The Beginnings of Computing, The First Computer and ICL
For those who would like to know how the IT revolution started, you may be interested to know that the world's first "proper" computer was built in Manchester, England and first successfully ran on 21st June 1948. (The first computer was not the Eniac machine built at Chicago University, as Silicon Valley would have us believe).
Many of the computer scientists who developed the first computer in Manchester went on to join companies which commercialised the work (some stayed and continuted to do excellent work at the University of Manchester School of Computer Science).
Eventually these companies merged and became ICL (International Computers Limited), centred around ICL's West Gorton R&D facility in Manchester. This became what was arguably the largest IT R&D operation in Europe. The team at ICL created the VME (Virtual Machine Environment) operating system and developed many innovations in computer science.
If you follow the links about ICL and VME, you will also see that current "innovations" such as virtualisation of computing resources, search engine appliances, multi-processor systems, use of fibre optics, and massively parallel computers were first commercialised by ICL in the 1980's. Their creators came from the same intellectual "gene pool" in Manchester that created the first computer and which for many years recruited the cream of the Computer Science profession in the UK.
Unfortunately ICL's commercial acumen was not as great as it's technical talent. ICL was absorbed into the Japanese giant Fujitsu and is no more. Prior to this (during the 1960s, '70s and '80s) ICL was among the top three computer vendors in many countries around the world.
Manchester University remains a leader in information technology, however. Significant work has been commercialised by a number of Manchester University computer scientists, including those who formed Transitive. Experts in Virtual Machines, Transitive is an award-winning company whose customers include Apple, Intel, IBM, and SGI. While for commercial reasons Transitive has an HQ in Silicon Valley, the heart of the company - and it's R&D - is in Manchester.
Interestingly, it would not be an over-statement to suggest that much of the booming IT industry in India today has its roots in the expertise India gained from ICL. One of the few companies to have substantial operations in India, ICL's subsidiary ICIM (ICL India Manufacturing) produced significant knowledge transfer about IT into India. Notably, ICL and ICIM continued operations in India throughout the 1970s and 1980s when Indian government policy forced out most other multinationals (including IBM).
If you want to read about the first personal computer software program which started the whole microcomputer (personal computer) industry, then read the history of VisiCalc (the first widely-used spreadsheet program), written by the marketing guy who introduced it and developed the market: http://www.edesber.com/companies/vis_history.shtml
Apple Macintosh
Apple Macintosh Launch Video
In 1977 Apple revolutionised the world's computer market by introducing the Apple II, the world's first personal computer. (IBM followed and announced the IBM PC in 1981.
The "teaser" announcement of the Apple Macintosh was a few months earlier at Apple's Fall 1983 conference. An even younger looking Steve Jobs gives one of the IT industry's best-ever podium performances, culminating in the first showing of the Apple Macintosh 1984 video, proclaiming an industry transformation. Watch it to catch the excitement of a time when the computer industry was perhaps the most exciting business on earth!
The Apple "big brother" advert was first shown during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on 22 January 1984 (the Apple Mac was officially launched and available to buy two days later, on 24 January 1984).
(If you are young: Nineteen Eighty-Four was a book written by George Orwell and published in 1949. It described a nightmare world far in the future - 1984 - when individualism is crushed by authoritarian government and "thought control" is the order of the day. It was taught to every school English class during the 1960s and 1970s, so the video had great poignancy to Steve Jobs' audience at the time.
More Computer History Resources
Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum, in Mountain View, California is the premier historical archive for Silicon Valley. It has both online and real exhibits. If you plan to visit their building in Mountain View, check out the visiting times first. It is only open for walk-in admission on certain days of the week. www.computerhistory.org
DigiBarn Computer Museum
The DigiBarn Computer Museum reflects the informal nature of the personal computing explosion that started in 1975. DigiBarn is a repository of vintage computers, manuals, videos, stories and interviews. It can be visited either on-line or in person about 90 minutes out of San Francisco. Unlike other museums, if you go there you can use the exhibits. www.digibarn.com
Startup Gallery and the MITS Altair
The first personal computer was made by Albuquerque-based Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), who created the Altair 8800 in 1975. The MITS Altair and Alberquerque's claim-to-fame in the personal computer revolution is documented at the Startup Gallery. www.startupgallery.org
Silicon Valley Historical Association (Santa Clara Historical Association)
Silicon Valley history told online and through the Santa Clara Historical Aassociation's books and documentary films about the history of Silicon Valley—covering its companies, individuals, high-technologies and parallels with the European Renaissance period.
www.siliconvalleyhistorical.org
Vintage Computer Festival
The Vintage Computer Festival is an annual gathering in Silicon Valley focused on computer history. Their website includes a huge list of links to other historical computer resources. www.vintage.org/links.php
