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An essay on the history of computers
An essay on the history of computers
First experience in a computer
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Personal Narrative My First Computer
Wow, what an experience it was to see for the first time a machine that could think!
This machine could do math, display graphics at the drop of a dime, and play two dimensional games (whic was all that was around back then). This wasn't something that you normally saw. This was something that seemed to come straight out of a science fiction film. At least that was what I thought.
So my quest was clear to me. I was to learn how to manipulate a computer. So to start, all the computer nerds (such as myself) know that to run an old 286 (which was what I had) you need to know DOS. This is the toughest way to start. DOS is made up solely of typed command. Not like these point and click commands that we use in current times. At this point the mouse was just coming into to production, and was not very well-known. This is the time that I began to experiment with DOS. I started to teach myself how to do things such as run a program by typing it's name and hitting enter (DOS's simplest command). I also learned how to view the contents the contents of a hard drives directory by typing "dir" then pressing enter; this list of things that I learned to do with DOS goes on and on.
Then my dad brought me home a new computer. Man, I was excited! I waited outside for what seemed like hours for him to come home with it. It was a 486 with a 33 MHz processor, double speed CD-ROM drive, and 2400-baud modem. I was finally going to learn this new
Summers 1
program called windows.. When I first put it all together I was in awe. This thing dwarfs my old computer, I thought. But this day was bitter-sweet. My sister, thinking that you had to push the CD-ROM tray for it to close, broke it's tray (I nearly killed her). After this my next goal was to install a new CD-ROM. We sent the old one in (since it was still under warrantee) and had a new one sent out. I did go on and install my first piece of hardware; it was a thing of beauty. Now I was on my way. I was finally learning how to install components on a computer.
deep need to probe the mysterious space between human thoughts and what is a machine can
I was very interested in computers and technology as a child, both playing games and building fake parts for them. Still in elementary school, I was fascinated by these computing machines, spending hours on end working with DOS to satisfy my curiosity. Around my middle school years, Windows became graphical, and I found interest in even more computer games with even greater experiences and capabilities. Windows was the dominant operating system at the time, but I was soon to find there was a whole different world out there of operating systems. While out on vacation in Washington, DC, my Dad and I were able to meet with the local Tech Fanatics group, HackDC. It was here where I discovered Linux. Linux, an alternative to Windows, immediately grabbed my attention when I saw it in use. It appeared to me as something that only the extreme computer users even heard of. Upon my return home,
Skillings, Jonathan. Newsmaker: Getting machines to think like us. 3 July 2006. 18 March 2014. .
I remember that Big Mac, the first one that wasn’t for free. I paid for that one and it was the first time I tasted expense, tasted real value. It’s an experience that can’t be taught, or described enough, just perceived in first person. I embrace the life changing step, being the first time I stepped into the world of consumerism by myself. Employment and its reward of income changed my life: allowing me to finally comprehend the work behind a dollar, the importance of saving, and the significance of a job.
New advancements make it possible to not only program computers to do what people tell them to, but to think for themselves.
mystery Australian friend. A few years later, we got a computer at my moms house. I don’t
The traditional notion that seeks to compare human minds, with all its intricacies and biochemical functions, to that of artificially programmed digital computers, is self-defeating and it should be discredited in dialogs regarding the theory of artificial intelligence. This traditional notion is akin to comparing, in crude terms, cars and aeroplanes or ice cream and cream cheese. Human mental states are caused by various behaviours of elements in the brain, and these behaviours in are adjudged by the biochemical composition of our brains, which are responsible for our thoughts and functions. When we discuss mental states of systems it is important to distinguish between human brains and that of any natural or artificial organisms which is said to have central processing systems (i.e. brains of chimpanzees, microchips etc.). Although various similarities may exist between those systems in terms of functions and behaviourism, the intrinsic intentionality within those systems differ extensively. Although it may not be possible to prove that whether or not mental states exist at all in systems other than our own, in this paper I will strive to present arguments that a machine that computes and responds to inputs does indeed have a state of mind, but one that does not necessarily result in a form of mentality. This paper will discuss how the states and intentionality of digital computers are different from the states of human brains and yet they are indeed states of a mind resulting from various functions in their central processing systems.
My first encounter with computers (as far as I can remember) was when my next door neighbors got their very first Apple. I can remember going over to their house and begging to play on their computer. All I wanted to play with was the paint-brush program because I thought it was the neatest thing to be able to move something with your hand and have a picture created for you on the screen according to what your hand did. It was very cool!
It is fascinating that non-living things can think reason, plan, solve problems, and perceive, just like humans can. Robots and systems became sentient beings that were self-aware, going against their defining trait (that robots and machines lack emotion).
The First Generation of Computers The first generation of computers, beginning around the end of World War 2, and continuing until around the year 1957, included computers that used vacuum tubes, drum memories, and programming in machine code. Computers at that time where mammoth machines that did not have the power our present day desktop microcomputers. In 1950, the first real-time, interactive computer was completed by a design team at MIT. The "Whirlwind Computer," as it was called, was a revamped U.S. Navy project for developing an aircraft simulator.
learning how to use the computer. But I liked to have my own computer so I
Thousands of years ago calculations were done using people’s fingers and pebbles that were found just lying around. Technology has transformed so much that today the most complicated computations are done within seconds. Human dependency on computers is increasing everyday. Just think how hard it would be to live a week without a computer. We owe the advancements of computers and other such electronic devices to the intelligence of men of the past.
My first real experience with computers, as we know them today, was while I was in the Navy. Once we learned to use commands called "Dos", we could make the computer do unbelievable things. I became obsessed with learning as much as I could abo...
My passion for computers started in high school, when my father bought a home pc. Then I got the opportunity to explore my practical knowledge with a young and an enthusiastic teacher. At first I started learning about the hardware...
...othing like what are computers are today, it still started the ball rolling for the invention of many practical and useful computers today.