Category Archives: 1971

Laser Printers

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ibm3800Gary Starkweather created the first laser printer at Xerox in 1971. The first commercial laser printer was the IBM 3800 released in 1976 and is shown  here. It was a large affair that often took up alot of space, but offered high volume printing. The Xerox Star 8010 was introduced in 1977 for use with an individual computer, but it was incredibly expensive.

With the spread of personal computers in the 80s, HP introduced the Laserjet 8ppm in 1984, followed quickly by many others. The laser printer helped bring about the era of desktop publishing with the debut of the Apple Laserwriter for the Macintosh and Aldus Pagemaker in 1985.

Email

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email04In 1971 Ray Tomlinson, a computer engineer at BBN, composes two programs to exchange electronic messages with users of ARPANet. He introduced the @ symbol, which becomes the standard way of separating the user and the user’s server. Although not designed for communication among users, ARPANet messages were commonly e-mail.

In 1971, Tomlinson sends the first e-mail exchanged between two computers using programs he’d written called CPYNET , SNDMSG and READMAIL. In 1972 ARPANet was preparing their first communication protocols, and Tomlinson’s programs are included. Together with various other e-mail programs this forms the foundation of modern e-mail systems. Tomlinson’s formula for e-mail addresses, complete with the @ symbol sticks despite some opposition and it’s soon the standard for internet based e-mail.

Eight Inch Floppies

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8floppyThe 8″ floppy disk was the grandfather of all disks that came after. It first appeared on the high-tech landscape in the late sixties in the form of a big, thin plastic disk housed in an eight-inch-square black jacket. An oblong hole in each side left the recording surface open to the drive and also, unfortunately, to clumsy fingers.

Intel 4004

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intels4004The 4004 was Intel’s first microprocessor. This breakthrough invention powered the Busicom calculator and paved the way for embedding intelligence in inanimate objects as well as the personal computer.

The birth of the 4004 was an intense moment witnessed by the designer, Federico Faggin alone, working into the night in the deserted Intel labs. He had received the 4004 wafers from the manufacturing line at around 6 PM, in January 1971, as people were leaving for the day. With hands trembling and heart pounding he loaded the wafers in the wafer probe and connected it. A sigh of relief raised from his chest, above the humming of the instruments, as he observed electrical activity in the device. As the testing progressed, the tension was gradually transforming into elation as all the critical functions showed to be operating properly. At around 3 AM, exhausted and ecstatic, Faggin left the lab. At home his wife, Elvia, was waiting for the news. “It works”! he announced, and they shared the happiness in this moment of triumph.