LIFE's photographic history of computing

LIFE Magazine was a great magazine in its day. Since ceasing monthly publication in 2000 and closing as a newspaper supplement in 2007, the brand itself appears on the occasional "special issue" and has continued showcasing images on its website. You can also browse the LIFE archives through the lovely and free iPad app.

LIFE puts together galleries from time to time around various themes, and one that might be relevant to your interests is A Brief History Of Computing. Starting with the abacus and working through history to get to current events (I won't give away the ending!), it's an interesting look at how technology has evolved on the computing front over the last 5,000 years.

Highlights include a couple of Steves, a guidance computer from the Apollo space program and the first iPod.

Which image is your favorite?

P.S. Our own Mike Rose was a manager at the monthly LIFE from 1996 to 2000.

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Source: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/life-for-ipad/id399415330?mt=…

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LIFE Magazine was a great magazine in its day. Since ceasing monthly publication in 2000 and closing as a newspaper supplement in 2007, the...

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TheCastro

Life was known for it's pictures, not it's facts. And the blurbs on the bottom are kind of weak in some instances.

But I did enjoy it except the random pic of a building with the caption, the computer isn't even in this building either.

February 18 2011 at 1:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

farmboy

They completely skipped the Atanasoffâ€“Berry Computer from 1937, the first electronic digital computing device. The ENIAC from 1946 was derived from the design of the ABC.

February 18 2011 at 11:34 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Justin

Certainly an interesting look at the development of modern computing technology, but I was disturbed by the number of misleading entries, and/or some of the things they chose to include vs. some of the things they did not include. For example they say (in regards to the first PlayStation) "Microsoft and Nintendo would respond with the Xbox and Wii." Are you kidding me? So we're ignoring the fact that Nintendo was an industry leader for a decade before Sony launched the PlayStation and that the Wii happened 2 entire console generations afterward?

Additionally we seem to have skipped the part where portable computing (laptops) emerged, and the advent of smartphones.

Some really cool pictures, but whoever wrote the little blurbs underneath needs a better understanding of the subject matter.

February 18 2011 at 10:35 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply