Commodity computing: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:44, 22 May 2006

Revision as of 22:56, 28 September 2006

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When the first general purpose [[microprocessor]] was introduced in 1974 it immediately began chipping away at the low end of the computer market, replacing [[embedded system|embedded minicomputers]] in many industrial devices.

This process accelerated in 1977 with the introduction of the first commodity - like computermicrocomputer, the [[Apple II]]. With the development of the [[Visicalc]] application in 1979, microcomputers broke out of the factory and began entering office suites in large quantities, but still through the back door.

The [[IBM PC]] was introduced in 1981 and immediately began displacing Apple II's in the corporate world, but commodity computing as we know it today truly began when [[Compaq]] developed the first true IBM PC compatible. More and more PC compatible microcomputers began coming into big companies through the front door and commodity computing was well established.