The Compaq Portable is launched and the world’s fastest Computer speed is achieved. All on today’s On This Day from TEST Huddle.
1982 – Compaq Portable
On this day in 1982, Compaq announces the suitcase-sized, IBM-compatible Compaq Portable retailing at $2,995. The computer is one of the first precursors of the laptop. The whole machine was built into a case the same size as a portable sewing machine thus it’s nickname “the sewing machine”. The specifications of the machine include a 4.77MHz Intel 8088 processor, 128 – 640KB RAM, a nine-inch monitor, a disk drive, and either the CP/M-86 or MS-DOS operating system. One of the most interesting aspects of the system is the building of the IBM BIOS to make the system compatible with IBM systems. Avoiding copyright infringement to develop their own BIOS, the company developed one of the first instances of reverse engineering. The computer also marks the end of IBM’s hardware monopoly .
2004 – The World’s Fastest Supercomputer
The International Business Machines (IBM) Blue Gene officially becomes the world’s fastest supercomputer when it achieves a speed of 70.7 trillion calculations per second (70.7 teraflops).
Images: Wikipedia/IBM
