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Before this project there was a couple of things I didn't know about computers. One thing is the history of computers. I didn't know what the first computer was and how it operated. The first computer that Apple made was the Apple-1 which sold for $666.66 at that time. Now they sell for $240,000 at an auction.

Some might ask if this price is worth it. Others might buy it every time they saw it at an auction.

This machine was hand-carved and contained 8K of memory. It was the first fully pre-assembled computer, produced with a 1.0 MHz MOS 6502 processor and a cassette for read/write capability. It had imagine saving info on a cassette tape instead of a CD or a flash drive. It would now be considered a "glorified calculator." It know comes in its original packaging, complete with instruction manual and a letter signed by Steve jobs.

                

Another thing about the history of computers I didn't is the first computer with a mouse. This was the Alto. The Xerox Company never sold the Alto, but they gave several of the away to universities and other people.  The Alto was also the first computer to use menus and icons as well as the first computer to allow the user to work with several files simultaneously, each in separate 'windows'. It could also link to a local area network. The Alto was also the inspiration of the Apple Macintosh and later Microsoft Windows.

                The revolutionary Alto would have been an expensive personal computer if put on sale commercially. Lead engineer Charles Thacker noted that the first one cost Xerox $12,000. As a product, the price tag might have been $40,000.  the price of the Alto would make it very hard for a ordinary family to buy one. This would let other companies make less expensive computers to sell to the everyday people.                  

The last thing I didn't know was the first tablet. The first tablet was the Microsoft Tablet PC. The inventor Bill Gates was very pleased with this tablet. Microsoft showed this tablet off in the 2001 COMDEX show in Los Vegas. The press said that the size of a legal notepad and half the weight of most of today's laptop PCs, the Tablet PC is a full-powered, full-featured PC that runs Windows XP and combines the power of desktop computing with the flexibility and portability of a pen and paper notepad. Bill Gates emphasized that because it runs Windows XP, the Tablet PC is a fully-fledged, secure Microsoft .NET client machine that natively supports the .NET Framework. Gates also said, "The Tablet takes cutting-edge PC technology and makes it available wherever you want it, which is why I'm already using a Tablet as my everyday computer. It's a PC that is virtually without limits -- and within five years I predict it will be the most popular form of PC sold in America."