which is the world's first computer distributed commercially?
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I think this was the UNIVAC Computer from Remington Rand in 1951.\n\n"On March 31, 1951, the Census Bureau accepted delivery of the first UNIVAC computer. The final cost of constructing the first UNIVAC was close to one million dollars. Forty-six UNIVAC computers were built for both government and business uses. Remington Rand became the first American manufacturers of a commercial computer system. Their first non-government contract was for General Electric's Appliance Park facility in Louisville, Kentucky, who used the UNIVAC computer for a payroll application."\n\nThe history of computers\nhttp://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa062398.htm
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the personal computer (PC) didn't come about until about 1970.  Before that computers where to big and costly to have in the home.  the first programmable did appear until 1941 in germany, and the U.S. didn't develope one until 1948.
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Computer\nCompute + -er\nOne who computes (calculates). The word computer predates modern computers.
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Here's an interesting page about early PC's. Keep scrolling down when the page opens.  It's rather interesting. \nhttp://www.blinkenlights.com/pc.shtml\n\nAnd, here's Wiki's entry:\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computing_hardware
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ELIZA ran on a mainframe computer in the sixties.\nSomeone duplicated it as a Java applet.....\nThis page contains a link to a zipped file and other information.....http://chayden.net/eliza/Eliza.html
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The first *programmable* computer was made in Germany by Konrad Zuse in the late 1930s and early 1940s. They were electromechanical. \nMost of the machines were destroyed by Allied bombings in WW2, so nothing much became of it. The next "big thing" in computers was vacuum tubes.
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I assume you want to buy one?  Other World Computing is a very reputable company.  See the link below.
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hm... the first company that produces GUI and windows (but the name is not windows.) is Xerox company.. their researcher created the first complete personal computers in 1970s (with monitor, printer,mouse, keyboard and LAN) but they did not commercialize it because their directors were afraid that their photocopy machines would not make profit.. during that time.. others did not now what computers are.. then.. one day, they invited apple computers to visit them, and when steve jobs saw the technology, we was stunned.. then he created macintosh OS.. microsoft are copycats... the DOS.. is not created by microsoft.. but they modified a DOS-like OS bought from Seattle Computers which they bought for 50,000... just lucky to be inclined with IBM during those days... watch the triumph of the nerds movie.. however.. microsoft is smart and creative.. congratulations!!
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yes! \n\nnetwork server and/or a mainframe computer. Both are considered "computers" basically.
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ENIAC, short for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, was long thought to have been the first Turing-complete electronic computer. It is now known to be the first large-scale, electronic, digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems. All the labels are necessary, as there were earlier computers with similar properties. ENIAC was developed and built by the U.S. Army for their Ballistics Research Laboratory, with the purpose of calculating ballistic firing tables. The computer was commissioned on May 17, 1943 as Project PX and constructed at Penn's Moore School of Electrical Engineering from mid-1944. It was unveiled on February 14, 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania, having cost almost $500,000. ENIAC was shut down on November 9, 1946 for a refurbishment and a memory upgrade, and was transferred to the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland in 1947. There, on July 29 of that year, it was turned on and would be in continuous operation until 11:45 PM on October 2, 1955.
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Charles Babbage invented the computing machine..\n\nIts was series is research done to get the current form of computers
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History of computing\n\n    Main article: History of computing\n\nENIAC — a milestone in computing history\nEnlarge\nENIAC — a milestone in computing history\n\nOriginally, the term "computer" referred to a person who performed numerical calculations, often with the aid of a mechanical calculating device. Examples of early calculating devices, the first ancestors of the computer, included the abacus and the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek device for calculating the movements of planets, dating from about 87 BC.[1] The end of the Middle Ages saw a reinvigoration of European mathematics and engineering, and Wilhelm Schickard's 1623 device was the first of a number of European engineers to construct a mechanical calculator.[2] The abacus has been noted as being an early computer, as it was like a calculator in the past. Charles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design a fully programmable computer as early as 1820, but due to a combination of the limits of the technology of the time, limited finance, and an inability to resist tinkering with his design, the device was never actually constructed in his lifetime. A number of technologies that would later prove useful in computing, such as the punch card and the vacuum tube had appeared by the end of the 19th century, and large-scale automated data processing using punch cards was performed by tabulating machines designed by Hermann Hollerith.\n\nDuring the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were met by increasingly sophisticated, special-purpose analog computers, which used a direct mechanical or electrical model of the problem as a basis for computation. These became increasingly rare after the development of the programmable digital computer.\n\nA succession of steadily more powerful and flexible computing devices were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s, gradually adding the key features of modern computers, such as the use of digital electronics (largely invented by Claude Shannon in 1937)[3] and more flexible programmability. Defining one point along this road as "the first digital electronic computer" is exceedingly difficult. Notable achievements include the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (1937), a special-purpose machine that used valve-driven (vacuum tube) computation, binary numbers, and regenerative memory; the secret British Colossus computer (1944), which had limited programmability but demonstrated that a device using thousands of valves could be made reliable and reprogrammed electronically; the Harvard Mark I, a large-scale electromechanical computer with limited programmability (1944); the decimal-based American ENIAC (1946) — which was the first general purpose electronic computer, but originally had an inflexible architecture that meant reprogramming it essentially required it to be rewired; and Konrad Zuse's Z machines, with the electromechanical Z3 (1941) being the first working machine featuring automatic binary arithmetic and feasible programmability.\n\nThe team who developed ENIAC, recognizing its flaws, came up with a far more flexible and elegant design, which has become known as the Von Neumann architecture (or "stored program architecture"), named for one of its principle designers. This stored program architecture became the basis for virtually all modern computers. A number of projects to develop computers based on the stored program architecture commenced in the mid to late-1940s; the first of these were completed in Britain. The first to be up and running was the Small-Scale Experimental Machine, but the EDSAC was perhaps the first practical version that was developed.\nThe Apple II, an early personal computer\nEnlarge\nThe Apple II, an early personal computer\n\nValve (tube) driven computer designs were in use throughout the 1950s, but were eventually replaced with transistor-based computers, which were smaller, faster, cheaper, and much more reliable, thus allowing
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Second Generation Computers (1956-1963) \n\nThe invention of Transistors marked the start of the second generation. These transistors took place of the vacuum tubes used in the first generation computers. First large scale machines were made using these technologies to meet the requirements of atomic energy laboratories. One of the other benefits to the programming group was that the second generation replaced Machine language with the assembly language. Even though complex in itself Assemly language was much easier than the binary code. \n\nSecond generation computers also started showing the characteristics of modern day computers with utilities such as printers, disk storage and operating systems. Many financial information was processed using these computers. \n\nIn Second Generation computers, the instructions(program) could be stored inside the computer's memory. High-level languages such as COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language) and FORTRAN (Formula Translator) were used, and they are still used for some applications nowdays. \n\nThird Generation Computers (1964-1971) \n\nAlthough transistors were great deal of improvement over the vacuum tubes, they generated heat and damaged the sensitive areas of the computer. The Intergreated Circuit(IC) was invented in 1958 by Jack Kilby. It combined electronic components onto a small silicon disc, made from quartz. More advancement made possible the fitings of even more components on a small chip or a semi conductor. Also in third generation computers, the operating systems allowed the machines to run many different applications. These applications were monitored and coordinated by the computer's memory. \n\nFourth Generation (1971-Present) \n\nFourth Generation computers are the modern day computers. The Size started to go down with the improvement in the integerated circuits. Very Large Scale(VLSI) and Ultra Large scale(ULSI) ensured that millions of components could be fit into a small chip. It reduced the size and price of the computers at the same time increasing power, efficiency and reliability. "The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, took the integrated circuit one step further by locating all the components of a computer (central processing unit, memory, and input and output controls) on a minuscule chip." \n\nDue to the reduction of cost and the availability of the computers power at a small place allowed everyday user to benefit. First came the minicomputers, which offered users different applications, most famous of these the word processors and spreadsheets, which could be used by non-technical users. Video game systems like Atari 2600 generated the interest of general populace in the computers. \n\nIn 1981, IBM introduced personal computers for home and office use. "The number of personal computers in use more than doubled from 2 million in 1981 to 5.5 million in 1982. Ten years later, 65 million PCs were being used." Computer size kept getting reduced during the years. It went down from Desktop to laptops to Palmtops. Machintosh introduecd Graphic User Interface in which the users didnt' have to type instructions but could use Mouse for the purpose. \n\nThe continued improvement allowed the networking of computers for the sharing of data. Local Area Networks(LAN) and Wide Area Network(WAN), were potential benefits, in that they could be implemented in corporations and everybody could share data over it. Soon the internet aand World Wide Web appeared on the computer scene and formented the Hi-Tech revolution of 90's.\n\nFifth Generation (Present and Beyond) \n\nFifth generations computers are only in the minds of advance research scientiets and being tested out in the laboratories. These computers will be under Artifical Intelligence(AI), They will be able to take commands in a audio visual way and carry out instructions. Many of the operations which requires low human intelligence will be perfomed by these computers. \n\nParal
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No one person invented the Internet as we know it today. However, certain major figures contributed major breakthroughs:\n\n(1) Leonard Kleinrock was the first to publish a paper about the idea of packet switching, which is essential to the Internet. He did so in 1961.\n\n(2) J.C.R. Licklider was the first to describe an Internet-like worldwide network of computers, in 1962. He called it the "Galactic Network."\n\n(3) Larry G. Roberts created the first functioning long-distance computer networks in 1965 and designed the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), the seed from which the modern Internet grew, in 1966.\n\n(4) Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf invented the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) which moves data on the modern Internet, in 1972 and 1973.\n\n(5) By 1983, TCP was the standard and ARPANET began to resemble the modern Internet in many respects. The ARPANET itself was taken out of commission in 1990. Most restrictions on commercial Internet traffic ended in 1991, with the last limitations removed in 1995. NCSA Mosaic web browser also came out in 1993, the first browser that supported both text and graphics.\n\nFor an excellent article on history and evolution of the Internet, refer to the following links:\nhttp://www.isoc.org/internet/history/\nhttp://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml\n\nOn the lighter side, as popularly said, 'Al Gore' invented the internet. That's not the truth. Refer to http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AjD6K1uz8OfCRUVj37IHU_YjzKIX?qid=1005121801557 to get an insight on this issue.
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http://info.cern.ch/\nIt was first put online on August 6, 1991.\nIt provided an explanation about what the World Wide Web was, how one could own a browser and how to set up a Web server.
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Charles Babbage, It was his initiative of the differential engine which led to the evolution of computer. For this reason, he's considered the father of computing.
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I don't think this movie will have the answer you are looking for, but if you are interested in the history of home computer software, Specifically the history of Microsoft and Apple "The Pirates of Silicon Valley" was pretty interesting :)