Computers, what would we do without them?

Ahhh finally a topic for one these blog posts that I can actually relate to. As I'm sure is general knowledge by now, computers are awesome. They allow us to do so many things we couldn't do before, and even do something better than we used to. From software like Photoshop, to simple things such as viewing tv shows and movies, computers have a permanent place in our society because they are just so damn useful. The federal government figured that out a long time ago when it used a mechanical counting system to tabulate the US Census. That machine got the job done in a few weeks whereas before it took years to complete. What we need to be aware of however, is that computers were not always as powerful as they are today.

Originally, computers were used for minute taks such as counting and making various other calculations. On top of Census Tabulation, the first real computers were used to generate military firing charts (calculations that allowed the military to know how far their projectiles would go when they launched them). The personal computer didn't come about until the mid 1970s. Now here's the crazy part; today we all know Microsoft and Apple as the big computer moguls. Well the crazy thing is, neither one of those companies developed the first personal computer. In fact, they copied the technology from its original creator. In 1974, Xerox, (no you're not reading that wrong) the company that made you a copy of that business report this morning, created the Xerox PARC Alto, the world's first personal computer. The only problem was, the Xerox execs didn't think the technology would go anywhere; so when Steve Jobs, among other tech junkies, visited the Xerox lab, they sold the technology to them. The Apple1 is a complete ripoff of the Xerox PARC Alto.

Now don't let this post fool you, I'm not hating on apple as I'm sitting here typing on my 15 inch Macbook Pro, but it should be noted that the people we generally give our hard earned money to are selling us the fruits of someone else's labor. From that point on, personal computers would continue to evolve into the computers we know today. This article on TechNewsDaily shows some of the steps the personal computer took along its long and winding journey to its current state.