Computer Hardware Timeline
The development of computing devices in chronological order. (This list is an ongoing project and subject to change, there is still a lot to do, but if you would like to add anything please contact me)
Slide rule Analog device
Pascals Calculator Analog device
Bouchon -Paper tape First use of paper tape to program looms
J.H. Muller Difference Engine Engineer in the Hessian army conceived the idea of a difference engine
(Muller never received funding to build this engine)
Jacquard punch card Chain of punch cards to program looms
Arithmometer First digital mechanical calculator
Babbage Difference Engine Proposed mechanical general purpose computer
(Babbage recieve £1700 from government to start project but it was abandonned in 1842)
Babbage Analytical Engine Proposed mechanical general purpose computer
(Charles Babbage never actual built this device)
Hollerith tabulator Electromechanial puncard tabulating machine
Alan Turing Principles of modern computing described in the seminal paper.
Computing-Tabulating-Recording CompanyThe start of IBM
IBM name adopted CTR changes name to Internationl Business Machines.
Konrad Zuse -Z3 Worlds first electromechanical computer.
Atanasoff–Berry computer (ABC) First Automatic electronic digital computer
(The ABC was not programmable nor Turing complete)
Colossus Computer World’s first programmable, electronic, digital computer
IBM Harvard Mark I IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator(ASCC)
ENIAC -Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer Was the first electronic general-purpose programmable computer.
Depending who you talk to there are some opinions about who made the first working digital computer, for a more in-depth discussion follow this link.
WITCH Wolverhampton Instrument for Teaching Computing from Harwell (WITCH)
TRIDIC Transistor digital computer
Metrovick 950 Built from 1956 onwards by British company Metropolitan-Vickers
IBM 7000 mainframes IBM’s 7000 series Mainframe coputers (Transistor based)
DEC PDP1 First computer in Digital Equipment Corporation’s PDP series
Atlas Computer Development between the University of Manchester, Ferranti, and Plessey
IBM System 360 IBM’s highly suscesful mainframe computer.
CDC 6600 computer Control Data Corporations flagship mainframe
IBM Data Cell Drive Announced Random access device that could store up to 400 million alphanumeric characters
Mouse The first ball-based computer mouse in 1968, Telefunken Rollkugel RKS 100-86 for their TR 86 process computer system.
Data General Nova The Nova was a popular 16-bit minicomputer built by the American company Data General it was packaged into a single rack mount case and had enough power to do most simple computing tasks.
Honeywell 316 The H-316 was used by Charles H. Moore to develop the first complete, stand-alone implementation of Forth at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, they were also used as ARPANET Interface Message Processor
DEC PDP 11
8” floppy diskThe first floppy disks, developed in the late 1960s & came available in IBM PC’s
Cray Research founded
Micral first microprocessor PC
Data General Eclipse
5.25” floppy disk Shugart Associates introduve the first 5.25” floppy
DEC VAX 11
Atari 400, 800
Seagate hard disk drive
3.5” floppy Sony introduce the 3.5” floppy diskette, used in the Sony SMC70, it quickely became the de-facto standard for perosnal computers.
Apple Lisa 2
Tandem Nonstop VLX
Thinking Machine CM2
Tera Computer Founded
Apple Switches to PowerPC
VESA Local Bus
IBM Deep Blue chess computer
Compaq buys Tandem
Apple transition to Intel processor
Apple iPhone 1
Apple iPhone 4
Apple iPhone 4s
Apple iPhone 5
Raspberry Pi 1
Apple iPhone 5C & 5S
Apple iPhone 6 & 6+
Apple Watch Apple iPhone 6S& 6S+
Apple iPhone SE
Raspberry Pi 3