BM introduces the System/360 computer. Configured as a system, it takes up nearly the same space as two tennis courts. 1965 Digital Equipment Corporation unveils its PDP-8, the first relatively small-sized computer (a “minicomputer”).1969 A networking system called ARPANET is born; it is the beginning of the Internet.1971Intel introduces its 4004 processor (a “microprocessor”). The $200 chip is the size of a thumbnail and has as much computing capability as the earlier ENIAC.1975 Xerox markets Alto, the first personal computer (a “microcomputer”). Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft. MITS Corporation’s Altair 8800 arrives on the scene. It contains the Intel’s 8080 microprocessor that Intel developed a year earlier to control traffic lights.1977 Apple II, Commodore’s PET, and Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 go on sale, setting the stage for the personal computer revolution.1981 IBM enters the market with its personal computer powered by the Intel 8800 chip and operated by the Microsoft Disc Operating System (MS-DOS). Osborne Computer markets the Osborne 1, the first self-contained microcomputer, but within two years the firm declares bankruptcy. Logitech commercializes the “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System,” invented earlier by Douglas Engelbart in a government-funded research lab. Someone dubs it a “computer mouse” because it appears to have a tail.1982 Compaq Computer “clones” the IBM machines; others do the same. Eventually Compaq becomes the leading seller of personal computers.1984 Apple introduces its Macintosh computer, with its “user-friendly” icons, attached mouse, and a preloaded software. College student Michael Dell founds Dell Computers, which builds personal computers and sells them through mail order. IBM, Sears Roebuck, and CBS team up to launch Prodigy Services, the first on-line computer business.1985 ...
