ld their position as the standard when they introduced their first personal computer, the IBM Model 60 in 1975 (Chposky, 156). However, the newly formed Apple Computer company was releasing its own personal computer, the Apple II (The Apple I was the first computer designed by Jobs and Wozniak in Wozniak's garage, which was not produced on a wide scale). Software was needed to run the computers as well. Microsoft developed a Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) for the IBM computer while Apple developed its own software system (Rose, 37). Because Microsoft had now set the software standard for IBMs, every software manufacturer had to make their software compatible with Microsoft's. This would lead to huge profits for Microsoft (Cringley, 163). The main goal of the computer manufacturers was to make the computer as affordable as possible while increasing speed, reliability, and capacity. Nearly every computer manufacturer accomplished this and computers popped up everywhere. Computers were in businesses keeping track of inventories. Computers were in colleges aiding students in research. Computers were in laboratories making complex calculations at high speeds for scientists and physicists. The computer had made its mark everywhere in society and built up a huge industry (Cringley, 174). The future is promising for the computer industry and its technology. The speed of processors is expected to double every year and a half in the coming years. As manufacturing techniques are further perfected the prices of computer systems are expected to steadily fall. However, since the microprocessor technology will be increasing, it's higher costs will offset the drop in price of older processors. In other words, the price of a new computer will stay about the same from year to year, but technology will steadily increase (Zachary, 42) Since the end of World War II, the computer industry has grown from a standing start into one of the biggest and most profi...
