The First Digital Computer

The first digital programmed computer, the Colossus, was built in 1943 and was By the British codebrakers in order to solve codes which were produced by the German cryptography Lorenz cipher machines.

Several years eariler a German scientist named Konard Zuse also thought about the same idea and bulit a programmable computer in 1938. However, the Colossus computer was the first to fully function in terms of organizing information without any assistance.

The man who invented this new type of computers was the British electronic engineer Tommy Flowers and it was built from more then 1,700 valves. The computer itself could have read around 5,000 characters per second Which was extraordinary compared to the technology at that time.
The computer’s existence was kept in secret until mid 70’s.

After 4 years, in 1947 with more advanced versions of the computer released, the Colossus was dismantled and taken apart of its components. Since then, computers have taken many shapes and sizes and in 1964. The first desktop computer, the Programma 101, was unveiled to the public at the New York World’s Fair Pier Giorgio Perotto and manufactured by the typewriter company “Olivetti’’. On its first day, the Programma 101 was sold in 44,000 copies with a price of 3,200$ (24,500$ if adjusted to nowadays) .

The first portable computer was revealed on September 1975, under the name IBM 5100, however the first proper laptop was the Osborne I, which was released on 1981 and weighed about half as much as the IBM 5100. IBM later released another laptop called the IBM portable in 1984. The first apple computer was sold in 1976 for 666.66$, and Apple’s personal computers quickly turned them into competitors with IBM.