Title: Instructor's Perspective - Module 2
Course: CGS 1560 Microcomputer Operating Systems > Section: Module 2 - History and Concepts of Operating Systems (OS)

Module 2: History and Concepts of Operating Systems

It is simple to ask, “Why is the history of microcomputers important?” The answer to that question is not quite as simple as you might initially think even though the relative period of history is short. A little over 40 years have passed since the first advertisement appeared in 1971 that announced the arrival of a new era in integrated technology. The microcomputer is merely a blink of an eye in a history book that spans thousands of years. However, in that brief span of
time the microcomputer has managed to revolutionize society, as we now know it. It has impacted almost everything that we do in our daily lives. The impact on society can easily be measured by simply asking, “What would I do without a microcomputer in my life?”

In order to understand why computer history is so important you have to look beyond a mere time and date stamp in the history book. You need to look at cause and effect. What effect has the invention of the microcomputer had on society? Where will this technology take us in the future? In order to answer either of these questions you have to be able to establish trends. The only way you can establish trends is to have historical data to analyze. Simply stated, “Having a recorded history of microcomputers allows us to establish the trends to help us manage the future.”

The first two microcomputers, the MCS-4 and MCS-8 only had 2000 transistors and sold for under $100. The MCS-4 began life in 1970 as a Busicom 141-PF calculator that had the same computing speed as an IBM 1620 computer from
1960 that cost $100,000 (Mazor, 1995). In Figure 1a below is a photo of a Busicom 141-PF ("Intel 4004 —," 2011). A replica of the core components of the Busicom 141-PF are found in Figure 1b (Kotaska, 2008). The IBM 1620 can be found in the photograph in (Figure 2) below of a fully configured IBM 1620 Model 2 computer system with 1311 disc drive, 1621 paper tape unit, 1625 core storage unit (20K-60K), 1622 card reader/punch and 1443 line printer. Although they had two completely different functions the point is that the 4004 processor in the form of a calculator had the same computing speed as that of the SPS processor in the IBM 1620 processor.

In today’s society we have become extremely dependent on microcomputers in our everyday lives. College courses are shifting to online or hybrid courses to better meet the needs of the student’s life style. We use computers at work and at home for things like communication, finance, writing, research and leisure. Even within the last decade what use to be divergent technologies are merging. Consider the cellular phone it was once nothing more than a mobile telephone now it is much more. It has a microprocessor, memory, input/output devices, multimedia capability and applications. Take a minute to consider how your life would change if you suddenly found yourself back in the 1960s.

Figure 1a | Figure 1b | Figure 2

References

Mazor, S. (1995). The history of the microcomputer-invention and evolution. Proceedings of the IEEE, 1601--1607. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.170.4045
Kotaska, B. (2008, November 14). Bill Kotaska's busicom 141-pf replica. Retrieved from http://www.4004.com/busicom-replica.html
Intel 4004 — 35th anniversary project. (2011, November 15). Retrieved from http://www.4004.com/

Attachments

- Mod2_InstructorPerspective.pdf