George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 A Brief History of Technological and Social Change (or, how ONE company could have owned the world) Lecture 1

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 Impact of Change in one pic

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 Misconceptions PC’s have been around since the late 1970’s: WRONG!!! –BUT they were only popular among hobby and technical users –Let’s look at why!

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The first PCs MITS Altair 8800 Announced : March 1975 Price:US $395 as a kit US $495 assembled CPU:Intel 8080, 2.0 MHz RAM:256 bytes, 64K max Display:front panel LEDs Controls:front panel switches Expansion:card-cage with 16 card slots Storage: external Cassette or 8" floppy drive OS:CP/M, BASIC The Altair 8800, from Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems (MITS) of Albuquerque, NM, was first featured in the January 1975 edition of Popular Electronics. It is considered by many to be the first mass produced personal computer, although they were called micro-computers in those days.

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The first PCs Apple 1 Introduced:March 1976 Released:July 1976 Price:US $ w/4K RAM How many?about 200 total CPU:MOS 6502, 1.0 MHz RAM:4K, 65K max Display:monochrome 280 X 192, 40 X 24 text Keyboard:not included. Ports:composite video output keyboard interface one vertical expansion slot Storage: cassette interface available OS:firmware in ROM (HEX) Apple BASIC on cassette

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The first PCs Were expensive and not user friendly They were kits and required electronic expertise They were niche players Something else was needed to jump start the PC revolution

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The first useable PC – Apple II Introduced:April 1977 Original Price: $1298 with 4K, $2638 with 48K (board only with 4K, $598) CPU:6502, 1 MHz Memory: 4K-48K (3 banks of 4K or 16K RAM), this unit has 48K installed Display Capability: Text 40 characters by 24 lines; graphics 280x192 4 color, 40x48 16 color Operating System: BASIC in ROM Apple DOS ProDOS Input/Output: Composite color video output, built-in speaker, joystick DIP jack on motherboard Other I/O options on cards Bus:Apple II bus, 8 slots

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 A picture of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, taken in Why were these guys successful?

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 “Killer Application: The Apple II was a technological and cultural phenomenon, but only succeeded because of ONE single product. Visicalc (Visual Calculator) spreadsheet Visicalc was developed by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 Critical Convergence Mature HW Technology, Untapped Market Need, and a “Killer Application” = $$$$ Dan Bricklin and Bob FrankstonSteve Jobs and Steve Wosniak

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 IBM wants in Based on the success of the Apple II, IBM decided to get into the PC business, BUT They had no PC operating system –only a HW architecture Rather than develop an OS, the decided to purchase an operating system from someone – but who?

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The man who made Bill Gates a Billionaire Gary Kildall Born May 19, 1942) Seattle, Washington Died July 11, 1994 (aged 52) Monterey, California Occupation Computer scientist

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The man who made Bill Gates a Billionaire Founder: Digital Research, Inc. (aka DR or DRI; originally Intergalactic Digital Research) Developed the first PC OS called CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) for Intel 8080 processor computers It was the first “large” software company in the microcomputer world. Digital Research should not be confused with Digital Equipment Corporation;

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The man who made Bill Gates a Billionaire CP/M was the father of PC-DOS, MS- DOS, and all variants IBM sent a team to Dr. Kildall’s company to purchase/license PC-DOS What follows is the story of one of the greatest “MISSED OPPORTUNITIES” in corporate history ---

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 Microsoft and Q-DOS In 1980, IBM asks Bill Gates, for an operating system for the IBM PC Microsoft, was furnishing IBM with a BASIC language interpreter for other larger IBM computers, (they had no OS – but didn’t let IBM know that) Steve Balmer found an operating system called 86-DOS at Seattle Computer Products (often referred to as QDOS, or Quick and Dirty Operating System)

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 Microsoft and Q-DOS It was written in six weeks by Tim Paterson, based on ideas in CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers), Microsoft bought 86-DOS from Seattle Computer Products for $50,000, revised it, renaming it MS-DOS, and then delivered it to IBM for its new PC. IBM rewrote MS-DOS after finding 300 bugs in it and renamed it PC-DOS, which is why both IBM and Microsoft hold a copyright for it. Bill Gates saw the potential for MS-DOS and persuaded IBM to let Microsoft sell it separately from IBM's PC projects.

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 IBM Takes Over The Market IBM introduces its first PC in 1981 –First MS-DOS business oriented computers –Open Architecture (Specification for hardware components was “open” –What was closed was the “BIOS” –IBM had a “lock” on that technology

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 Brief History of PCs Rod Canion co-founded Compaq with Jim Harris and Bill Murto in 1982, Compaq Computer Corp. reverse engineers its own “BIOS” and starts selling “IBM Compatible” computers The mass market for “cheap” computers has begun

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 Brief History of PCs Compaq Portable PC $2995 for a basic system l28K bytes of memory, one 320K-byte disk drive; $3590 for a two-disk-drive system.

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 Brief History of LANs Broadcast network (Ethernet) was invented by Bob Metcalf* in the early 1970’s as a technology research concept It was not only an experimental research exercise *Bob Metcalf is the founder and CEO of 3Com Corporation

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 Brief History of LANs “Original Ethernet” Metcalf Team “Vampire” Network Tap

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 Brief History of LANs 1982 Bob Metcalf starts 3Com Corp. and sells first Ethernet adapter cards –The sales are not an astounding success –Why not ?

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 Brief History of LANs 1983 Ray Noorda buys a failing technology company and renames it Novell –Novel produces the first NOS the following year (file and print services)

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The One Company That Could Have Owned The World Who developed the first…. –Personal Computer –Local Area Network –Laser Printer –Object Oriented Programming Language –Radio Frequency ID Technology –Graphical User Interface

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 XEROX PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) –Developed all these technologies, BUT failed to capitalize on their value –Others took these technologies and made BILLIONS –The most significant contribution in the early 1970’s was the first PC with a GUI (The XEROX Alto)

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 XEROX Alto First with a GUI and MOUSE

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 A New World Apple introduces the Macintosh in 1984 –(Steve Jobs borrowed the idea from a concept developed at Xerox PARC*) Macintosh provides first “plug and play” peer-to-peer networking (Appletalk) at 230 k/bs –*Jobs is a visionary, he saw the potential of technology before anyone else. (e.g. OOP - NextStep --- another Xerox PARC invention)

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The Road to MAC Apple LISA High cost due to memory prices $10,000 10MB Hard Drive No “Killer” Business applications Market Failure 1983

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The Road to MAC Apple MAC 128 Low cost due to memory restrictions/ no HD $2995 Personal Productivity Applications True Personal Computer 1984

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The Road to MAC CPU CPU: Motorola MC68030 CPU Speed: 25 MHz FPU: Bus Speed: 25 MHz Data Path: 32 bit ROM: 512 kB RAM Type: 30 pin SIMM Minimum RAM Speed: 80 ns Onboard RAM: 0 MB RAM slots: 8 Maximum RAM: 128 MB Level 1 Cache: 0.5 kB Level 2 Cache: optional 32 kB Expansion Slots: 3 NuBus Video VRAM: 1 MB DRAM Max Resolution: 8 bit, 640x480 Video Out: DB-15 Storage Hard Drive: MB Floppy Drive: 1.4 MB SuperDrive MAC II Family – professional computer Desktop Publishing Graphics/Color Editing Music Networking

George Mason University The School of Public Policy Policy Analysis Center Copyright © R.A. Sommer, 2007 The Road to MAC At the heart of the MAC was the LaserWriter The Laser Writer’s raster image processor used the Adobe PostScript interpreter, a feature that would ultimately transform the landscape of computer desktop publishing. This is the “Killer” technology that made the MAC ultimately successful (scaleable fonts and graphics)