The Digital Century

Beep, Memory: A Guide to Computer History on the Web

Not so long ago, early computers were unwanted orphans--languishing in the back of closets, sitting on thrift-store shelves, or selling for pennies on the dollar at yard sales. Today, PC nostalgia is in full swing, and ancient systems are prized collectibles. For example, a bidding war recently broke out on the eBay auction site over a vintage Altair 8800; it eventually went for $4150, a chunk of change you'd be hard-pressed to spend on a fully-loaded Pentium III PC these days.

Okay, so maybe you're not ready to start your own collection of old-time hardware. But you can still get in on the fun--for free--by visiting an amazing array of computing-history Web sites. Go online, and you can chat with Steve Wozniak, the Apple cofounder who some consider the greatest computer designer of all time. You can try out VisiCalc, the spreadsheet that was a smash hit long before Excel was a glimmer in Bill Gates's eye. And you can learn about a myriad of long-gone computers from A (the Acorn Atom) to Z (the Zenith Z-110).

One caveat: Even though computers as we know them are just over 50 years old, their past is already remarkably murky. Most computer nostalgia sites are the lovingly handcrafted projects of amateur historians, and some are rife with urban legends, misconceptions, and factual errors. So don't treat them as gospel; they're more like a first rough draft of computer history.

Herewith, a guide to our favorite sites, organized by topic.

General Information and Overviews

Chronology of Events in the History of Microcomputers

Probably the most detailed of the many computing-history timelines on the Web, Ken Polsson's site documents literally hundreds of events from 1947 until the present. Polsson, a versatile historian, also offers timelines about Corvettes and Canadian coins, among other topics.

The Computer Museum Timeline

Boston's Computer Museum created this timeline, which is less detailed but more graphical than Ken Polsson's effort. It begins in 1945 and ends in 1990.

Jones Digital Century

An online computing encyclopedia replete with company profiles, biographies of leading figures, and entries on such topics as digital cameras and virtual reality.

The Virtual Museum of Computing

This site is mostly a collection of links. But it's a fine one, with pointers to 29 online museums around the world.

Early PCs

Atari History Society

The company that gave us Pong, Asteroids, Centipede, and such classic vintage PCs as the Atari 400, is well documented here. This online home of the Atari Historical Society even covers forgotten relics such as the DataGlove (a game controller that was an early stab at virtual-reality technology).

The Home Computer Hall of Fame

Sure, you fondly remember your old Apple II or Commodore 64. But how about the Mattel Aquarius, the MicroBee, and the NewBrain MB? This British site gives such obscure old home PCs their day in the sun.

Ira Goldklang's TRS-80 Revived Pages

Detractors of Radio Shack's pioneering black-and-white computer disparagingly dubbed it the "Trash-80." But the Shack's early PCs live on at Ira's mammoth site, which offers timelines, technical specs, and emulation software that lets you run classic TRS-80 games, such as Android Nim, within Windows.

Jim's Computer Garage (Museum)

One of numerous packrats who have put their PC collections online, Jim shares photos, memories, technical specs, and other goodies relating to prehistoric PCs such as the Altair, IMSAI, and Commodore PET.

The Virtual Altair Museum

A small but informative site devoted to the computer that is commonly known as the first real PC. This site hasn't been updated in a couple of years, but hey, that's okay--it's all about a 25-year-old computer.

Early Software

The Colossal Cave Adventure Page

In 1972 Will Crowther wrote a text-based game that created a genre--interactive fiction--that continues to this day. This site offers downloadable versions of the original adventure for Windows and other platforms, plus maps, tips, and a history of this landmark piece of software.

Dan Bricklin's Web Site

Without VisiCalc, there might never have been a Lotus 1-2-3 or Microsoft Excel. And remarkably enough, the DOS version of the original spreadsheet is available for free at this site (operated by one of its cocreators), along with a firsthand account of VisiCalc's rise and fall.

The Dot Eaters: Videogame History 101

Bet you didn't know that a nuclear scientist with the unlikely name of Willy Higinbotham invented the video game in 1958. No, really. Learn about Willy and other pioneers at this well-done history of electronic entertainment.

The History of Shareware

Here's a trivia tidbit: PC World's first editor, Andrew Fluegleman, was the inventor of shareware. Read more about his PC-Talk program (and other early shareware packages such as PC-File and PC-Write) at this site.

The WordStar Users Group

In the early 1980s, MicroPro's WordStar word processor was, indeed, a star. And almost two decades later, there are still hardcore users who refuse to give it up, as evidenced by this site.

Apple History

Apple II History

The War and Peace of Apple II lore: 23 chapters of everything you ever wanted to know about the legendary system, and then some.

Jef Raskin's Homepage

The online residence of the multifaceted writer, technologist, and early Apple employee who conceived and named the Macintosh in early 1979, five years before the first Macs hit the stores.

Woz.org

Apple's teddy bear-like cofounder, now a schoolteacher, answers reader questions about TNT's Pirates of Silicon Valley TV movie and other matters. The site also includes a WozCam.

www.apple-history.com

Face it: You'll never see "www.compaq-history.com" or "www.dell-history.com." But Apple users are uncommonly interested in this company's past, present, and future. The site features a brief corporate history (in English, Swedish, and Japanese), plus a gallery of every model that Apple has ever made.

Microsoft History

Bill Gates Interview

The software tycoon waxes nostalgic in this Smithsonian oral history, recalling the first computer he used (a GE timesharing system, in high school), the founding of Microsoft, the creation of Windows, and more.

Microsoft Museum

Visit this official corporate shrine for a remarkably detailed timeline of the company and its milestones, from 1975 (sales: $16,005; employees: 3) to the present (sales: $14.48 billion; employees: 27,320).

The Internet

Hobbes' Internet Timeline

Robert H. Zakon's impressive attempt to map the development of the Net, beginning in 1957 with the launch of Sputnik. (A panicky U.S. Department of Defense formed the Advanced Research Projects Agency in response; 12 years later, ARPA created ARPAnet, the Internet's predecessor.)

How the Internet Came to Be

A brief history by one of the Net's creators, Vinton Cerf, from ARPAnet's birth in 1969 to the Net's commercialization in the 1990s.

A Little History of the World Wide Web

A timeline of the Web's formative years from 1980 to 1995; includes Tim Berners-Lee's landmark 1989 proposal for the networked hypertext information system that he later dubbed the World Wide Web.