The history of computing is like a large tree. Early computing is fairly easy to trace with few branches to worry about. As you move up the tree the branches become more numerous and harder to follow. The history of microcomputers, being fairly high on the tree, is hard to follow with many related or competing things happening at roughly the same time.

In the 1950's several semiconductor companies were founded to produce transistors and at least one attempt to design a small computer using these vacuum tube replacements was made but failed.

The 1960's saw much more activity. In 1968 Intel was founded and in 1969 received a commission to produce integrated circuits for Japanese calculators. This led to their deciding to build the first microprocessor: the 4004. Meanwhile, in 1962 Tandy Corporation bought the chain of Radio Shack electronics stores and Stephen Wozniak (later to found Apple) built an addition and subtraction machine, winning a prize at a local science fair. Also, in 1964, John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz developed the first version of the BASIC programming language at Dartmouth College.

And, that's just the overview of the period!

The 1970's took off...

1971

• The 8008 was developed by Intel.
• Stephen Wozniak gets further involved with computer design.

1972

• The PL/1 programming language for the 4004 written by Gary Kildall.
• Traf-O-Data created by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
• Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs started selling "blue boxes" (the blue box was a device for breaking into phone systems).
• The People's Computer Company publication was started to make practical information about computers available to the public.

1973

• Wozniak joined Hewlett-Packard.
• An astrology forecasting machine was built by Gary Kildall and Ben Cooper.
• The Community Memory project was started by Lee Felsenstein and others to allow people access to a public network and see the power of computers.

1974

• Computer Lib, another computer magazine starts publication.
• The 8080 microprocessor is developed by Intel.
• A microcomputer and disk operating system by John Torode and Gary Kildall begins selling.
• The July issue of Radio Electronics publishes an article showing how to build the Mark 8, a computer based on the Intel 8008. They called it "your personal minicomputer."

1975

• Traf-O-Data has now become Microsoft and develops the first BASIC for the Altair computer (the Altair was developed by Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems [MITS]).
• Popular Electronics publishes an article describing the Altair.
• Cromemco is founded.
• The Homebrew Computer Club, spawning ground for many ideas found in today's microcomputers, held its first meeting.
• Also, the Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey started.
• The Computer Store: first retail PC store, started in Los Angeles.
• The first issue of Byte magazine was published.
• The Byte Shop computer store chain was founded in Mountain View, California.

1976

• IMSAI started shipping its first computers.
• Dr. Dobbs begins publishing.
• The World Altair Conference was held.
• Bill Gates published his "Open Letter to Hobbyists" which spoke to software piracy (his BASIC, distributed on paper tape, was being copied without payment).
• Wozniak demos the Apple I at a Homebrew meeting.

1977

• The Boston Computer Society was founded.
• ComputerLand opened its first franchise store in Morristown, NJ.
• Apple Computer opened its first Cupertino office.
• The first West Coast Computer Faire is held; for quite a while these shows became a mainstay of information exchange.
• Apple introduces the Apple II.
• Commodore builds and distributes the PET.
• Tandy/Radio Shack sells its first TRS-80 microcomputer.

We are now to the point where microcomputers started to become available to the general public and not just "hackers" who were willing to put up with the unfriendly user interface presented by the first micros.

1978

• Apple began shipping disk drives for the Apple II, making program distribution much easier.
• IMSAI starts to fold because it did not keep up with the technology.
• The Lisa development program is started by Apple.

1979

• IMSAI closes its doors after filing for bankruptcy.
• Steven Jobs visits the Xerox PARC laboratories and gets ideas for the Macintosh desktop.
• The TRS-80 Model II is announced by Tandy.
• WordStar is introduced by MicroPro.
• VisiCalc is released by Personal Software.

VisiCalc is largely credited for the microcomputer revolution. This popular spreadsheet made desktop analysis easy and allowed anyone to write what amounted to programs without having to learn a complex programming language. The program was truly a "visible calculator" and took its name from a shortening of those words. Many Apple II computers were sold for the sole purpose of running VisiCalc. As each new microcomputer was introduced, VisiCalc clones were quickly generated for them (for example, SuperCalc for CP/M computers, Lotus 1-2-3 for IBM, and Excel for Macintosh).

Bricklin VisiCalc Site

Microcomputer development and sales continued to escalate during the 1980's...

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