Jan 23, 2015

It's amazing how we accept things for the way they are these days. For example, we use the mouse and our mobile phones, without even thinking twice about their origins. So let’s have a look at some amazing gadgets and technology that have changed our lives. 1. The first mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1963. It consisted of a hard wooden shell and two clunky metal wheels. It really looks cool; I wonder how many is still available to buy for a collector item? 2. The first cell phone sold in the United States – the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. It was designed by Rudy Krolopp in April of 1984 and it weighed two pounds. Battery life anyone? 3. In November 1949, a gentleman with the name of Edmund Berkley said the following:

We shall now consider how we can design a very simple machine that will think.. Let us call it Simon, because of its predecessor, Simple Simon... Simon is so simple and so small in fact that it could be built to fill up less space than a grocery-store box; about four cubic feet....It may seem that a simple model of a mechanical brain like Simon is of no great practical use. On the contrary, Simon has the same use in instruction as a set of simple chemical experiments has: to stimulate thinking and understanding, and to produce training and skill. A training course on mechanical brains could very well include the construction of a simple model mechanical brain, as an exercise.

This led to the first commercial available personal computer in 1950, Edmund stated in November 1950:

Some day we may even have small computers in our homes, drawing their energy from electric-power lines like refrigerators or radios ... They may recall facts for us that we would have trouble remembering. They may calculate accounts and income taxes. Schoolboys with homework may seek their help. They may even run through and list combinations of possibilities that we need to consider in making important decisions. We may find the future full of mechanical brains working about us.

The Simon: 4. The first PC (TRS-80) was not really usable for “anything” except having one really. 5. The first Portable Computer, the IBM 1975. 6. And a bit later the Osborne...

How is that for portability! Obviously there are many more, like the Commodore and the Atari systems etc, but these are devices that started what we have today and most of the times just take for granted.