Computer Facts

The first personal computer was the Berkeley Enterprises “Simon” which sold for $300 in 1950.

Seagate Technology (US:STX) was originally named Shugart Technology.

The precision quartz clock in a computer cannot keep accurate time.

Windows was originally named Interface Manager.

IBM (US:IBM), which stands for International Business Machines, was an exaggerated name derived from NCR, National Cash Register.

Floppy disks in the late 1970s were 8 inches in diameter.

The VIC-20 computer from Commodore sold for $299 in 1980 with 5K of RAM.

The world’s first one gigabyte disk drive was announced in 1980. It weighed 550 pounds and had a price tag of $40,000.

IP means both Internet Protocol and Intellectual Property.

The ticker symbol for Sun Microsystems was changed from SUNW to JAVA and the company has been struggling ever since.

SanDisk (US:SNDK) used to be called SunDisk.

Apple (US:AAPL) popularized the laser printer.

Adobe Photoshop (US:ADBE) was originally called Display, then ImagePro. It was not developed by Adobe, but licensed from a college student named Thomas Knoll in 1988.

Intel’s (US:INTC) first microprocessor was the 4004. It was designed for a calculator, nobody imagined where it would lead.

SCO, the company that sold a version of Unix, used to be called the Santa Cruz Operation.

Peter Norton of the fabled Norton anti-virus program once said that there was no such thing as a computer virus and considered the whole idea some sort of hoax.

“Modem” means modulator/demodulator. This referred to the modulation and demodulation of an analog signal to make it digital. By this definition the device called a cable modem is a misnomer. It should be called a network adapter.

Dell Inc. (US:DELL) was originally called PCs Limited.

The Apple 1 was the first computer developed by Apple and was nothing more than a bag of parts. The Apple II was the first finished product sold by the company.

Lenovo (HK:992) means “new legend” — “Le” for legend and “novo” for new.

In the 1950s computers were commonly referred to as “electronic brains.”