Lesson 1: The Big Picture or Why the World    Wide Web Waited until the 1990s

STEP ONE
The Electronic Computer invented during WWII,
expands with invention of transistors in 1950s,
widespread by 1960s.

As hard as it is to believe, the computer age began a scant 50 years ago with the creation of ENIAC, a building size behemoth loaded with vacuum tubes and switches. The first programmable computer appeared in 1951. Transistors soon replaced vacuum tubes and by 1960 the size of a mainframe computer was reduced from 30 tons to one ton. International Business Machines became a giant of American industry.

Through the 1950s and 1960s computers became increasingly visible in the areas of telephone communication, banking and space exploration. Yet few individuals thought of having a computer in the home. All computer innovations that follow, including the World Wide Web, trace back to invention of the first electronic computer.

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