IBM/AP Images
The
personal computer (or PC), is probably the most important invention worldwide
in the past 40 years. The first machines that we recognize as computers were developed
in the 1940s, evolved through the 1970s, and were called mainframes. The PC,
designed for use by one person to do things like create spreadsheets at work or play games at home, was introduced in the 1980s.
In 1981, Mark Dean led a team of engineers at an IBM research facility in Boca Raton, Florida in giving the world a powerful, reliable, and most importantly, affordable computer
system. Dean himself was responsible for developing the graphical interface,
which led to color monitors. He also co-invented the ISA system bus, which allowed PC connections with interchangeable peripheral devices
like printers and modems made by different vendors. By the end of the 1980s, PC sales would reach 100
million units per year.
Mark Dean and the IBM 5150 PC
But
Dean didn’t stop there. In 1999, he led another group of IBM engineers in
creating the first computer chip that could
perform 1 billion calculations in 1 second. The Gigahertz CPU (Central Processing Unit) is almost
standard today for any computing device.
Today,
Mark Dean is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Tennessee’s
College of Engineering. He is a
member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, he was the first Black IBM Fellow, and he holds three of the nine original patents
related to the invention and development of the personal computer.
Earlier
this year, NetworkWorld, asked Who should be on the Tech Mount Rushmore?
Here’s
my opinion:
From left to right: Bill Gates, Mark
Dean, Steve Jobs, and Philip Emeagwali (come
back later for his story).
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