Assignment 1

Computer History

50 Points

As we have watched some videos this past week, there were many people that took part in the computer revolution. The videos concentrated mostly on the newer contributors of the personal computer evolution. Your assignment is to write a three to five pages paper containing 5 people that were inventors, creators, innovators that contributed in some aspect of the computer evolution. Examples could be someone that created a programming language, someone that created a famous piece of software. Try to find other people than those found in the textbook or provide other information not described in the book. Please remember that this is a research assignment, not a copy and paste assignment. You are to summarize the article that you read and cite the source at the bottom of each person that you write on your your document. See example.

Write approximately 3-5 single line paragraphs describing a brief background of this person and a description of what they have created/invented/contributed. Find people that were not covered in detail in our textbook. You should include at least one female person. The document should take approximately 2 to 3 pages.

Use the style for citation found here: http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/works_cited.htm

You can use a word processor of your choice for this first assignment.

Example:

ASSIGNMENT#1
YOUR NAME:
CLASS: CIS120
DATE:

William H. Gates

William (Bill) H. Gates is chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.

Born on Oct. 28, 1955, Gates grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. Their father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. Their late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International.

In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer, now Microsoft's chief executive officer. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer - the MITS Altair.

In his junior year, Gates left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he had begun in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the computer would be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers. Gates' foresight and his vision for personal computing have been central to the success of Microsoft and the software industry.

Source(s):

Cite your sources at the bottom of each person, Keep in mind that the assignment can have images.

Back to CIS120 Homepage
This page was last modified October 08, 2002
wmorales@pccl.edu