How Personal Computing Technology Has Changed

by Donna Doyon

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Gadgets…

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We all have them.

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We all love them.

But did you know…

Early computers were text only?

There were no pictures...

There were no pictures...No sounds...

There were no pictures...No sounds...

No video.

Computers were used in business and research

settings to enter data and perform math calculations.

Few people saw a reason to have a

computer at home.

By the late 1970s that changed.

Personal productivity software and games

were developed for home use.

In January 1977 the first personal computer was

sold:

In January 1977 the first personal computer was

sold:

A Commodore PET

In 1977

One man predicted:

“There will be a computer on every desk and in every home.”

In 1977

One man predicted:

“There will be a computer on every desk and in every home.”

In 1977

One man predicted:

~Bill Gates

48,000

Number of Personal Computers

sold in 1977…

(U.S. population: 220,239,000)

292,000,000

Number of Personal Computers

sold in 2008…

(U.S. population: 304,000,000)

In 1977, computer technology was slower and less mobile…

…than it is today.

Times change.

Random Access Memory

1977 – 32,000 bytes

Random Access Memory

1977 – 32,000 bytes

2008 – 8,000,000,000 bytes

CPU Speed

1977 – 1MHz (1,000,000 Hz)

CPU Speed

1977 – 1MHz (1,000,000 Hz)

2008 – 3.2 GHz (3,200,000,000 Hz)

Portable Storage

1977

360 KB

Portable Storage

1977

360 KB

2008

4 GB

Have you ever wondered…

Have you ever wondered…

how data moves over the Internet

The transmission process is pretty technical… and tends to promote glazed looks from non-

technical minded people.

But the basic process can be conveyed by using a simple

analogy:

But the basic process can be conveyed by using a simple

analogy:

Roads

Fifty years ago, the Internet resembled a rutted country road.

Information got where you wanted

it to go (most of the time), but it was a slow, bumpy and

unreliable journey.

Fifty years ago, the Internet resembled a rutted country road.

Today we call the Internet

the Information Super-

Highway…

Information zips, zooms, and swerves to get where it needs

to go in the fastest time possible.

Consider the difference…

Speed on a rutted country road?

10-15 mph

Speed on a super-highway?

65-70 mph in the United States

So if you need to travel 400 miles to your destination…

Rutted road

Rutted road

400 miles = 20 hours

Super highway

Rutted road

400 miles = 20 hours

Super highway

400 miles = 5 ¾ hours

Rutted road

400 miles = 20 hours

On the Internet

Instead of miles per hour…speed is measured in

Megabytes per second.

That Taylor Swift song you want to

download?

That Taylor Swift song you want to

download?

It’s 3.4 MB in size

That Taylor Swift song you want to

download?

It’s 3.4 MB in size

Today, that will take approximately 18

seconds to download.

In 1986 it would have taken over 49 minutes to download!

Why are things so much faster today?

One reason is better roads.

Cables and wireless technology are the Internet roads that connect users.

Improvements in cables and transmission center

technology were like transforming rough country roads into super highways.

They allowed an increase in transmission speeds while

reducing external and transmission noise.

Fiber optic cables, satellite, and microwave technology

allow data to move faster and with fewer errors.

But you don’t have to worry about any of this.

It all happens behind the scenes…

…almost like magic!

Did you know…

Technology is always changing.

Hardware is becoming…

Hardware is becoming…

Faster

Hardware is becoming…

FasterCheaper

Hardware is becoming…

Faster Cheaper

And can store more data

Tomorrow’s gadgets will probably look very different from the ones we use today.

Did you know that?

If not…

You do now.

Music: “Summer Romance”Body & Soul: Quiet Moments

© 2004 Allegro Corp.