subject: A Short History Session About The Computer And How It Has Progressed Through The Years [print this page] A computer is an electronic machine which has the capability to accept input, store, recall and process information to provide an output in a readable format. But in earlier times, a computer meant people performing mechanical computations under the supervision of a mathematician.
So as to understand the future, we have to look at the past. The history of computer systems can be traced back in Babylonia where the abacus was born about 200 centuries ago. The abacus is really a wooden frame holding two parallel rods wherein the beads are strung. It was used like a calculating tool by the ancient society. During the year 1642, Blaise Pascal built the initial digital computer. He created his calculator to assist his father who was a tax collector at the time. Numbers were entered using dials and it was able to produce an answer as accurately as when calculated by using mathematics. Today, the basic theory of Pascals computer is still being employed in various applications including odometers and water gauges.
In 1822, an English mathematician by the name of Charles Babbage was able to design the first programmable computer. He had a theory that arithmetic tables could be computed and programmed mechanically. He built a computing machine and called it the difference engine. Babbages difference engines were among the first in its category of mechanical computers. Although his machine was unwieldy, its construction was analogous to an up to date computer. It could follow instructions; there was a separate data and program storage, and also it had a detached input and output unit. However, Babbages machine was never really finished because of monetary problems as well as a few other issues. You'll find a recently constructed version of the difference engine at the Science Museum in London.
The evolution of punched cards provided a great leap towards computing automation. In 1890, Herman Hollerith and James Powers used these cards with computers. They had made improvements on devices that could interpret the data contained within the cards with little intervention from humans. As a result, work efficiency increased and reading mistakes were greatly reduced. Additionally, these punched cards could be utilized like a storage memory of nearly infinite range.
World War II created a requirement for greater computer power which was to be used in military applications. John Eckert and his colleagues in Pennsylvania built an increased capacity electronic computer to serve this purpose. This computer was called the Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator or ENIAC. It had been an all-purpose computer but of nonflexible construction.
Of course, Alan Turing, Gordon Welchman, Max Newman and Tommy Flowers were key individuals in the development of the computer at Bletchley Park. Colossus was created for code breaking but greatly progressed the advancement of the modern computer as we know it these days.
Computer designs in the 50s were mostly valve-driven (vacuum tube). They were far better in performance than their earlier predecessors but they were bulky and dear to produce. Transistor-driven computers were developed during the 60s which successfully replaced the valve-driven computers. These transistorized computers were faster, smaller in size plus much more importantly, less expensive.
In the 1970s, the integrated circuit became widespread and was widely used as the primary electronic component for computers. It paved the way for mass production of computers, thus making them affordable not just for business owners but for private individuals as well. This led to the birth of personal computers. Since then computer technology has developed exponentially to the point where we now have powerful computers in the palm of our hands. The smart phone, of course! But they still break down, when that happens we call on an experienced IT support service. They might not have the ability to mend Colossus though...
