The origins and roots of computers started out ?s many other inventions ?nd technologies hav? in th? past. They evolved fr?m a rel?t?vel? simple idea or plan designed to h?l? perform functions easier and quicker. The f?rst basic type ?f computers wer? designed t? d? ?u?t that; compute!. They performed basic math functions such ?? multiplication and division ?nd displayed the results in ? variety of methods. Some computers displayed results ?n a binary representation ?f electronic lamps. Binary denotes u??ng ?nly on?s and zeros thus, lit lamps represented on?? and unlit lamps represented zeros. The irony ?f thi? is th?t people needed t? perform an?ther mathematical function t? translate binary t? decimal t? make ?t readable to th? user.
One of th? f?r?t computers wa? called ENIAC. It wa? ? huge, monstrous size n??rly that of ? standard railroad car. It contained electronic tubes, heavy gauge wiring, angle-iron, and knife switches ?ust t? nam? ? f?w of th? components. It h?s b???me difficult to b?li?v? that computers have evolved ?nto suitcase sized micro-computers ?f the 1990's.
Computers eventually evolved int? l?s? archaic l??k?ng devices n??r th? end ?f the 1960's. Their size h?d b?en reduced to that ?f ? small automobile and the? were processing segments ?f information at faster rates than older models. Most computers ?t th?s time wer? termed "mainframes" due t? the fact th?t man? computers w?r? linked t?gether to perform a g?ven function. The primary user of the?? types ?f computers w?re military agencies ?nd large corporations such ?s Bell, AT&T, General Electric, ?nd Boeing. Organizations su?h a? thes? had the funds to afford ?u?h technologies. However, operation of th?s? computers required extensive intelligence and manpower resources. The average person ?ould n?t hav? fathomed try?ng t? operate ?nd us? the?? million dollar processors.
The United States was attributed the title ?f pioneering the computer. It was not until th? early 1970's that nations ?uch as Japan and th? United Kingdom started utilizing technology of the?r ?wn for the development ?f th? computer. This resulted ?n newer components and smaller sized computers. The u?? and operation of computers had developed int? ? form that people of average intelligence could handle and manipulate without t? mu?h ado. When th? economies of oth?r nations started t? compete w?th the United States, the computer industry expanded at a great rate. Prices dropped dramatically and computers be?ame m?r? affordable t? the average household.
Like th? invention of the wheel, the computer ?s h?re t? stay.The operation ?nd us? of computers ?n our present era of the 1990's ha? b???m? ?? easy and simple th?t perh?ps we m?y hav? t?k?n t?o mu?h for granted. Almost ?v?ryth?ng of u?e ?n society requires som? form of training or education. Many people ??y that the predecessor t? the computer wa? the typewriter. The typewriter definitel? required training ?nd experience in order t? operate ?t at ? usable ?nd efficient level. Children are b?ing taught basic computer skills in the classroom in order to prepare them f?r th? future evolution ?f th? computer age.
The history ?f computers started ?ut ?bout 2000 years ago, ?t the birth of th? abacus, a wooden rack holding two horizontal wires with beads strung on them. When th?se beads ar? moved around, a?c?rding t? programming rules memorized by the user, ?ll regular arithmetic problems ??n b? done. Another important invention ar?und th? ??m? time wa? the Astrolabe, used for navigation.
Blaise Pascal is u?u?ll? credited for building the first digital computer ?n 1642. It added numbers entered w?th dials and wa? made t? h?lp h?s father, a tax collector. In 1671, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz invented ? computer th?t wa? built in 1694. It ??uld add, and, ?ft?r changing ?om? things around, multiply. Leibnitz invented ? special stopped gear mechanism for introducing the addend digits, and this i? st?ll b?ing used.
The prototypes made by Pascal and Leibnitz were not used ?n man? places, and considered weird until ? l?ttl? more th?n a century later, when Thomas of Colmar (A.K.A. Charles Xavier Thomas) created the fir?t successful mechanical calculator that ?ould add, subtract, multiply, and divide. A lot ?f improved desktop calculators b? m?n? inventors followed, s? that by ab?ut 1890, the range ?f improvements included: Accumulation ?f partial results, storage and automatic reentry ?f past results (A memory function), ?nd printing of th? results. Each ?f th?se required manual installation. These improvements wer? ma?nly made f?r commercial users, and not f?r th? n?ed? ?f science.
While Thomas of Colmar w?? developing the desktop calculator, ? series of very interesting developments in computers w?s started ?n Cambridge, England, b? Charles Babbage (of whi?h th? computer store "Babbages" ?s named), a mathematics professor. In 1812, Babbage realized that man? long calculations, ?spec??ll? th?se needed to make mathematical tables, w?re really a series ?f predictable actions th?t were constantly repeated. From thi? h? suspected th?t it ?hould b? po?s?bl? t? do the?e automatically. He began t? design an automatic mechanical calculating machine, whi?h he called a difference engine. By 1822, he had ? working model to demonstrate. Financial help from th? British Government w?s attained ?nd Babbage started fabrication ?f a difference engine ?n 1823. It w?s intended to b? steam powered and fully automatic, including th? printing of the resulting tables, ?nd commanded b? a fixed instruction program.
The difference engine, although hav?ng limited adaptability ?nd applicability, wa? r?all? a great advance. Babbage continued to work ?n ?t for the next 10 years, but ?n 1833 h? lost interest be?au?? he thought h? had a better idea; th? construction ?f wh?t w?uld now b? called ? general purpose, fully program-controlled, automatic mechanical digital computer. Babbage called th?s idea an Analytical Engine. The ideas of this design showed ? lot of foresight, ?lthough thi? couldn't b? appreciated unt?l ? full century later.
The plans for th?s engine required ?n identical decimal computer operating on numbers ?f 50 decimal digits (or words) and hav?ng ? storage capacity (memory) of 1,000 su?h digits. The built-in operations w?re supposed to include ever?th?ng th?t ? modern general - purpose computer w?uld need, ev?n the ?ll important Conditional Control Transfer Capability that w?uld ?llow commands t? be executed in ?ny order, n?t ?ust th? order ?n whi?h they were programmed.
As people ?an see, ?t t?ok quite ? large amount of intelligence and fortitude t? c?m? to the 1990's style ?nd use of computers. People h?v? assumed that computers are ? natural development ?n society ?nd t?k? th?m for granted. Just ?s people h?v? learned to drive an automobile, it ?lso takes skill and learning t? utilize a computer.
Computers in society h?ve becom? difficult t? understand. Exactly wh?t th?y consisted ?f ?nd wh?t actions th?? performed w?re highly dependent u??n th? type of computer. To s?y ? person had ? typical computer d???n't necessarily narrow d?wn ?ust what the capabilities of that computer was. Computer styles ?nd types covered so many d?ffer?nt functions and actions, that it was difficult t? nam? them all. The original computers ?f th? 1940's w?re easy t? define their purpose when they w?r? first invented. They primarily performed mathematical functions many times faster than any person ?ould h?v? calculated. However, the evolution of the computer had created m?ny styles and types th?t w?r? greatly dependent ?n ? w?ll defined purpose.
The computers of the 1990's roughly fell into three groups consisting ?f mainframes, networking units, and personal computers. Mainframe computers were extremely large sized modules ?nd h?d th? capabilities of processing and storing massive amounts ?f data ?n th? form ?f numbers and words. Mainframes w?r? th? f?r?t types ?f computers developed in th? 1940's. Users ?f th??? types of computers ranged from banking firms, large corporations ?nd government agencies. They usuall? w?r? very expensive in cost but designed to last ?t l?ast f?ve t? ten years. They al?? required well educated ?nd experienced manpower to b? operated ?nd maintained. Larry Wulforst, in his book Breakthrough t? the Computer Age, describes the old mainframes ?f the 1940's compared t? th??? of th? 1990's by speculating, "...the contrast t? the sound of th? sputtering motor powering th? f?r?t flights of the Wright Brothers ?t Kitty Hawk and the roar of th? mighty engines on a Cape Canaveral launching pad". End of part one.
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