s, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie develop the C programming language, which quickly becomes the most popular professional application development language. 1976Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs build the Apple I computer. It is less powerful than the Altair, but also less expensive and less complicated. Users must connect their own keyboard and video display, and have the option of mounting the computer's motherboard in any container they choose whether a metal case, a wooden box, or a briefcase. Jobs and Wozniak form the Apple Computer Company together on April Fool's Day, naming it after their favorite snack food.1977The Apple II computer is unveiled. It comes already assembled in a case, with a built-in keyboard. Users must plug in their own TVs for monitors. Fully assembled microcomputers hit the general market, with Radio Shack, Commodore, and Apple all selling models. Sales are slow because neither businesses nor the general public know exactly what to do with these new machines.Datapoint Corporation announces Attached Resource Computing Network (ARCnet), the first commercial LAN technology intended for use with microcomputer applications. 1978Intel releases the 8086 microprocessor, a 16-bit chip that sets a new standard for power, capacity, and speed in microprocessors.Epson announces the MX-80 dot-matrix printer, coupling high performance with a relatively low price. (Epson from Japan sets up operations in the U.S. in 1975 as Epson America, Inc., and becomes one of the first of many foreign companies to contribute to the growth of the PC industry. Up until this point, it has been U.S. companies only. According to Epson, they gain 60 percent of the dot printer market with the MX-80.)1979Intel introduces the 8088 microprocessor, featuring 16-bit internal architecture and an 8-bit external bus. Motorola introduces the 68000 chip, used in early Macintosh computers. Software Arts, Inc. releases VisiCalc, the first commercial spreadshe...
