In the 1970s, while their contemporaries were protesting the computer as a tool of dehumanization and oppression, a motley collection of college dropouts, hippies, and electronics fanatics were engaged in something much more subversive. Obsessed with the idea of getting computer power into their own hands, they launched from their garages a hobbyist movement that grew into an industry, and ultimately a social and technological revolution. What they did was invent the personal computer: not just a new device, but a watershed in the relationship between man and machine. This is their story. Fire in the Valley is the definitive history of the personal computer, drawn from interviews with the people who made it happen, written by two veteran computer writers who were there from the start. Working at InfoWorld in the early 1980s, Swaine and Freiberger daily rubbed elbows with people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates when they were creating the personal computer revolution. A rich story of colorful individuals, Fire in the Valley profiles these unlikely revolutionaries and entrepreneurs, such as Ed Roberts of MITS, Lee Felsenstein at Processor Technology, and Jack Tramiel of Commodore, as well as Jobs and Gates in all the innocence of their formative years. This completely revised and expanded third edition brings the story to its completion, chronicling the end of the personal computer revolution and the beginning of the post-PC era. It covers the departure from the stage of major players with the deaths of Steve Jobs and Douglas Engelbart and the retirements of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer; the shift away from the PC to the cloud and portable devices; and what the end of the PC era means for issues such as personal freedom and power, and open source vs. proprietary software.
The first edition of this very successful book was one winner of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 'Astronomy Book of the Year' awards in 1986. There are a further seven subroutines in the new edition which can be linked in any combination with the existing twenty-six. Written in a portable version of BASIC, it enables the amateur astronomer to make calculations using a personal computer. The routines are not specific to any make of machine and are user friendly in that they require only a broad understanding of any particular problem. Since the programs themselves take care of details, they can be used for example to calculate the time of rising of any of the planets in any part of the world at any time in the future or past, or they may be used to find the circumstances of the next solar eclipse visible from a particular place. In fact, almost every problem likely to be encountered by the amateur astronomer can be solved by a suitable combination of the routines given in the book.
A thorough introduction to the computation of celestial mechanics, covering everything from astronomical and computational theory to the construction of rapid and accurate applications programs. The book supplies the necessary knowledge and software solutions for determining and predicting positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, minor planets and comets, solar eclipses, stellar occultations by the Moon, phases of the Moon and much more. This completely revised edition takes advantage of C++, and individual applications may be efficiently realized through the use of a powerful module library. The accompanying CD-ROM contains the complete, fully documented and commented source codes as well as executable programs for Windows 98/2000/XP and LINUX.
The fascinating history of the personal computer from Altair to the IBM PC revolution. Written by computer legend Stan Veit, who turned Computer Shopper into the world's largest computer magazine.
The Apple Watch is more than a timepiece and a fashion accessory. The watch is designed to be a very personal assistant, from paying for groceries or a coffee to keeping a detailed record of your daily physical activity. Author Scott McNulty has organized the book around events and activities, showing how to use the watch in various settings. The book starts off with an essential “Apple Watch 101” section that gets you up and running quickly. You learn the watch’s gestures and presses, how to use the digital crown, and how to change the band, for example. Scott then looks at how to use the watch in different settings. At work, how to set tasks and check email. After work, how to meet up with friends, find a place to eat, and get directions. At the gym, how to monitor your workout activities and monitor your heart rate. And you don’t have to be at the gym. Learn how to use the watch to track your daily physical activities, from how much you walk each time to gentle reminders to get up and move if you’ve been sitting too long. Organized around your life, this book will help you get the most from your Apple Watch. Readers will learn how to: * Set up the watch and pair it with their iPhone. * Manage messages, calls,notifications, and mail. * Make sketches and use as a walkie-talkie. * Monitor their workout activities and set and achieve goals. * Use Apple Pay. * Listen to music, using Maps, take photos, and more.
Forget Apple and IBM. For that matter forget Silicon Valley. The first personal computer, a self-contained unit with its own programmable processor, display, keyboard, internal memory, telephone interface, and mass storage of data was born in San Antonio TX. US Patent number 224,415 was filed November 27, 1970 for a machine that is the direct lineal ancestor to the PC as we know it today. The story begins in 1968, when two Texans, Phil Ray and Gus Roche, founded a firm called Computer Terminal Corporation. As the name implies their first product was a Datapoint 3300 computer terminal replacement for a mechanical Teletype. However, they knew all the while that the 3300 was only a way to get started, and it was cover for what their real intentions were - to create a programmable mass-produced desktop computer. They brought in Jack Frassanito, Vic Poor, Jonathan Schmidt, Harry Pyle and a team of designers, engineers and programmers to create the Datapoint 2200. In an attempt to reduce the size and power requirement of the computer it became apparent that the 2200 processor could be printed on a silicon chip. Datapoint approached Intel who rejected the concept as a "dumb idea" but were willing to try for a development contract. Intel belatedly came back with their chip but by then the Datapoint 2200 was already in production. Intel added the chip to its catalog designating it the 8008. A later upgrade, the 8080 formed the heart of the Altair and IMSI in the mid-seventies. With further development it was used in the first IBM PC-the PC revolution's chip dynasty. If you're using a PC, you're using a modernized Datapoint 2000.