History of Computers

Computers are what run society today, everywhere we look we see devices that are run off of computers and microcomputers such as phones, computers, tablets, and even vehicles. It is now the way the world communicates with each other, because of computers it is a much smaller world in which we live. Computers have been around for such a short period of time, yet they seem to be advancing faster than anything else; this is because there is an infinite number of ways computers can be implemented to help individuals. Thirty years after the first computer was developed, computers had already been altered to read and save information on magnetic tapes that ran through the computer. The picture below was taken at East Carolina University (ECU) in the mid 1970’s of a man changing tapes in a tape computer (Computer Data Tapes). 40 years after this picture was taken, this form of computers is almost unrecognizable by society today, due to dramatic advancements in computer technology.

Currently, computers are used for everything in life. For example, from researching for a large essay project to playing video games with friends. “From the outset, computers were weighed for both military and commercial significance, and hence they straddled the very institutional boundaries that central to this study. It is also significant that computers became valuable research instruments in nearly all disciplines.” (Akera, 2). The first digital computer was constructed in 1946 by John Mauchly, a professor, and Presper Eckert, an inventor. “They met by chance in 1941 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Engineering. They soon developed a revolutionary vision: to use electricity as a means of computing--in other words, to make electricity "think."” (McCartney, 1). They were ignored by their colleagues, but in 1943 they were becoming more well known and was funded by the U.S Army. The U.S Army was seeking for a contraption that can quickly calculate ballistic missile trajectories in wartime Europe and Africa (McCartney, 1). John Mauchly and Presper Eckert led a team that constructed the computer that occupied 1,800 square feet and weighed thirty tons. They named the large computer, ENIAC, Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer. The process of building this machine was not an effortless task, Mauchly and Presper and their team had to overcome many problems

There have been many advances since the initial invention of the computer fifty years ago. Today, computers operate many of the things that we use in everyday life. Some examples of these things are farm machinery, cars, planes, video games, heat and water delivery to our homes, banking, billing, and even the stock market. The advances of the computer have resulted in the

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries Science & Technology have grown-up a radical contribution to industry, and the personal computer has become a defining symbol of our age. In 1940, it was not recognized that Science & Technology would develop into an innovative way that would intensely affect business, trade, the monetary world, administration, discipline, education, communications, entertainment, and society as a whole. Today, information technology and its applications persist to go forward progressively. Computers and communication technology will become even more precious to civilization as they are ever more able to distinguish

The 1940’s was the beginning of an era of computers ruling us. It all started with Konrad Zuse a German engineer creates and finishes the computer called Z3 built in 1941 it was built using 2,300 relays, and used a floating point binary arithmetic, and had a 22 bit word length. Although the original was destroyed in a bombing run in Berlin in late 1943. He supervised a reconstruction of his invention in the 60's which is on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich. In February of 1946 the ENIAC was released and the public was able to view it, built by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert they improved it by 1,000 times since the first computers were released. Started in 1943 it took 3 years to complete and it used a plugboard and switch program, and the speed was about 5,000 operations per second. It took up 1,000 square feet, or the size of a small house! In 1944 the Harvard Mark-1 was completed. Thought by the Harvard professor Howard Aiken, and built by IBM, the dimensions of this beast was room sized, relay-based calculator. Also it had a

In the past 100 years, the world has completely turned around. The technological and computer revolutions have completely changed the way the world works. Henry Ford revolutionized factorial production through the creation of the assembly line. It increased efficiency and a basic standard of conformity among products, therefore making the company a lot more successful. The rest of the industry creating a nation-wide revolution based on efficiency adopted this new innovation. Following the innovation of the assembly line, a new era of development came into existence. In the 1970’s, computers were first introduced. Although they were as large as a room and could only play tic tac toe, they were the start of the

An innovative era of technological advancements and radical new concepts swept the nation by storm. The revolution was steered by a collaboration of boundless minds and problem solvers. Through a series of trial and error, computers were transformed from small sprockets and motors to machines that could unravel most of society’s problems. In 1946, Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, two military commissioned American inventors, constructed one of the world’s first computers using vacuums and enormous air conditioners. The two men started an industry in machine processing speed and power. Eckert and Mauchly’s invention defined all new aspects of the future. By the 1950s computers were a public attraction; they were being used for military purposes, business management, and the advancement of networking.

Ockham, Surrey County, England, the Summer of 1843. Lady Ada Lovelace frantically prepares her “Notes” to Sir Charles Babbage. This 19,136 words document will hold the first description of the term “computer” a century before this idea will come to fruition.

Once the Allies triumphantly claimed victory 1945, advancements in computers dwindled. It was only in 1958, thirteen years later, that the computing

Modern life is virtually dependent on computers and these points to the huge impacts computers have on modern life. Computers are used in many different areas such as in business, design, medicine, military amongst other a multifunctional roles. One of the greatest leaps in development of human beings has been because of the widespread usage of computers. In fact, the computer is the single greatest piece of technology in the 20th century and as such, they have been associated with certain social impacts. Modern life has borne the brunt of the benefits and negative impacts the usage of computers have impacted the world. The social impacts have been magnanimous across a variety of aspects such as; health, communication, social

People have been in awe of computers since they were first invented. At first scientist said that computers would only be for government usage only. "Then when the scientists saw the potential computers had, scientist then predicted that by 1990 computers may one day invade the home of just about ever citizen in the world" ("History" Internet), the scientists were slightly wrong, because by 1990 computers were just beginning to catch on. Then a few years later when scientists when to major corporations to get help with a special project, the corporations said no, because computers would just be a fad and they wouldn 't make much money off of it. "By definition Abacus is the first computer (the proper definition

Computers would have remained really big machines if it wasn’t the invention 1947 called the “Transistor”. Electrical conductive properties of crystals were used by Scientists at Bell Laboratories to put the function of a vacuum tube into a device. In 1955 the first transistor based

Talk to a middle-aged American about what has changed most in our society in the decades since they were children and they are more than likely than not to talk about the ways in which computers have revolutionized the world in every arena from work to how we play poker. While this seems to be undeniably true, it also true that it provides a dramatic simplification: There was no such thing as a unified computer revolution. Each jump in computer technology sends ripple effects through the industry (and society) as a whole so that the changes brought about by computers do not have the qualities of a single event that instantaneously shifted the world of computing from the state it was in as Tracy Kidder discusses it in The Soul of a New Machine in her ethnography of an industry.

The first ever computer was invented in the 1820s by Charlse Babbage. However the first electronic digital computer were developed between 1940 and 1945 in the United States and in the United Kingdom. They were gigantic, originally the size of a large room, and also need to be supply a large amount of power source which is equivalent as several hundred modern personal computers. The history of computer hardware covers the developments from simple devices to aid calculation, to mechanical calculators, punched card data processing and on to modern stored program computers. The tools or mechanical tool used to help in calculation are called calculators while the machine operator that help in calculations is called computer. At first the

Computers have been in use for thousands of years. The concept began with the abacus which was one of the first arithmetic inventions. Solving mathematic equations became easier and were mainly used when counting money. Digital computers did not become available until sometime during World War II. After this invention, the computer continued to steadily advance. More complicated programing was constantly being utilized in the computer and smaller versions became readily available. However, not everything on a computer was used for good. With the invention of the internet, hackers started to appear. Many things were created due to the invention of the computer, most notably being companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple.