A Brief History of the Computer by John Dixon - HTML preview

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Contents

About this Book. 4

The YouTube Channel 4

Who this Book is for. 4

Quick Start Workbooks. 4

How this Book is Organised. 4

The Computer. 9

In the Beginning... 9

The First Mechanical Calculators. 10

Punched Card Technology (1801). 12

The First Programmable Machines (1835-1900). 13

Desktop Calculators (1930s-1960s). 15

The Arrival of the Electrical Digital Computer (1940s). 16

American Developments. 18

Konrad Zuse's Z-series. 20

First Generation Von Neumann Machines. 21

Second Generation Computers (1950s and early 1960s). 23

Third Generation Computers and beyond (Post 1960). 25

Programming Languages. 26

The 1950s and 1960s. 27

1967-1978: Establishing Fundamental Paradigms. 28

The 1980s: Consolidation, Modules, and Performance. 28

The 1990s: The Internet Age. 29

Current Trends. 30

The Microprocessor. 31

History of the Microprocessor. 32

Special-Purpose Microprocessors. 38

Operating Systems. 39

The Mainframe Era. 40

Minicomputers and the Rise of UNIX. 41

Home Computers. 42

Game Consoles and Video Games. 43

The Personal Computer Era: Apple, DOS and Beyond. 43

Computer Games. 45

Computer Games: The Beginning. 45