In 1974, Dr. Ted Hoff, an engineer with the Intel Corporation, designed the first tiny computer on a chip. It was called a microprocessor. From 1974 to the present, computers have relied mainly on the microprocessor, which has made computers faster and more powerful than ever before.

4004 microprocessor and Ted Hoff

A microprocessor is a tiny postage stamp-sized computer on a single silicon chip. Microprocessors are the most incredible innovation the computer world has ever seen. When the chip is in use, millions of switches open and close, allowing for millions of computations each second.

What was the first microcomputer, or PC?

In 1975, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems—or MITS—produced the first PC. They named the computer kit Altair 8080, after the Star Trek episode, "A Voyage to Altair." Altair 8080 was special because it made computers available to everyone. However, there were several problems with the Altair 8080. First, the kit was designed for computer experts. It also had very little memory, required assembly by the owner, and had to be coded by flipping switches by hand.

The Altair 8080

What PCs followed Altair 8080?

The Altair 8080 created much interest in personal computers. In the 1970s, many companies sold PC kits, but the kits were confusing to use and hard to assemble. However, two entrepreneurs attempted to solve this problem.

The Apple II

In April 1977, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computers. Their aim was to build a simple yet powerful computer that the average person could unpack, plug in, and begin using immediately. Apple’s widely successful PC was the Apple II personal computer. The Apple II is regarded by many computer experts as the catalyst for the PC’s sudden and dramatic popularity. By 1981, Tandy and IBM also made PCs.

How have PCs become more advanced?

In 1981, IBM introduced a computer model that set the standard for personal computers as they became widely used in the business world.

In 1993, Intel introduced the Pentium Processor, a microprocessor with 3.1 million transistors. Technological developments continue to change modern computing. The following charts indicate the huge transistor-per-processor increases made over the last 20-plus years.

Technology is advancing so rapidly that every few months, new computer advances are released. Just look at the progress of computer technology since 1995:

Computer scientists are beginning to run into barriers in PC advancements. CPU clock speeds have been increasing since the first PC was made, but processor designers are finding that increasing the clock speed of CPUs is becoming more difficult. The CPU design philosophy appears to be changing. Instead of making CPUs work harder (by increasing the clock speed), designers need to make the CPUs work smarter (by increasing the amount of work done per clock cycle).

PC consumers are used to shopping for PCs by looking at the cold, hard numbers. They knew that a 600MHz CPU was faster than a 200MHz CPU. For better or for worse, the market is changing. Consumers will have to research what they are buying to get the best deal. For example, in the past, it seemed clear that a 3GHz CPU would easily outperform a 2GHz CPU. Now, however, due to CPU manufactures increasing the efficiency of the CPU designs, it is possible for a 2GHz CPU from one manufacturer to outperform a 3GHz CPU from another manufacturer. In the tech world, the idea that a CPU with a high clock speed always beats a CPU with a lower clock speed is known as the "Megahertz Myth."

What about the fifth generation of computers?

We have yet to see the computer's fifth generation, but with the endless supply of new inventions, technology will undoubtedly enter another generation. We will see advancements never before thought possible. Some scientists speculate that the next generation of computers will use individual atoms and holographic storage.

Artificial intelligence—or a computer that thinks for itself—may become a reality. In fact, the capabilities of fifth generation computers are limited only by the imagination. The fifth generation of computers will again change our world, as science fiction once again becomes fact.