People who changed the computer world

Part I

Until the late 1970s, the computer was a massive machine that was affordable to big businesses and government agencies but not to the general public. Computers were too bulky and expensive for personal use, and most people were afraid of them. As technology advanced, this was changed by a group of engineers and entrepreneurs, who tried to find ways to make the computer attractive to more people. Although these innovators of computer technology were very different from each other, they had a common enthusiasm for technical innovation and the capability to foresee the potential of computers.

Much of this activity was centered in the Silicon Valley in northern California (See Fgure 1) where the first computer-related company had located in 1955. That company attracted thousands of related businesses, and the area became known as the technological capital of the world. Between 1981 and 1986, more than 1000 new technology-oriented businesses started there. At the busiest times, five or more new companies were established in a single week. The Silicon Valley attracted many risk-takers and gave them an opportunity to work in an atmosphere of creativity. Many of them have been rewarded greatly with fame and fortune, others failed. Some failure is inevitable in an environment as competitive as the Silicon Valley.

Figure 1