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February 2020 “Members Helping Members” Volume 37, Issue 11
Computer History Andy Grove used their doctoral training in physics
and chemistry to found Intel, a leading manufactur-
er of integrated circuits. Alan Kay and others at Xer-
Author: Leah Clark, President and Editor, Los Angeles Com- ox advanced computer graphics, networking, and
puter Society, CA
printing. The Homebrew Computer Club in Menlo
October 2019 issue, User Friendly Park, California, gave hobbyists a place to share
www.lacspc.org knowledge. Homebrew members Steve Jobs and
Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer after
leahjc (at) sbcglobal.net
demonstrating their Apple I kit at the club.
Recently I was in Washington D.C. While there, I
visited the Smithsonian Museum of American Histo- Early computers were big and expensive and re-
ry. They had a special exhibit on computer history. quired technically trained specialists to run them.
There was a sign that read, “Unless you know the Not surprisingly, only universities, big businesses,
road you’ve come down, you cannot know where and government agencies had access to these be-
you are going.” I wonder where computer and other hemoths. In the 1970s and ‘80s, Silicon Valley in-
technologies are going? Here is some information ventors changed the face of computing with the first
from the exhibit. “personal computers” small enough to fit on a desk.
They created revolutionary features that we take for
granted today — a hand-held input device called a
Both corporate researchers and self-trained hobby- mouse, a graphical user interface with overlapping
ists played crucial roles in the invention of the per- “windows,” and clickable pictures called “icons” —
sonal computer. Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore and and made computers less expensive and more
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