Texas thinks big. Count down five tech firsts from the Lone Star State — from Dell’s dorm-room start and the first artificial heart implant in Houston to the microchip invented in Dallas — plus two bonus picks, including the Weed Eater.
#5: Dell computers (Austin, 1984)
A college freshman started a computer company in Austin. Michael Dell founded PC’s Limited at UT Austin in 1984. He sold PCs direct, built to each buyer’s order. He started with about $1,000 — working from his dorm.
#4: Datapoint 2200 (San Antonio, 1970)
A desktop computer with a screen and keyboard — in 1970. Computer Terminal Corp. of San Antonio built it. Its design shaped the chips inside IBM-style PCs. Its boxy shape was modeled on an IBM typewriter.
#3: Handheld calculator (Dallas, 1967)
Before this, electronic calculators sat on desks. Jack Kilby and two TI engineers in Dallas built it in 1967. The “Cal Tech” could add, subtract, multiply and divide. It weighed almost 3 pounds and printed on paper tape.
#2: Artificial heart implant (Houston, 1969)
Domingo Liotta designed a pump to stand in for a heart. Dr. Denton Cooley implanted it in Houston in 1969. The first total artificial heart ever put in a person. It kept the patient alive 64 hours until a donor heart came.
#1: The integrated circuit (Dallas, 1958)
A whole electronic circuit on one tiny piece of material. Jack Kilby showed the first one at TI in Dallas in 1958. Chips like it now run phones, cars and computers. A new hire with no vacation yet, he spent summer inventing.
Bonus Picks From Texas
String trimmer (Weed Eater) (Houston, 1971). Houston’s George Ballas watched car wash brushes spin. He tried a tin can laced with fishing line on an edger. It worked — the Weed Eater went on sale in 1971.
Two-cone rock drill bit (Baytown, 1909). Old oil drill bits just scraped, and hard rock stopped them. In 1909 Howard Hughes Sr. proved his bit at Goose Creek. At 19 his son — the famous Howard Hughes — took it over.
Tech From Every State
This is part of my Tech From Every State series: the top tech inventions and firsts from each of the 50 states, told with simple animations. Watch the whole series on YouTube and subscribe to The Tech Ranch so you don’t miss your state. Short on time? Here’s the quick Short version.
Did we miss something invented in Texas? Tell me in the YouTube comments — and give the video a thumbs up if you learned something.
