Allowing for inflation, this is roughly a third of what it might have cost to build in Babbage's day in contrast to the cost of electronic-computer technology, which halves in price every 18 months.

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World War II gave us not only the digital electronic computer, but also, thanks to radar and microwave technology, modern telecommunications.

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"I call it Homebrew Health, " says one angel investor, alluding to the Homebrew Computer Club of the 1970s, the group of electronic enthusiasts, including Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, whose technology hobby led to the birth of the personal computer.

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