Computer Story for Curious Builders

Trace how ideas grew into computers, from gears and vacuum tubes to cloud services and AI accelerators

Charles Babbage drew plans for a machine that could finish astronomical tables, while wartime researchers strung together thousands of vacuum tubes just to get answers faster. A century later, engineers asked, “Could we code from a device in our pocket?” and teams proposed renting servers on-demand through the cloud.

Tap any year to see which problem inspired that computer, how it worked, and the clues it left for the next generation of builders. If unfamiliar terms show up, no worries—we focus on the people and the problems they solved so the journey stays approachable.

Selecting a year opens a dialog in place so you can keep reading without leaving the page.

1820s

Mechanical calculation begins

Mathematicians tired of copying tables by hand experimented with gears and cogs that could repeat calculations for them.

1840s

Turning instructions into code

Cards and symbols began to replace people in describing how a machine should move, planting the idea of “software.”

1930s

Explaining computation

Researchers explored abstract models and electronic circuits at the same time to ask, “What counts as computation?”

1940s

Electronic computers arrive

Thousands of vacuum tubes wired together finally delivered multipurpose computers that produced answers in seconds.

1950s

Commercial machines and transistors

Governments and businesses began to buy computers while transistors made circuits smaller and more reliable.

1960s

Compatibility and operating systems

Compatibility and shared operating systems emerged so programs could run across different machines.

1970s

Microprocessors and personal kits

Putting the CPU on a single chip and shipping hobbyist kits opened computing to individuals.

1980s

Standard PCs and hypertext

Standardized PCs and new RISC processors met the ideas that would link documents across the Internet.

1990s

Open source and the mainstream

As the Internet spread, freely downloadable operating systems and graphical interfaces reached everyday users.

2000s

Cloud and mobile computing

Cloud services, x86-64 servers, and general-purpose GPU computing reshaped how we rent and scale computing.

2010s

Data-driven architectures

Machine learning and container ecosystems grew to manage massive data and quick deployments.

2020s

Custom chips and generative tools

Specialized chips sped up laptops and data centers, while generative AI pushed demand for compute even higher.

Source Library

Here are the primary documents that carry the story from mechanical calculators to modern cloud systems. Reading the originals reveals what problems the engineers tried to solve at each step.