The Computer That was Insanely Great

The first electronic computer came about a year after the end of World War II. Called the ENIAC, It weighed 30 tons and was produced at the University of Pennsylvania. During the 1950s, the transistor and miniaturized circuit allowed for the size of computers to be reduced. It also allowed for a reduction in price. ENIAC cost $487,000 in the 1940s. The transistor and miniaturized circuit allowed an IBM PC in 1983 to cost only $4,000. According to computer experts, if the car industry developed as fast as the computer industry, a Rolls-Royce would only cost $2.75 and get three million miles per gallon (Friedrich).

In 1982, Americans’ began to accept computers as part of their lives. According to a survey conducted by phone on December 8th and 9th 1982, 80% of Americans said they thought computers would be common household appliances in the near future. Two-thirds thought computers would improve living standards, and 68% thought they would improve education quality (Friedrich).

Macintosh could not have been successful if its manufacturer, Apple Computers, Inc., had had little or no experience in making computers. Apple’s first computer was called the Apple I. Compared to the Macintosh, the Apple I was very primitive. It was simply a circuit board and had no monitor, keyboard, or power supply. However, this primitive computer allowed Apple to make its first profit ever, totaling $8,000 dollars (Gilbert 10).

In 1984, Apple released a computer which was arguably the most revolutionary computer ever. This computer, called the Macintosh, was among the first to be cheap enough to be purchased by the general public. While a previous Apple computer, the Apple Lisa, cost $10,000, the Macintosh cost only $2,495, allowing Macintosh to be ...

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... Intel processor, which gave it up to four times the speed of the PowerBook G4. This speed allowed people to go anywhere and do anything with their laptop (“Thirty”).

Then, in 2008, Apple shook up the computer industry once again. On January 16, 2008, Apple unveiled MacBook Air. Made from one piece of aluminum with a built-in battery, the MacBook Air was the first notebook not made from multiple pieces of material. By 2008, online music and Wi-Fi networks became popular enough to allow the omission of a disc drive and internet hook-ups, allowing it to be the world’s thinnest notebook. In 2010, Apple updated the MacBook Air, and it became the first notebook to use only flash storage. This allowed for a bigger, more efficient battery, as well as speed improvements. Many of these improvements are being used in laptops being produced and sold in stores today (“Thirty”).