The Dawn of an Electronic Era

The computer age began when ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was completed in 1945. The first multipurpose computer, ENIAC set speed records with an amazing 5,000 additions per second. Computers have come a long way since—a laptop today can do 500,000,000 additions per second.

That’s not the only difference. ENIAC weighed more than 30 tons, filled an 1,800-square-foot room and included 6,000 manual switches. It used so much electricity that it sometimes caused power shortages in its home city of Philadelphia. By contrast, a notebook PC today might weigh in at about 3 pounds.

Booting Up

You may know that “booting” your computer means starting it up. But did you know the word comes from “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps”? That’s an expression that means taking charge of yourself, which is what a computer seems to do when it starts up!

Bugging Out

The term “bug” has been used for problems in machinery since electricity was invented. But the first computer bug was actually a moth! In 1945, a computer being tested at Harvard University stalled when a moth got caught inside. The engineers taped the moth into their computer log with the note, “First actual case of bug being found.”

Computer Timeline

1945

The computer age begins with the debut of ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator). It is the first multipurpose computer.

1975

The MITS Altair, a PC-building kit, hits stores

Bill Gates and Paul Allen establish Microsoft.

1976

Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak start Apple Computer.

1977

Apple Computer introduces the Apple II computer.

1978

Floppy disks replace older data cassettes.

1981

IBM introduces a complete desktop PC

1983

TIME magazine names the PC “Man of the Year”

1984

The user-friendly Apple Macintosh goes on sale

1985

Microsoft launches Windows.

1992

The Apple PowerBook and IBM ThinkPad debut

1996

Palm releases the PalmPilot, a hand-held computer also called a “personal digital assistant.”

Fact Monster/Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.