Technology and Innovation in the 1980s: Key Inventions

Introduction: The 1980s as a Decade of Innovation

Many of the electronic devices we use today — such as cell phones and home computers — were invented in the 1980s. Many multinational corporations came into existence during this decade, spurring economic growth to a record 3.2% per year (Bellis, 2012). This was the highest nine-year growth rate in American history. It was driven by a combination of economic, financial, legislative, and regulatory factors. This unprecedented growth also led to the failure of a number of banking institutions, and from these failures the term corporate greed was coined. This essay enumerates how technology advanced during the 1980s (Coppens, 2012).

Medical and Biological Breakthroughs

In 1980, the Hepatitis B vaccine was invented by Baruch Blumberg. This research physician discovered an antigen that provoked an antibody response against Hepatitis B. Others built on this discovery to develop a vaccine against viral hepatitis. Baruch, together with Irving Millman, ultimately invented a vaccine against viral hepatitis. Hepatitis A virus is the etiologic agent for Hepatitis A, a liver disease. Hepatitis B also attacks the liver and, at secondary stages, causes liver cirrhosis — a fatal, lifelong liver infection. Hepatitis C, on the other hand, is caused by the Hepatitis C virus, which spreads when the blood of a healthy person comes into contact with the blood of an infected person. The invention of a vaccine against viral hepatitis was a groundbreaking medical innovation in 1980 (Bellis, 2012).

In 1982, a human growth hormone was genetically engineered and produced by Eli Lilly and Company, then approved for use by diabetics. The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Humulin by diabetics that year. It was also in 1982 that a university researcher created a "super mouse" by inserting human growth hormone into the genetic makeup of a mouse (Kotelinkova, 2012).

The Rise of Personal Computing

In 1981, several landmark inventions appeared, including MS-DOS, the IBM PC, and the Scanning Tunneling Microscope. The IBM Personal Computer was introduced on August 12, 1981, complete with its own operating system from Microsoft Corporation. The machine ran a 16-bit operating system called MS-DOS 1.0, which scheduled tasks, allocated storage, and presented a default interface to the user between applications.

The story began in 1980, when IBM approached Bill Gates to discuss the state of home computers and Microsoft's potential role. Gates shared his vision for a great home computer, suggesting that BASIC be written into the ROM chip, given that Microsoft had already produced several versions of BASIC for different computer systems — including for the Altair. Gates was enthusiastic about writing a version for IBM.

Because Microsoft had never written an operating system, Gates suggested that IBM investigate the Control Program for Microcomputers (CP/M), an operating system authored by Digital Research. When IBM contacted Gary Kildall, they instead met his wife, who refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement. This prompted IBM to return to Bill Gates. Microsoft was subsequently given a contract to write a new operating system — the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) — based on Microsoft's purchase of the Quick and Dirty Operating System (QDOS), written for Seattle Computer Products' Intel 8086. Microsoft bought the rights to QDOS for $50,000.

IBM also attempted to crack the personal computer market with the IBM 5100 and considered buying Atari, a fledgling game company, before deciding to build their own personal computers and a brand-new operating system. Their first IBM PC was code-named Acorn and was an initiative led by twelve engineers under William C. Lowe. IBM released the new computer, renamed the IBM PC, in August 1981. The acronym "PC" — for personal computer — was popularized largely through IBM's marketing. The first IBM PC ran on a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor, was fitted with 16K of memory expandable to 256K, and came with one or two 160K floppy disk drives and an optional color monitor. Unlike other IBM computers, it was built from off-the-shelf parts and marketed through outside distributors. IBM selected the Intel chip in part because the company had already obtained rights to manufacture Intel chips.

The Scanning Tunneling Microscope, also introduced in 1981, is used in both industrial and fundamental research to obtain atomic-scale images of metal surfaces and is capable of providing a three-dimensional profile. Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer developed Scanning Tunneling Microscopy — a powerful technique capable of forming images of individual atoms on a metal surface (Bellis, 2012). The scanning technologies developed for the STM have since been adapted in many more recently invented scanning microscopies.