The Computer Industry

by Yost, Jeffrey R.

• ISBN13: 9780313328442
• ISBN10: 0313328447
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-06-30
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

Originally a military and scientific computational tool of a small number of government, scientific, and corporate elites in the late 1940s, the computer has evolved significantly in less than seventy years to become a revolutionary technology and the basis for one the largest industries in America. The Internet, email and personal computer have become necessities in most offices and college dorm rooms and many homes. Narrative chapters trace the emergence and development of the computer industry in the United States as seen in the economic, historical, and social context of its times from the early twentieth century to the present. From punched cards and tabulating machines to the first digital computer companies in the early 1950s, Yost clearly describes how the concept of the computer was born in the late 1800s but did not evolve into the personal computer until the late 1970s and 1980s. The computer has emerged from a relatively narrow scientific computational machine to a vast data processing and communication technology.

Author Biography

Jeffrey R. Yost is Associate Director of Charles Babbage Institute for the History of Information Technology at the University of Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Larry L. Duetsch
Acknowledgments	xiii
Timeline	xv
Introduction	1	(8)
The Prehistory of the Computer Industry, 1880--1939	9	(18)
The Advent of the Mainframe Digital Computer, 1940--1957	27	(26)
The Broadening Scale and Scope of the Mainframe Computer Industry, 1957--1964	53	(26)
The Industry's Supercomputing and Minicomputing Sectors, 1957--1975	79	(26)
The Rise of Software as a Service, Product, Business, and Industry, 1955--1975	105	(32)
The Infrastructure for Long-Term Change, 1962--1974	137	(30)
The Personal Computer and Personal-Computer Software, 1975--1990	167	(24)
The Computer Networking Revolution and the Computer Industry, 1990--2004	191	(28)
Conclusion: Looking Backwards and Looking Ahead	219	(10)
Appendix: Company Profiles	229	(20)
Suggestions for Further Reading and Research	249	(8)
Index	257