IVIV Aunt Reet

[John Carvill]

> Janos:
>
> I'm not an expert on IT history but I have the impression that
> transistorized  computers (definitely not user-fiendly, but not
> room-sized either, served by 'priests', in Monte's words, who knew
> FORTRAN or COBOL) were quite widely used in the U.S. in scientific,
> technological, _and_ corporate fields, especially in aerospace. Theres
> is this efficiency expert in COL 49, who has been replaced by an IBM
> 7904.

Yes indeed. Pynchon of course would have been very much more aware of
the oncoming wave of computer technology than the average Gordita
beach bum, back in 1969. But the whole idea of 'information machines',
or 'Information Technology' as we know it came later, I think. ACtualy
I started to wonder when the latter phrase was coined. Nothing
definitive came to light via google - maybe The Machine didn't want me
to know?

Following is a handy reference, though, from Answers.com:

"History of Information Technology

The term "information technology" evolved in the 1970s. Its basic
concept, however, can be traced to the World War II alliance of the
military and industry in the development of electronics, computers,
and information theory. After the 1940s, the military remained the
major source of research and development funding for the expansion of
automation to replace manpower with machine power.

Since the 1950s, four generations of computers have evolved. Each
generation reflected a change to hardware of decreased size but
increased capabilities to control computer operations. The first
generation used vacuum tubes, the second used transistors, the third
used integrated circuits, and the fourth used integrated circuits on a
single computer chip. Advances in artificial intelligence that will
minimize the need for complex programming characterize the fifth
generation of computers, still in the experimental stage.

The first commercial computer was the UNIVAC I, developed by John
Eckert and John W. Mauchly in 1951. It was used by the Census Bureau
to predict the outcome of the 1952 presidential election. For the next
twenty-five years, mainframe computers were used in large corporations
to do calculations and manipulate large amounts of information stored
in databases. Supercomputers were used in science and engineering, for
designing aircraft and nuclear reactors, and for predicting worldwide
weather patterns. Minicomputers came on to the scene in the early
1980s in small businesses, manufacturing plants, and factories.

In 1975, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed
microcomputers. In 1976, Tandy Corporation's first Radio Shack
microcomputer followed; the Apple microcomputer was introduced in
1977. The market for microcomputers increased dramatically when IBM
introduced the first personal computer in the fall of 1981. Because of
dramatic improvements in computer components and manufacturing,
personal computers today do more than the largest computers of the
mid-1960s at about a thousandth of the cost.

Computers today are divided into four categories by size, cost, and
processing ability. They are supercomputer, mainframe, minicomputer,
and microcomputer, more commonly known as a personal computer.
Personal computer categories include desktop, network, laptop, and
handheld...."

http://www.answers.com/topic/information-technology