January is Clean Up Your Computer Month

Computers – we have all had to deal with them one way or another. From video games to social media, these technological creations also come with an important note. If we want to keep our computers running at optimum capacity, we have to keep them clean. Both the components and the internal memory have to be cleaned regularly if we want our machines to operate properly. So, on that note, let us look into the ideals of Clean Up Your Computer Month!

The History of Clean Up Your Computer Month

Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC)
Photo: http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/birth-of-the-computer/4/78

The first substantial computer was the giant ENIAC machine, created by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania. ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator) used a word of 10 decimal digits instead of binary ones like previous calculators/computers. ENIAC was also the first machine to use more than 2,000 vacuum tubes, using nearly 18,000 vacuum tubes instead. Storage in those vacuum tubes require the machinery to keep cool, taking up over 167 square meters (1800 square feet) of floor space. Nonetheless, it had punched-card input and output. It also arithmetically had 1 multiplier, 1 divider-square rooter, and 20 adders employing decimal “ring counters,” which served as adders and quick-access (0.0002 seconds) read-write register storage. ENIAC was productively used from 1946 to 1955. The 1960’s saw large mainframe computers become more common in large industries, the US military, and space program. IBM became the unquestioned market leader in selling these large, expensive, error-prone, and very hard to use machines.

Steve Jobs. Photo: bio.com

A veritable explosion of personal computers occurred in the early 1970s, starting with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak exhibiting the first Apple II at the first West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. The Apple II boasted built-in BASIC programming language, color graphics, and a 4,100 character memory for only $1,298. Programs and data could be stored on an everyday audio-cassette recorder. Before the end of the fair, Wozniak and Jobs had secured 300 orders for the Apple II and from there Apple took off.

A stack of floppy disks used for publishing medium for distribution of software was invented in the late 1970s. 

Also introduced in 1977 was the TRS-80. This was a home computer manufactured by Tandy Radio Shack. In its second incarnation, the TRS-80 Model II, came complete with a 64,000 character memory and a disk drive to store programs and data on. At this time, only Apple and TRS had machines with disk drives. With the introduction of the disk drive, personal computer applications took off as a floppy disk was a most convenient publishing medium for distribution of software.

IBM, which up to this time had been producing mainframes and minicomputers for medium to large-sized businesses, decided that it had to get into the act and started working on the Acorn, which would later be called the IBM PC. The PC was the first computer designed for the home market which would feature modular design so that pieces could easily be added to the architecture. Most of the components surprisingly came from outside of IBM, since building it with IBM parts would have cost too much for the home computer market. When it was introduced, the PC came with a 16,000 character memory, keyboard from an IBM electric typewriter, and a connection for tape cassette player for $1,265.

IBM ANTNIK 286
Photo: https://antnik.wordpress.com/gallery-2/gallery/

By 1984, Apple and IBM had come out with new models. Apple released the first generation Macintosh, which was the first computer to come with a graphical user interface(GUI) and a mouse. The GUI made the machine much more attractive to home computer users because it was easy to use. Sales of the Macintosh soared like nothing ever seen before. IBM was hot on Apple’s tail and released the 286-AT, which with applications like Lotus 1-2-3, a spreadsheet, and Microsoft Word, quickly became the favorite of business concerns.

That brings us up to about ten years ago. Now people have their own personal graphics workstations and powerful home computers. The average computer a person might have in their home is more powerful by several orders of magnitude than a machine like ENIAC.

The computer revolution has been the fastest growing technology in man’s history.

How to celebrate Clean Up Your Computer Month

To celebrate, all we have to do is turn off our computers and makes sure that the inside is clean and free from dust. Afterwards we need to reactivates our computers and clear up any space on the hard drives that we possibly can, and let’s not forget to close up our computers after cleaning out the interior.

*Article compliments of https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/clean-up-your-computer-month/