One could consider the first "computer" to be the abacus of ancient times. Developed around 300 BC, the abacus was used to calculate simple products. However, in my paper, I will focus on the first personal computers, the ancestors of our modern PCs. Three of the first known computers designed on a somewhat personal level are the IBM 650 and the LGP-30. Both were developed in the early '60s and were steps forward in the movement away from giant supercomputers. They are the modern ancestors of what he today know as the PC. According to Arnold G. Reinhold, "The IBM 650 occupies a unique place in computer history. In my opinion, it deserves credit as being the earliest ancestor of the personal computer. Most computers that came before it was designed to expand the envelope of computing: bigger, faster, more bell and whistles. Often they were initially designed for large government agencies with insatiable computing needs, such as the AEC or NSA. The IBM 650, on the other hand, was designed to be affordable and easy to use. And compared to what else was available in the late 1950's it was: It only cost half a million dollars. It fit in a single room. It was programmed in decimal rather than binary.
             In hindsight, you would think an affordable, easy to use a computer should have sold like hotcakes. Well, it did! IBM sold hundreds of them and it was the first computer to made a profit for its manufacturer. It may have even had the first "aftermarket" programming instruction book, a large format paperback by a fellow named Andre, titled "Programming the IBM 650"."
             Another early computer was the LGP-30. According to Arnold G. Reinhold, the LGP-30 "made by the Librascope division of General Precision, Inc., was another early computer built on a personal scale. It was quite popular with "half a thousand" units sold. Librascope tried to build a usable computer with a minimal amount of hardware. The single address instruction set ha...