A short history of computing

I finally produced a set of 40 slides on the history of computing in both PowerPoint and PDF formats. I injected a little humor, including some "infamous" quotes like Ken Olson's: "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."

Along with standard events like the Analytical Engine, ENIAC, and the Internet, I've also included some of my favorites like Tron, the first movie to use extensive 3D graphics. Most of the photos were obtained from Wikipedia, but I included a few of my own, like this photo of the first Google server that is currently housed in the lobby of the Gates Building at Stanford.

I know there was a lot of stuff I left out. If there's something you think I should really include in my slides, let me know, and I'll give it due consideration... my CS1 students will also thank you for suggesting more information they have to remember for their first exam.

You can also check out some of my other historical slides on graphical user interfaces and the Internet.

Some computing history

The fall semester is in full swing here at Harding, and I've decided to convert some of my notes on historical events in computing to slides. If you are interested, here are my slides on Internet and Web history and history of graphical user interfaces (GUIs). I'll admit the GUI slides are slanted toward Microsoft because we focus on Windows programming in my GUI course.

I'm still working on my general history of computing and will post an update later.