Computer Progression

The computer has enjoyed a period of concentrated development over the past 70 years . It has gone through several stages of development , from using vacuum tubes as amplifiers (Schoenherr , 2004 ) through the use of transistors and to employing integrated circuits (IC . Computers have been used for a variety of reasons , and are mainly centered on the simplification of tasks . Several companies contributed to the development of the personal computer , which is now an everyday item in homes , schools , and offices . However , the company that had arguably the largest impact on the proliferation

of computers , Apple , controls a misleadingly low percentage of the market . Apple , with its development of the Apple II system in the late 1970 's largely revolutionized the market for personal computers . Although many argue that Intel , Altair and IBM (Apple 's biggest rival ) has each made a more lasting impact on the market , the steps taken by Apple in that decade was much more responsible for shaping the direction of the personal computer than any other technology company

Many might argue that Intel 's programmable microprocessing chip developed in 1969 had the most important impact on the computer industry . It was , after all , the initial development that made possible microcomputing , which refers to computing that could be done on much smaller machines than were available at the time (Poulter , 2004 Although the chip was able to process only 4 bits of information at once and was developed specifically for a desktop calculator , computer companies began making use of it in its evolutionary 8-bit state a few years after it was first introduced (2004 . The chip spawned the creation of such microcomputers as the Micral , the Mark-8 , and Altair It is important to note , however , that the chip was not useful for computer programmers until it had evolved from the 4-bit 4004 to the 8-bit 8008 form , and even then it was difficult to program . In addition many of the computers made from it were available mainly to those who had expertise in assembling the hardware

The Apple II computer released in 1977 was a major improvement on a previous version , Apple I . Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had designed that first model and built it to encompass simplicity and innovation in computer engineering . The Apple I was the first machine with a single circuit-board and built-in read-only memory (ROM (Srivastava , 1996 and this feature was maintained in the Apple II . The Apple II also maintained the simplicity of its predecessor and brought computers into the homes of not just the hardware gurus but those who were interested in the computer as a platform for software programming . The new machine presented the first fully-assembled computing system that contained its own power-supply and input device . Although a monitor did not come standard with the machine , it could be easily hooked up to a television screen . It could also be easily expanded to perform more than the basic applications it came with . With these specifications , the Apple II was influential...