Top Ten Advancements in Computers and Technology?

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: darkewaffle
Oh, the Killer NIC card. Absolutely.

You can't forget the CueCat barcode scanner, either! I mean, come on... How much easier is it to find and scan a Coke can instead of typing in www.coke.com when you want to visit their web site?

 

[phisrow]

Do remember Public key cryptography and hash functions(cryptographic and otherwise).

After boolean algebra and the turing machine(both a bit early for your project), those are probably the most significant mathematical advances in the history of computing.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: darkewaffle
Oh, the Killer NIC card. Absolutely.

You can't forget the CueCat barcode scanner, either! I mean, come on... How much easier is it to find and scan a Coke can instead of typing in www.coke.com when you want to visit their web site?

Sadly enough... I have one of those .

 

[jose]

The internet.....

It affected Operating systems, applications, economy, hardware/software .... distributed computing,,,, pretty much everything.

Regards,
Jose

 

[piasabird]

I can suggest some reading material.

I suggest two books.

http://www.chick.net/wizards/wizards.html

Where Wizards Stay up Late, Katie Hafner, Is the real historical story of the early development of the Internet. It discusses many topics.

ISBN: 0-684-83267-4 * Simon & Schuster, 1996 * $13.00
You might find this book for less on Amazon.com

I liked this book, from a programmer and engineering perspective and it had some great pictures in it too. These are the starting dark days of computing. We are talking about memory built of iron cores wrapped with wire. Programs that had to be written with the least amount of code as possible. Even rewiring an entire computer for better uptime. Invention of TCP-IP, Networking Models, E-Mail, Protocols.

http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empire...ions-Foreign-Competition/dp/0887308554

Accidental Empires, Robert X Cringely is a classic and is full of topics. It is suppose to be a good book for looking at the business end of the Computer industry. It discusses Bill Gates, Microsoft, Who really invented the mouse pointing system, XEROX PARC, Invention of the Laser Printer, and the associated technologies, DOS, Intel, IBM. This book is worth reading for any computer major.

Worthy Inventions:

TCP-IP
The Mouse Pointing System
First Screen User System
Punch Cards
Floppy Disk and Hard Disk
Modem
Cable Internet
The first Chipset.

The Chipset was the most amazing hardware invention. Before the standardization of the chipset, every computer manufacturerer had to hard code machine code to access things like terminals, hard drives, floppy's, etc. When IBM started using the Chipset with their original IBM Desktops, this is an identifiable turning point for the Computer Industry. It is the chipset that allowed companies to mass produce desktop computer motherboards and computers. It is a big standardizing enfluence on the computer industry. It is still key to the computer hardware industry today.

Apple/Macintosh came out with a program that was similar to the Spreadsheet. This was available first only on their computers. This was another revolutionary development in the computer industry. It was a reason to buy a desktop computer. I am thinking it was called multi-calc or something like that.

Then add two more recent inventions:
IRC Chat and Chatrooms
IM Instant Messaging

Without Telephones there would have been no early computer networks, so you could argue the telephone was the best Computer Related Invention, because it introduced a way to route calls through Hardware. It could be said to be the first form of Networking.

 

[zephyrprime]

A lot of you guys are mentioning stuff that is piddling in signifigance like wifi and dual core. If you are considering all advancements since 1950, you have to take a much broader and fundametal view.

In order from most to least significant in my opinion:

#1. The transistor. Without this, there is nothing else. Thanks Bell Labs (originally of AT&T. Now known as lucent and weren't they bought out recently?)

#2. The Integrated circuit/VLSI. This is what allows for practical chips with many transistors on them. Do you think Intel could make a 6800 if they still had to wire up the transistors by hand with copper wiring? Ever increasing advancements in VLSI is the driving force behind Moore's law and enables every fancy computer chip we have today.

#3. The printed circuit board - without this, computers would be so big they fill entire rooms.

#4. DRAM - it is hard to believe that there were once computers without dram. The first electronic computer memories used a derivative of the oscilloscope for memory and later designs used a matrix of margnets. These memories sucked.

#5. The Von Neumann machine/the programmatic computer and it's associated software. It is hard to believe that computers originally could only be reprogrammed by rewiring them. This made computers too inflexible. Fortunately, circuits grew beyond simple reflexive menchanisms and attained a higher level of meta-orginization known as the von neumann machine. Still in use today in all practical computers, the Von Neumann is so ubiquitous that we take it's invention for granted.

#6. The programming language. After computers became programmable, we were brought into the wonderful world of binary programming and assembler. But these methods of programming and the modes of thought needed to use them just weren't very natural or powerful. Enter the programming language. A huge quantum leap in expressiveness and symbolic sophistication over it's predecessors, no program much larger than a simple calculator would be possible without the programming languages.

#7. The monitor. Blinking lights blow. The monitor is so much nicer. Early monitors were just televisions (no surprise).

#8. The Winchester drive (aka the hard drive) - originally as big as a refrigerator, the hard drive is still in use today. Much derided as it is for it's slow performance and low reliability, there is simply no other existing technology that provides the capacity of a hard drive at such a low cost.

#9. The operating system. Originally just made to make programming computers easier and to help retain software compatibility when upgrading computers, the OS today has a wide variety of roles (many of which are ethically controversial). The OS has grown to become an intermediary between software and hardware, a policer of serparate concurrent programs to mediate resource allocation (ram, hardware), a personnel security layer (passwords, accounts), a computer immune system (firewalls, antivirus), and an application bundle. Technically, many of these things aren't truly part of the OS but let's face it, users consider them to be part of the OS so effectively they are.

#10. Commercial software - Although much loathed by the open source community, it was only Bill Gate's popularization of broad market commercial software that made the computer a useful device for people other than the military, the census bureau, and a few hobbyists. The first killer app for PCs was VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet program.

#11. The printer

#12. The Graphical User Interface - although millions of people used computers before the GUI, it was the advent of the gui that allowed that finally brought the computer to the technologically incompentant masses. Thanks Xerox.

#13. The Mouse - humans beings just weren't meant to type. The kinesthetic spatial interface provided by the mouse is a much more natural interface. In fact, babies can learn to use a mouse before they can even speak.

 

[ultimatebob]

I would add UNIX to zephyrprime's awesome list of major computer innovations. You need a Operating System somewhere in that list, and UNIX was/is a core foundatiion of most major multi-user operating systems.

I think WiFi is a pretty big deal, though. Before we had a wireless networking standards like WiFi, all computer users were pretty much chained to a desk if they needed network access. Now you can use a laptop or a PDA practically anywhere to stay connected to the outside world.

 

[zephyrprime]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
I would add UNIX to zephyrprime's awesome list of major computer innovations. You need a Operating System somewhere in that list, and UNIX was/is a core foundatiion of most major multi-user operating systems.

Yeah, I totally forgot about the operating system. I'll put that in.

 

[hofan41]

how come nobody has mentioned the cell phone? i would say that is the most recent technology that was developed that has gained widespread global use and affects our culture. (txt messaging on gameshows and what not)

edit: nvm thought the topic was on computers & technology, and not just on computers. although one could argue a cell phone is also a computer/embedded system.

 

[superbooga]

First of all, what grade are you in?

From your original post, my guess is that you are either in high school, or that you have never studied computer engineering (you should be able to program in assembly and design circuits using Verilog).

Also, the emphasis is on computer hardware and software since 1950. There are some advances in technology since 1950 that are very very important, but not really relevant. For example, the FFT is one of the most important breakthroughs, but not relevant to computer hardware and software.

Anyways, here are some the most important things:
1. Transistors
2. Microprocessor - Without this, software and applications would be severely limited.
3. Internet - This is the true killer application, probably the most important reason to use computers.
4. Languages and Compilers - Without this we'd still be writing machine code.

After that, you have a lot of choices, like:
Operating systems
Word processors
GUI
Computer mouse
DRAM
Optical storage (CD and DVD)
Magnetic storage (Hard Drives)
Solid-state storage (USB drives)

Regarding USB vs Plug'n'Play: USB easily. USB allows the computer to be connected to HIDs, scanners, digital cameras, audio devices, etc. Basically, it expands the role of the computer. Plug'n'Play just makes computers easily to use.

 

[oCxTiTaN]

I know this is a little late but in response to the above post I am a junior at a private university and am a CS and Applied Mathematics major...what exactly are you trying to insinuate by guessing I am in high school? I didn't realize high schools had a history of math course...oh, that and the fact that my subtitle says "Need some opinions for college paper."

And no, I haven't had any computer engineering courses, but if you'll check my third post on page 1 I made a list that basically has everything you mentioned in it anyways...

 

[xtknight]

Here are some more recent advancements in PC technology:

ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface)
PNP (Plug 'n Play)
GPU (3D Accelerator)
GUI (Graphical User Interface)
C Programming Language
Networking (including TCP/IP, UDP, IPX, token ring, ARPA protocol, etc)
Streaming Media
Hard Drives
TFT LCDs
UNIX (basis for the first usable OSes)
Windows 95 (revolutionary)
USB (Universal Serial Bus)

 

[oCxTiTaN]

found this while looking up memory (DRAM vs Core memory)

Dr. Wang's patent was not granted until 1955, and by that time core was already in use. This started a long series of lawsuits, which eventually ended when IBM paid Wang several million dollars to buy the patent outright. Wang used the funds to greatly increase the size of Wang Laboratories which he co-founded with Dr. Ge-Yao Chu, a school mate from China.

Made me lol

 

[Jaxidian]

As much as I hate to say it, I think Microsoft software must be one of those top 10, at least if you interpret "the ten most important advancements in computer hardware and software" as significant as important is very debatable.

You take the average person out there and they probably know Microsoft software much better than Linux or Mac. Whether it's Office, Windows, or programming with .NET, Microsoft simply has the numbers. So I would say that Microsoft has essentially capitalized on and changed the way the world uses software. Sure, other people would have done it if they didn't, but they did so I'd have to include them on that list.

Bash away now.

 

[Dave Richardson]

oCxTiTaN.

You need to stop thinking: Computer = IBM PC Compatible (and all its hardware and software implications) Get into a mindset looking at the world of computers from a much bigger picture as many people in this thread have suggested.

However in the PC world...
1) Something I haven't seen mentioned is the "killer app" - Visicalc and Lotus 123 really helped the PC take off.
2) Computer gaming - apart from PCs, all consoles are computers. This is a fundamental social shift in entertainment. Younger people are now shunning TV and spend much of their time alone in front of computer games.
3) I think of my PC more as a communications tool these days - internet, email, chat rooms, forums like this. The world is a much smaller place.
4) Seismic shifts in the world of computing came from the invention of the original desktop computers (there were others apart from the IBM PC compatible PET for instance). In conjunction with packaged application software the tyranny of the central mainframe and central IT departments was destroyed forever.
5) Have you ever though what a brilliant idea the PC Card Slot is - build a standard simple PC then let people put in modems,video cards, sound cards, network cards etc to let the machine expand in a cheap and highly personal way. What happened then of course was that very commonly used cards were integrated back into the basic PC (NIC, Sound, for instance)

More Generally:
Loads of red hot stuff in the thread.
1) Perhaps you should consider the social implications of all this computing. Many Many clerical jobs have disappeared because of computers. Many IT jobs of a different type have been created. America has acquired an international stranglehold on most of the high techs needed for the modern computer age.
2) Call Centres - this evil of modern life wouldn't be possible without databases. (Actually electronic databases is an item for your list).
3) Scientific "progress" is accelerating with the help of ever faster computers. For instance Fermat's last theorem couldn't have been proven without computer assistance.
4) Look at the history of programming languages. I once found an old accounting machine which was programmed by plugging hundreds or thousands of wires into a large backplane of holes. Programming in Binary is not much fun or not easy. Being able to program in high level languages like basic, fortran, algol, cobol meant anyone with a modicum of brains and training could program a computer. I'm not sure which was first. From a commercial point of view Cobol was HUGE.
5) The microchip. You can't not have the "microchip" on your list.
6) The transistor - marked the end for valves. Modern computers as we know them simply couldn't exist in a world of valves.
7) Conceptually, joining two (Mainframe) computers together in a meaningful way isn't an obvious thing to want to do, but once the idea took off there was no stopping it. The resulting communications technologies are world changing what with the world wide web, email, instant messaging, gaming, and so on.
8) Would mobile phones be possible without computer technology?

enough waffling - i'm to bed!

 

[Missing Ghost]

A few people have already posted it, but my choice is the hard disk drive in 1956. Without it, software and operating systems wouldn't have evolved really fast. And multimedia would still be relatively new.