The Computer Revolution If I were to make a history book of the years from 1981 to 1996, I would put computers on the cover. Computers, you may ask?, Yes computers, because if there were suddenly no computers on the world, there would be total chaos. People could not; communicate, commute, make business transactions, purchase things, or do most things in their daily routine, because power plants use computers to control the production of electricity. Computers have evolved extreme rapidly in the past fifteen years. Ten years ago, all that you could do with a computer, was primarily make mathematical calculations and type documents, but doing that required typing in a series of complex codes that took a great deal of training to learn. Then the Apple computer company took this complex computer language and evolved it to a simpler system of computer language using words that made sense in their context. This system was called BASIC. BASIC was a major development in the computer industry, because it made computers accessible to the average American. This helped greatly in proving that computers were no longer just toys and they had a very useful purpose. Most people still felt the cost was too great for a glorified typewriter. Several years after they introduction of the BASIC system, Apple introduc...
to replace the IBM machine. In the 1960s and the 1970s IBM came out quickly and built a
The history of computers initially started with humans using tools like pebbles and notches in sticks to count objects. The human aspect of computers is that they wanted a way to do calculations, which includes adding and multiplying multiple numbers. The manual calculator was one of beginning stages of computer history, even though humans were the ones who had to perform the calculations. The manual computer had the abacus, which was a frame that contains beads mounted on rods. This technology was used in Rome, Greece, India, China, and Japan.
What qualifies an invention as great? A good invention would be one that makes some aspect of life simpler. A great invention goes beyond that. It becomes ingrained into society as a part of everyday life, improves itself constantly, and leads to the rapid creation of more great inventions. I believe that since 1898, no invention fits that description more than the electronic computer. Since its creation, no device has changed so much, and so rapidly, as the computer.
programmed for use. Computers evolved over the next 75 years to become a key component in
... can't be overlooked because it affects everyone on the road. When people text and drive they can't focus on what they are doing so they are more prone to accidents. That's a problem with smart phones and normal cell phones but they still help more than they hurt.
The history of computers is an amazing story filled with interesting statistics. “The first computer was invented by a man named Konrad Zuse. He was a German construction engineer, and he used the machine mainly for mathematic calculations and repetition” (Bellis, Inventors of Modern Computer). The invention shocked the world; it inspired people to start the development of computers. Soon after,
The first electronic computer was the ENIAC, which contained 17468 vacuum tubes. These vacuum tubes were used like a semi-automatic switch to virtually represent the abacus having one bead on one side or another. It also had a surprising 70 thousand resistors (approximately.) Resistors lower the amount of electricity going along in the power current. They were used here to prevent overvoltages in certain parts of the ENIAC. The ENIAC had about 10 thousand capacitors to hold electricity in the machine for a very short time period. This computer contained near 1500 relays along with around 6000 human operated switches. Relays are used to change voltage, like with a thermostat and the air conditioner itself. The human operated switches are used for programming. Hopefully your program isn’t too long for this machine! This computer was hand-soldered and had an estimate of 5 million soldered joints! These joints connect multiple parts of t...
In 500 B.C. the abacus was first used by the Babylonians as an aid to simple arithmetic. In 1623 Wihelm Schickard (1592 - 1635) invented a "Calculating Clock". This mechanical machine could add and subtract up to 6 digit numbers, and warned of an overflow by ringing a bell. J. H. Mueller comes up with the idea of the "difference engine", in 1786. This calculator could tabulate values of a polynomial. Muellers attempt to raise funds fails and the project was forgotten. Scheutz and his son Edward produced a 3rd order difference engine with a printer in 1843 and their government agreed to fund their next project.
...the computer industry (O 'Regan), and out of this thought came specialized computers, such as home and personal computers. The change in design from computers before to these more dedicated purpose machines helped the spread of computers into all facets of life, from gaming and photography to banking and analysis.
Computer technology has had a great effect on society as a whole throughout history. It has modified our behavior greatly as we have become accustomed to the technological advancements of yesterday. We are so dependent sometimes we do not even have a concept of what life would be like without computers. When we are forced to live life without computers we are left hopeless and disillusioned and simple everyday tasks become major chores. Computers of the past were very primitive compared to the computers of today but extremely useful. One of the very first computers of major importance was the abacus that was developed by Chinese and later made more portable by the Greeks The Abacus was used for more than 2000 years and made life easier for many. It was used as a calculator, as today, to simplify computations of small or large figures. This gave many people increased free time while maintaining the current economic status within their society. Another important device of this time was the astrolabe. The astrolabe was used for the navigation of ships and allowed sailors to draw maps based on astrological calculation. This helped many sailors and explorers find many new and uncharted lands, which eventually led to the European colonization of North America. During the 1600's there was a surge of inventors conjuring up many new ideas. In 1642, Blaise Pascal was accredited for inventing the first digital calculating machine which could only add. This invention was not for himself, but for his father, who worked hard as a tax collector. The first digital calculator started a whole new line of calculating devices that could not only add but divide, multiply, and subtract. This task was not accomplished until 1820 by Charles Xavier Thomas. The introduction of punch cards, in the late 1800's, automated data entry resulting in many jobs lost that would have been available to the average worker. Punch cards were first used in the 1890 census. This not only reduced the amount of workers but also the amount of human error that could have occurred in previous census. The use of punch cards did not end there. Punch cards were greatly improved by IBM, that successfully provided mechanical automation of data entry. This was done by using spinning wheels to process 50 to 250 cards per a minute. This again sadly eliminated many jobs but continued the development of the computing industry.
The History of Computing The Computer Man’s Greatest Achievment Computers are indeed approaching the status of the core operator of every electronic device or utility in the world today. Their “logic” and process can produce results millions of times faster than that of the human brain. They are at the helm of everything from an old walkman to the systems that keep the Earth’s continents in constant communication. They’ll likely soon be the basis of communications between other civilizations in outer space.
...othing like what are computers are today, it still started the ball rolling for the invention of many practical and useful computers today.
The history of the computer dates back all the way to the prehistoric times. The first step towards the development of the computer, the abacus, was developed in Babylonia in 500 B.C. and functioned as a simple counting tool. It was not until thousands of years later that the first calculator was produced. In 1623, the first mechanical calculator was invented by Wilhelm Schikard, the “Calculating Clock,” as it was often referred to as, “performed it’s operations by wheels, which worked similar to a car’s odometer” (Evolution, 1). Still, there had not yet been anything invented that could even be characterized as a computer. Finally, in 1625 the slide rule was created becoming “the first analog computer of the modern ages” (Evolution, 1). One of the biggest breakthroughs came from by Blaise Pascal in 1642, who invented a mechanical calculator whose main function was adding and subtracting numbers. Years later, Gottfried Leibnez improved Pascal’s model by allowing it to also perform such operations as multiplying, dividing, taking the square root.
the actions of the analytical engine were to be done through the use of punched
design. For this very reason, the uses of computers are now too many to ever