What do you think?
Rate this book
Computers: An Illustrated History
The incredible shrinking computer
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons"
Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
Remember your first computer? No doubt it now seems like a relic from the Flintstone era. From automated punch-card calculators to the first personal computers such as the Apple II and Commodore 64, to today's Sony Vaios and PowerBook G4s, the computer has undergone an amazing, rapid evolution in its brief history. Can you believe the computer's first input device was a light pen used to select a symbol on the screen? And that computer keyboards were preceded by teletypewriters? The progress we've witnessed in our lifetimes is mind-boggling. The struggle for the best interface, the greatest design, and the fastest processor have resulted in computers of a size, power, capability and use that were unfathomable only a few decades ago.
Discover the fascinating history of computers, interfaces, and computer design in this illustrated guide that includes pictures of nearly every computer ever made, an informative text describing the computer's evolution up to the present day, and an A-Z index of the most influential computer firms.
**special horizontal format, laptop-style
329 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 22, 2022
Showcases a history of the Computer, particularly from a Hardware angle, from massive mainframe computers to personal computers, to a final and speculative guess at the beyond,
This book is pretty antiquated, there's no date but I think it's from 2001, which makes it pretty novelty. It does correctly guess the advent of streaming services and smartwatches in the final chapter, although this was clearly on the horizon for those in the know during the very early 2000's.
It comprises of a lot of historical essays introducing each new development in the notion of the computer, some I believe user essays from people discussing their experience buying a product during its active lifecycle, and a great deal of images.
This is a fun book that discusses a great deal of topics about the computer, not to any great length but is a great coffee table title.
This book is pretty antiquated, there's no date but I think it's from 2001, which makes it pretty novelty. It does correctly guess the advent of streaming services and smartwatches in the final chapter, although this was clearly on the horizon for those in the know during the very early 2000's.
It comprises of a lot of historical essays introducing each new development in the notion of the computer, some I believe user essays from people discussing their experience buying a product during its active lifecycle, and a great deal of images.
This is a fun book that discusses a great deal of topics about the computer, not to any great length but is a great coffee table title.
January 4, 2017
It's the best and most comprehensive document of computer history I've come across, and the pictures are adorable
Want to Read
May 10, 2020Lovely coffee-table book with gorgeous photos of the early computers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews