The Evolution of Computing: From Desktops to Tablets

With the advent of the iPad and other tablets, it's clear that the way we use computers has undergone a significant transformation. Before the Macintosh, which was released in 1984, computers were limited and cumbersome, with users relying on desktops and laptops for their computing needs. The Apple II, released in 1977, was one of the first successful mass-produced personal computers, but it still had limitations in terms of its interface and usability.

The Macintosh, which celebrated its 30th anniversary recently, marked a significant turning point in the history of computing. It introduced a graphical user interface (GUI) that was revolutionary at the time, allowing users to interact with computers using visual icons, menus, and windows rather than typing commands on a keyboard. This shift towards more intuitive and user-friendly interfaces has had a profound impact on the way we use computers today.

The iPad, with its multi-touch display, has taken this interface concept to new heights. The introduction of touch screens in 2006, popularized by Jeff Han's video, was a game-changer, allowing users to interact with computers using gestures and taps rather than typing commands. This shift towards mobile computing has transformed the way we access information, communicate with each other, and even work.

One key factor that contributed to the success of the iPad was its design. With its compact size and portability, it's easy to take the device with you wherever you go, making it an ideal tool for tasks such as browsing the web, checking email, or working on documents. The iPhone, which also features a multi-touch display, has further pushed the boundaries of mobile computing, with many users now relying on their phones as their primary means of accessing information and communication.

The iPad's impact goes beyond its interface, however. Its design and engineering have led to significant improvements in processing power, memory, and storage capacity. The device is powered by an ARM chip, which is also used in mobile phones and other devices. This shift towards mobile processors has enabled the development of more powerful and efficient computing devices that can handle demanding tasks with ease.

The iPad's family tree is a fascinating example of how different technologies have merged to create something new and innovative. The device draws on a line of technology that stretches back to the Acorn 3000, which was released in the early 1980s. This was the first ARM processor, which has since become a ubiquitous part of modern computing devices. The iPad's designers drew on this heritage, combining elements of different technologies to create a unique and powerful device.

The iPad is also part of a larger trend towards mobile computing that began with the Apple Newton in 1993. Although it was not widely adopted at the time, the Newton laid some of the groundwork for the modern tablet computer. Its ability to take notes, store information, and even send emails via infrared (IR) technology showed that there was a demand for more portable and user-friendly computing devices.

The writing system on the Newton was also notable, as it allowed users to create new files, edit existing ones, and even "delete" them using a familiar interface. This early writing app laid some of the groundwork for modern word processing software and has become an influential part of computing history.

The iPad's camera capabilities are another area where its impact can be seen. With the ability to take photos and record video directly from the device, it has revolutionized the way we capture and share information. This capability is now taken for granted in modern devices, but it was a significant innovation when first introduced.

In conclusion, the iPad represents a significant turning point in the history of computing. Its multi-touch display, compact design, and powerful processing capabilities have transformed the way we interact with computers and access information. As technology continues to evolve, it's likely that we'll see even more innovative devices emerge from the Apple family tree, each one pushing the boundaries of what's possible in terms of user experience, performance, and functionality.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthere's a phone sitting on the desk that perhaps looks a little old um I never had the first iPhone that came out 10 years ago today um it's June 29th but I did get the iPhone 3G the next year the the original iPhone didn't really come out in the UK until October and this one came out pretty quickly afterwards in the next June so um yeah I just thought we'd talk about the iPhone and in fact for something slightly different Sean is filming this one on my iPhone so actually shooting this on the iPhone 7 plus give us away Sean there we go excellent we could go into lots of defail about how the iPhone is the greatest mobile phone in the trends it's set um there's plenty of other people producing videos that you can get interviews with people that Apple who involved in creating it um I think the the fascinating thing for me two things and this is purely personal um it was a huge difference when it came out um in 2005 I bought this so it was a a mobile phone and an iPad unfortunately it doesn't work anymore um if I drop it into its charging cradle I think the battery is gone it'll get as far as booting halfway through the instruction thing and it'll um just dies so I bought this in 2005 it was an i and it was great in some ways so it was a touchscreen with a a resistive so you could tap it and you could use it for making notes it would run word sorry it's just like problem with the iPhone is that the BR light is making you turn into a silhouette and so you're uh yeah the Atari is is flickering like nobody's but that's okay I'll just keep yeah so um it worked sort of quite well um but it had a few things it was it wasn't smooth though um it would suddenly drop the 3g connection or I don't if it was 3G com now um and literally you'd be sitting there waiting for a phone call and your phone are completely disconnected from the network and it never arrived so it was annoying things and actually so you could get devices before the iPhone that did similar features but they just weren't as smooth and actually most of the time I went back to a sort of classic Star Trek beam me up Scotty style um motor roler pretty soon afterwards and actually Apple had worked with Motorola on an iTunes compatible variant to this the Motorola rocker um which was and unmitigated disaster I think is the phrase that's best used this is a phone that we have worked on with Motorola so actually when this came along it was in many ways over I think it was just the fact that it just was so easy to use the sort of touchcreen the multitouch on you could get on and it really was revolutionary I think and of course it influenced how Android designed their phones and so on so it sort of Chang and of course it's interesting now that for a lot of people they don't use normal computers they just use a mobile phone like an iPhone or an Android phone uh perhaps coupled with a tablet like an iPad as a day-to-day Computing device it has it's it's in many ways it was as much a step from what computers were like before the Macintosh to what they were like after the Macintosh so before the Macintosh you had something like the Apple 2 PCS of the time to the Macintosh where you had a full sort of goey and we've looked at the Macintosh a couple of years ago when it was its 30th Anniversary so you of I think it has created the C change in the way we use computers I don't think the vast majority of people are going to be using desktop or laptop computers we will still have them people will still use them for certain tasks gaming perhaps um although it's quite of on consoles may get better at that who knows phones whatever um certainly development probably wanted to do it on that although i' starting to get IDs that are even better on that so who knows maybe we'll just be talking to computers all the time like in Star Trek um one one thing that I think is also quite important is is obviously the interface was was revolutionary you know this idea of touch people didn't use T or didn't have big screens and things like this yeah I mean it was interesting the sort of the multi-touch display was around you could see I think it was Jeff Han had a video that came out early 2006 you had the Microsoft Surface back when Microsoft Surface me an actual table surface that took up the size of the room turning friends on to new music will one day be done with the greatest of ease the idea was there but suddenly you went from large displays the sort of installation type things to something you fitted in your pocket and I think that was again how they did how they managed that and actually sort of realizing that that created an interface that was just of so usable was sort of um fascinating the other thing I found fascinating think in terms of its family tree obviously you've got the Apple sort of line feeding in it runs Macos X or variant of it which comes from the mag and comes from next and so on but it was all designed around the arm chip so it's actually powered by an arm chip which is not unusual for a mobile phone or the iPod um but of course that comes from the acorn line of things so this is a an old Acorn 3000 and this is the probably great great great grand something or granddaddy of the processor in a modern mobile phone this was the original arm 2 chip which powered things like this or the original archimedia so I can sort of see lots of different lines of Technology sort of merging to form this one device got I would say one device but that was the one sort of crystallized and from that you've got the Android phones you got Windows phone I'm sure someone still uses them um and so on and it really was different from having devices with keyboards or limited interactivity you can actually view a web page on this which you couldn't really do before even on something like the ipac it wasn't Apple's first stab at having some kind of organizer in your pocket well yeah that's so Apple had in the 90s they created the Newton this is the original model I didn't have one at the time um I sort of pick one up later which again you could actually sort of use to take notes it didn't have an internet connectivity although it did have an IR Port so you could sort of stick your mobile phone if it had an IR port and get online that way but the interesting thing about this um is that you could actually write on it and so the sort of classic um thing let's create a new note file this note in let's put in business this was Sean trying it the other day um print note fact beam mail delete that's probably the best thing we want to do my important note you've just got absolutely so in the classic thing we just want to sort of take a note so in the classic um one we want to beat up Martin and just like in the simpons it doesn't come out with the right answer take a m on your Newton beat up Martin so we actually got Martin this time rather than eat up Martha so yeah apple had done this before and actually this again was probably for its time a revolutionary device but it just wasn't quite ready the handwriting recognition wasn't quite good and of course it's still it's FIFA style um rather than sort of slipp in your pocket and use it so yeah I think it's everything came together and we history shown how it's changed everything running there so yeah and of course the camera is on get better and so we can even film computer file on a mobile phone now so what have we got here there another Z Logics disc controller of some sort you got the control chips in the mthere's a phone sitting on the desk that perhaps looks a little old um I never had the first iPhone that came out 10 years ago today um it's June 29th but I did get the iPhone 3G the next year the the original iPhone didn't really come out in the UK until October and this one came out pretty quickly afterwards in the next June so um yeah I just thought we'd talk about the iPhone and in fact for something slightly different Sean is filming this one on my iPhone so actually shooting this on the iPhone 7 plus give us away Sean there we go excellent we could go into lots of defail about how the iPhone is the greatest mobile phone in the trends it's set um there's plenty of other people producing videos that you can get interviews with people that Apple who involved in creating it um I think the the fascinating thing for me two things and this is purely personal um it was a huge difference when it came out um in 2005 I bought this so it was a a mobile phone and an iPad unfortunately it doesn't work anymore um if I drop it into its charging cradle I think the battery is gone it'll get as far as booting halfway through the instruction thing and it'll um just dies so I bought this in 2005 it was an i and it was great in some ways so it was a touchscreen with a a resistive so you could tap it and you could use it for making notes it would run word sorry it's just like problem with the iPhone is that the BR light is making you turn into a silhouette and so you're uh yeah the Atari is is flickering like nobody's but that's okay I'll just keep yeah so um it worked sort of quite well um but it had a few things it was it wasn't smooth though um it would suddenly drop the 3g connection or I don't if it was 3G com now um and literally you'd be sitting there waiting for a phone call and your phone are completely disconnected from the network and it never arrived so it was annoying things and actually so you could get devices before the iPhone that did similar features but they just weren't as smooth and actually most of the time I went back to a sort of classic Star Trek beam me up Scotty style um motor roler pretty soon afterwards and actually Apple had worked with Motorola on an iTunes compatible variant to this the Motorola rocker um which was and unmitigated disaster I think is the phrase that's best used this is a phone that we have worked on with Motorola so actually when this came along it was in many ways over I think it was just the fact that it just was so easy to use the sort of touchcreen the multitouch on you could get on and it really was revolutionary I think and of course it influenced how Android designed their phones and so on so it sort of Chang and of course it's interesting now that for a lot of people they don't use normal computers they just use a mobile phone like an iPhone or an Android phone uh perhaps coupled with a tablet like an iPad as a day-to-day Computing device it has it's it's in many ways it was as much a step from what computers were like before the Macintosh to what they were like after the Macintosh so before the Macintosh you had something like the Apple 2 PCS of the time to the Macintosh where you had a full sort of goey and we've looked at the Macintosh a couple of years ago when it was its 30th Anniversary so you of I think it has created the C change in the way we use computers I don't think the vast majority of people are going to be using desktop or laptop computers we will still have them people will still use them for certain tasks gaming perhaps um although it's quite of on consoles may get better at that who knows phones whatever um certainly development probably wanted to do it on that although i' starting to get IDs that are even better on that so who knows maybe we'll just be talking to computers all the time like in Star Trek um one one thing that I think is also quite important is is obviously the interface was was revolutionary you know this idea of touch people didn't use T or didn't have big screens and things like this yeah I mean it was interesting the sort of the multi-touch display was around you could see I think it was Jeff Han had a video that came out early 2006 you had the Microsoft Surface back when Microsoft Surface me an actual table surface that took up the size of the room turning friends on to new music will one day be done with the greatest of ease the idea was there but suddenly you went from large displays the sort of installation type things to something you fitted in your pocket and I think that was again how they did how they managed that and actually sort of realizing that that created an interface that was just of so usable was sort of um fascinating the other thing I found fascinating think in terms of its family tree obviously you've got the Apple sort of line feeding in it runs Macos X or variant of it which comes from the mag and comes from next and so on but it was all designed around the arm chip so it's actually powered by an arm chip which is not unusual for a mobile phone or the iPod um but of course that comes from the acorn line of things so this is a an old Acorn 3000 and this is the probably great great great grand something or granddaddy of the processor in a modern mobile phone this was the original arm 2 chip which powered things like this or the original archimedia so I can sort of see lots of different lines of Technology sort of merging to form this one device got I would say one device but that was the one sort of crystallized and from that you've got the Android phones you got Windows phone I'm sure someone still uses them um and so on and it really was different from having devices with keyboards or limited interactivity you can actually view a web page on this which you couldn't really do before even on something like the ipac it wasn't Apple's first stab at having some kind of organizer in your pocket well yeah that's so Apple had in the 90s they created the Newton this is the original model I didn't have one at the time um I sort of pick one up later which again you could actually sort of use to take notes it didn't have an internet connectivity although it did have an IR Port so you could sort of stick your mobile phone if it had an IR port and get online that way but the interesting thing about this um is that you could actually write on it and so the sort of classic um thing let's create a new note file this note in let's put in business this was Sean trying it the other day um print note fact beam mail delete that's probably the best thing we want to do my important note you've just got absolutely so in the classic thing we just want to sort of take a note so in the classic um one we want to beat up Martin and just like in the simpons it doesn't come out with the right answer take a m on your Newton beat up Martin so we actually got Martin this time rather than eat up Martha so yeah apple had done this before and actually this again was probably for its time a revolutionary device but it just wasn't quite ready the handwriting recognition wasn't quite good and of course it's still it's FIFA style um rather than sort of slipp in your pocket and use it so yeah I think it's everything came together and we history shown how it's changed everything running there so yeah and of course the camera is on get better and so we can even film computer file on a mobile phone now so what have we got here there another Z Logics disc controller of some sort you got the control chips in the m\n"