E-Book Content
Seagate presents
TRIVIA THAT GIVES YOU THE EDGE
Seagate presents
TRIVIA THAT GIVES YOU THE EDGE
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The f o l l o w i n g w r i t e r s at Digit compiled t h e 1001 t e c h facts: Aparna K r i s h n a k u m a r Garfield D'Souza Meera V a n k i p u r a m Ram Mohan Rao Robert S o v e r e i g n - S m i t h Srinivasan R a m a k r i s h n a n Suprotip Ghosh Upendra Singhai Copy Editors Ram Mohan Rao Syed Nadim Siraj Design and Layout Ashwin Boricha Shivshankar Pillai Sivalal S Photographs Mexy Xavier
© 2 0 0 4 Jasubhai Digital Media, Mumbai
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T E C H F A C T S
CONTENTS Topic
The History of Computing The Internet Networking Various Timelines Processors and Components Storage Operating Systems Companies and Personalities Supercomputer Displays Imaging Telephony Cellphones Entertainment Games Human Interface Devices Miscellaneous Tech Facts
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INTRODUCTION In 1981, in an apparent m o m e n t of epiphany, William Henry Gates III told a gathering that in t h e future 6 4 0 KB of RAM ought to be e n o u g h for anybody. Today, Gates, o n e of t h e richest m e n in t h e universe, makes most of his m o n e y selling software so heavy even a Sumo wrestler would blush. Ergo, even t h e m o s t successful, or foresighted, people in t h e world are n o t infallible. Twenty-three years later, we don't really k n o w whether Gates is still h a u n t e d by that statement. W h a t we know for sure is that statements like these b e c o m e more t h a n just that, and people e x c h a n g e notes with malicious glee: "Did you know that Bill Gates was stupid enough to say this. I mean, how did he b e c o m e t h e richest m a n on earth?" This special compilation of 1 0 0 1 amazing t e c h n o l o g y facts is n o t filled with malice, but with stuff that would make you smile, raise your eyebrows, or, god forbid, make y o u exchange notes with malicious glee at that next Saturday night party. Technology, like most aspects of our life that pass us by and we take for granted, has history. Since t e c h n o l o g i c a l progress has b e e n fast e n o u g h to send every o n e of us into a tizzy, we tend to lose sight of t h e pioneers, of t h e technologies that changed our lives. This b o o k is m e a n t to bring us closer to reality, closer to our t e c h n o l o g y history, closer to t h e people w h o made it happen. We learn from history, and from those lessons alone alone can we shape our future. So sit back, put your feet o n t h e table, let your hair down, and let time pass you by. And yes, tell us if you didn't get t h a t smile o n your face.
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1 0 0 1 . Alan T u r i n g is considered the f a t h e r of C o m p u t e r Science, in 1937, he published t h e paper "On C o m p u t a b l e Numbers, w i t h an Appli cation t o t h e E n t s h e i d u n g s p r o b l e m " . 9 9 9 .
Beginning in 1934, Konrad Zuse, a G e r m a n engineer, built a series of c o m p u t e r s , t h e Z1 t h r o u g h Z4, utilising binary a r i t h m e t i c .
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Claude Shannon is usually called the f a t h e r of I n f o r m a t i o n Tech nology. In 1948, he published "A M a t h e m a t i c a l T h e o r y of C o m m u n i c a t i o n " in t h e Bell System Technical J o u r n a l . The f i r s t high-level p r o g r a m m i n g language was Fortran. It was developed in 1956 by an IBM t e a m headed by J o h n Backus. Fortran became c o m m e r c i a l l y available in 1957. The first o b j e c t - o r i e n t e d language was Simula. It was developed by Kristen Nygaard and Ole-Johan Dahl in t h e mid 1960s.
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1981 was t h e year t h a t PCs began, when