1966-1971 computer details

1966

May

• Steven Gray founds the Amateur Computer Society, and begins publishing the ACS Newsletter. Some consider this to be the birth-date of personal computing. [208.64]

1968

(month unknown)

• Douglas C. Engelbart, of the Stanford Research Institute, demonstrates his system of keyboard, keypad, mouse, and windows at the Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco's Civic Center. He demonstrates use of a word processor, a hypertext system, and remote collaborative work with colleagues. [180.42] [185.98] [716.88] [753]

1969

(month unknown)

• Intel's Marcian (Ted) Hoff and Stan Mazor design a 4-bit CPU chip set architecture that could receive instructions and perform simple functions on data. The CPU becomes the 4004 microprocessor. [266.12] [556.9] [1038.146]
• Intel announces a 1 kilobit RAM chip, which has a significantly larger capacity than any previously produced memory chip. [9]

1971

(month unknown)

• The National Radio Institute introduces the first computer kit, for US$503. [208.66]

November

• In major trade publications including Electronic News, Intel officially introduces the MCS-4 (Microcomputer System 4-bit) microcomputer system. It is comprised of the 4001 ROM chip, 4002 RAM chip, 4003 shift register chip, and the 4004 microprocessor. Clock speed of the CPU is 108 kHz. Performance is 60,000 operations per second. It uses 2300 transistors, based on 10-micron technology. It can address 640 bytes. Initial price is US$200. Documentation manuals were written by Adam Osborne. The die for the chip measures 3x4 mm. The chip is introduced to the public in Las Vegas by Wayne Pickette. [9] [176.74] [202.165] [296] [393.6] [62] [773] [900] [953.28] [266.14] [393.6] (750 kHz [556.11]) (1972 [339.86]) computer