the creation of computers was the first impetus for the creation of personal computers, but still each of them had an individual direction in development.

As already noted, computers were created primarily for the needs of the army, moreover, their prices were inflated ($4000-5000), and the sizes of the computers were too large. Therefore, the idea of ​​​​creating a personal computer appeared quite soon. Already in 1968, the Soviet engineer A. A. Gorokhov thought about creating a “Programmable Intellectual Device”, which contained a motherboard, a video card, an input device and memory. However, Gorokhov did not receive funding, and the project remained only in drawings.

Determining the exact date of the appearance of the PC in practice turned out to be difficult, since not only scientists, but also amateurs sought to create it, after microcircuits and microprocessors became publicly available in the 70s of the 20th century. But it is reliably known that in 1975, the first serial PC was presented to the world - the Altair 8800. True, outwardly it was a construction kit made up of individual blocks and circuits, but still, according to its characteristics, experts classify it as a personal computer.

In 1976, a PC was released aimed at mass sale and use - Apple I. Only a monitor was not included with the new personal computer; otherwise, all the components of the modern model were already present in the Apple computer. Already in 1977, this drawback was eliminated, and the company began to produce models with its own monitors.

In 1981, another computer company, IBM, introduced a new PC model, the IBM 5150, and also this year the first personal computer in the Soviet Union, the NTs-8010, appeared. But none of these models included a computer mouse. It appeared only as part of a new PC developed by Apple in 1983 - the Apple Lisa.

True, this model was so expensive that it was not widespread. Given the previous failure, in 1984 Apple released an improved Macintosh model, which became so successful that its device was used as the basis for a modern personal computer.

The world's first game on a computer

The first computer game appeared in 1962, the developers were programmers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the idea belonged to Steve Russell and Martin Graetz, who, when they met, agreed on the basis of their passion for science fiction. The game was created in their free time, first the programmers wrote the program itself, and then it was brought to life within a month.

As a result, the first computer game was created, called Spacewar. It was a battle between 2 spaceships that fired missiles at each other. The game was created on the basis of the PDP-1 processor, which performed 100,000 operations per second and had 9 KB of RAM.

The game proceeded as follows: a map was displayed on the display, representing the starry sky on which warships were located. Opponents controlled them using keyboards and joysticks. The number of missiles to be fired was strictly limited, and there were only 2 ways to maneuver away from the enemy - spinning around the stars, avoiding the shot, or making a hyperjump - during which the ship disappeared from the battlefield for a second and suddenly appeared at another point on the map.

Although Spaceawars was also the first commercial game, it did not bring any income to the creators, although it gave fame and honor in the narrow circles of programmers. But subsequent similar computer games have already become popular and bring great profits to the creators. By the way, one of the versions of Spacewar is still housed in the collection of the Computer Museum History Center in California.

Today, research shows that computer games, when properly selected and used correctly, even have a positive effect on the development of children. The developers pay attention to games aimed at developing logical thinking and coordination, and winning such games develops the child’s self-confidence in the future.

But as already noted, not all computer games lead to the development of strong qualities in a child, and excessive passion definitely has a negative impact on both health and psyche. It is, of course, wrong to completely abandon games, but it is worth stocking up on alternative ways to attract the attention of children in order to interest them in the outside world.

The first computer, the first personal computer and even the first computer game were captured in photographs and have survived to this day; they are easy to find on the Internet in the public domain. A large number of interesting and informative films on this topic have also been made, for example, a film from Discovery, which is posted on the YouTube channel.

Can you imagine the modern world without computers? I don’t, because every step we take is connected with computers. This story began back in the distant 40s, when the world was just beginning to learn about the creation of the first “computers” (electronic computers).

The history of the creation of the world's first computer

In 1942, John Mauchly's project gave impetus to the creation of the first computer, although at first no attention was paid to the project itself. One day one of the US Army laboratories became interested in it, and already in 1943 the first steps were taken to create a machine called “ENIAC”. The money for the creation was given by the Pentagon (which needed to create new guns), and it cost a little less than $500,000.

By the way, ENIAC turned out to be very voracious in terms of electricity, when it was turned on - the lights of the nearby city dimmed every time. ENIAC (Electronical Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was truly the first computer that could be programmed.

Technical characteristics of the first computer:

1. Weight reached 27 tons;
2. Power - 174 kW - this is approximately how much a huge shopping center consumes on a weekend;
3. Contained 18,000 vacuum tubes, because there were no transistors and processors at that time;
4. Memory - 4 kilobytes;
5. Its size was impressive - it occupied 135 sq.m.
6. Performed up to 5000 actions per second.

The most amazing thing is the kilometers of wires that were wrapped around the computer. It was programmed as a telephone communicator, operated by telephone operators.

Later, it began to be used not only to analyze cosmic radiation, but also to create a hydrogen bomb. While the computer was being created, the war ended, but research did not stop and in 1945 they conducted the first official test, which it passed. At the same time, about 1,000,000 IBM punch cards were processed. Despite its enormous size and weight, the computer worked for about 10 years.

Five years later, the transistor was invented, which marked the beginning of the reduction in the size of computers.

Where and when was the first personal computer sold?

The concept of the personal computer changed little over the next two decades. The introduction of the microprocessor speeded up the process of creating a computer. IBM tried to create its first computer back in 1974, but the attempt failed and sales were very low. IBM5100 - had cassettes as storage media, fairly light weight and a serious cost of $10,000.

He was also already able to independently execute programs written in programming languages ​​such as BASIC and APL (he was created at IBM). displayed 16 lines of 64 characters, memory about 64 KB, and these cassettes were similar to stereo audio cassettes. But sales never came because there was no normal interface provided and the price was too high.

Have you ever wondered what computers will be like in 10 years?

IBM recently unveiled its new mega-computer, the Roadrunner. Its capacity is 1,000,000,000,000 (1 quadrillion) operations. It was created for the US Department of Energy, and consists of 6480 2-core processors, and 12,960 processors from IBM, which are called . It includes 278 huge cabinets, 88 kilometers of cables, weighs 226 tons, occupies an area of ​​1100 m², consumes 3.9 MW, and costs $133,000,000.