Chapter 4. 1950 to 1959: Starting the Ascent of Digital Computers and Software
The 1950s witnessed the migration of computers from military and academic purposes into the business domain. It also witnessed the evolution from custom-built, special-purpose computers to commercial computers such as the Ferranti Mark I, LEO I, UNIVAC I, IBM 701, and IBM 650. Even more important, transistors and integrated circuits were patented during this decade and began to be used on production computers. By the end of this decade, computers were being built globally in China, Russia, Poland, Japan, and many other countries. Programming became a significant occupation and the early “high-level” languages of FORTRAN, COBOL, and LISP were created. The term “software” ...
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