Editor's NOTE: This article was written by Ted Hoff, PhD EE and edited by Alan J. Weissberger, Chairman of the IEEE SV History Committee.From Ted Hoff:
The errors listed below are in approximately the same order as they appear in Malone's book.
On August 6, 2014, Michael Malone, Author of The Intel Trinity, spoke at the Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley. The program was held in the upper galleries of the Tech Museum in San Jose, CA.
Similar to his earlier speech at the
A group of students at the Harvard Innovation Lab have created a time-lapsed visualization of the impact of computers, IT, and technology on our lives. The video provides a historical review of the office desk, beginning from the 1980s all the way to present day.
When was the last time you walked into a data center and were stopped dead in your tracks by the beauty of a computer? Right, probably never. That is why you will most likely never see a computer in any art history books...but there is one that may well change that.
Even though there is amazing beauty in the intricate mesh of microelectronic circuits inside, most people never really get to see that. Instead, we have come to view a computer as nothing more than a box that we plug things into.
Introduction:
This CHM conversation (with NY Times moderator John Markoff asking the questions) was more about the challenges faced by Ms Arati Prabhakar, PhD then it was about DARPA. It would've been very appropriate for a Women in Engineering meeting. However, there were several important topics related to Ms Prabhaker's two terms of employment at DARPA, which we've attempted to capture in this event summary article. Note the addendum on Sil
Gary A. Kildall, PhD (1942 – 1994), developed and then demonstrated the first working prototype of CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) in Pacific Grove in 1974.
I consider this set of 150 products announced on April 7, 1964, to be the most important introduced by an American company in the 20th century. And I am not alone in that view. How we used computers around the world was shaped directly by these machines and software, including your cell phone.
On March 3, 2014, Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen (co-authors of The New Digital Age) engaged in a stimulating conversation with Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg. The event took place at the Computer History Museum (CHM) as part of the museum's Revolutionary series (see description below). This very interesting and wide ranging discussion, was mostly related to the promise and perils of the digital revolution, especially the Internet as it impacts the developing world.
When I first wrote programs in 1953, there was no software and few programmers. I entered programs in the computer’s binary language (octal notation) directly into the machine’s registers. And the machine was all mine: there was no operating system to allocate its resources among multiple programs or operate the input-output devices.
During January some of you might have noticed a running dialogue among historians and other interested parties about who invented the “first” computer. There was no agreement reached on the correct answer to that question. Discussions about “firsts” pop up about every five years, almost like short-lived brush fires on the side of the road as historians travel on to do their serious work. Over the past forty years I have seen articles and books, even one lawsuit on patents, over the question of “firsts.”
The United Kingdom has finally pardoned Alan Turing for a gay sex conviction which tarnished the brilliant career of the code breaker credited with helping win the war against Nazi Germany and laying the foundation for the computer age.
Computer visionary Doug Englebart was posthumously honored on December 9th at the Computer History Museum (CHM) in Mt View, CA. The date of this event was significant, because December 9 was the 45th Anniversary of the “Mother of All Demos.^” Doug's wife, daughter, and several people that worked with Doug or knew of his work made brief speeches to honor him.
The History of Science Society held its annual meeting two weeks ago (November 21st to November 24th) in Boston MA. The meeting celebrated among other things the centenary of the journal Isis, the organ around which the society was eventually formed. The meeting covered a broad range of topics in the history of science from all historical periods ancient to recent.
LEO, more formally known as Lyons Electronic Office, was the world's first business computer, having been developed by the British company J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. between 1947-1954. John Simmons was very much the genius behind this adventure into business process re-engineering. His papers are archived at the Modern Record Centre at Warwick University in Coventry, England. Many of these contain valuable information about the ideas behind the LEO development.
The event was in the form of an interview/conversation led by CHM CEO/moderator John Hollar. Mr. Rattner spent a lot of time discussing his early life at Hollywood High School and how he got involved in electronics and as a EE student at Cornell University. It was less about Intel's early history. However, here are a few quick takes on Intel from Mr. Rattner:
In November 1943, an electrical engineer working in the telecommunications department of Britain's General Post Office named Tommy Flowers designed and built the world’s first programmable computer. Named "Colossus," the thermionic tube-based programmable computer successfully broke the supposedly unbreakable Lorenz cipher used by Hitler and the German High Command during the Second World War.
This was a hugely succcessful panel session on Intel's transitions, twists and turns into the world's most successful semiconductor company of all time. Many attendees complemented our 2 panelists and myself for a great learning experience and intellectually stimulating session. The great stories told by Ted and Dave is what tech history should be all about, IMHO!
It was certainly a team effort, as evidenced by our planning session last week, Gwen Caldwell's superb job of making the r
A free session at the Flash Memory Summit- Aug 12-15, 2013 at Santa Clara Convention Center:
Fireside Chat with Ted Hoff: organized by IEEE COMSOC content manager Alan J Weissberger, the session will be on Thursday from 9:50am to 10:50am. Ted Hoff is co-inventor of the microprocessor and an early semiconductor memory design and applications engineer.
John Hollar, Computer History Museum (CHM) President and CEO, delivered a progress report on CHM activities at the January 7th IEEE Life Member meeting in Mt View, CA. The CHM has become the leading institution that's archived computer artifacts, but is now recognized as a thought leader on the impact of computing on our society.
Four CHM areas were cited by John as being particularly successful:
I consider this set of 150 products announced on April 7, 1964, to be the most important introduced by an American company in the 20th century. And I am not alone in that view. How we used computers around the world was shaped directly by these machines and software, including your cell phone.
Ever get the urge to mess with Visicalc or WordStar again? Play the original Donkey Kong or Adventure on your computer? Now you can!
In November 1943, an electrical engineer working in the telecommunications department of Britain's General Post Office named Tommy Flowers designed and built the world’s first programmable computer. Named "Colossus," the thermionic tube-based programmable computer successfully broke the supposedly unbreakable Lorenz cipher used by Hitler and the German High Command during the Second World War.
