The Computer has been changed, and changed throughout history, but it has still done what everyone wanted it to do. This is what people say to be the best invention ever produced. The history of computers starts about 2000 years ago, at the beginning of time. It used a wooden rack holding two horizontal wires with beads strung on them.
When these beads are moved around they are used to figure out simple mathematics. "Blaise Pascal is usually credited for the building the first digital computer in 1642." ( Short History of the Computer 2). He built this to make it easier for his father to be a tax collector.
It added numbers together for simple math so that he wouldn't have to spend quite as much time as doing it by hand. In 1812, Chambridge, England was making vast developments in the computer age"(The History of Invention 302). He realized that many long calculations, especially those needed to make mathematical tables. He began to design an automatic mechanical calculating machine, which he called a difference engine.
The design was intended to be a steam powered, and fully automatic, including the printing of the resulting tables, and commanded by a fixed instruction program. The main purpose for the computer was to show that people could do things that normally would take longer. They can now do the things fast, and more affordable in the long run. This saved much time for tax returns, and adding your monthly bills, or other projects that need help in adding. Page 2 Now with the invention put into use in the world it made everyone life a lot easier. In the beginning they could only do mostly simple mathematics, but as time has evolved you can now type up reports, or play games on them, even talk, and your computer will type for you.
When they first invented computes I doubt they thought of all these possibilities could be possible. "The first digital computer was introduced in 1642" (History of the Computer 2). At first people didn't know what to do with it, they where not used to the technology. Once they started to understand, and compute all of the knowledge it is one of the simplest machines you could ever use. It practically does everything you want for you.
If we never invented the computer; does anyone know what we would be like? Well for one I wouldn't be typing this report, and business would be much more confusing they are possibly now. In the invention of the computer the people that truly benefited where the companies that sold them. "IBM sold everyone of the computers made"(IBM History 1). Now of days, it is run by Apple, IBM, DELL, and Compaq to name a few. If you look on the outside of the computer invention the people made out like bandits. The people feel like this is the best thing that happened to them.
They can take what would normally take around a half and hour to an hour, and do it in about 5-10 minutes. If you look at it in one way you can see the businesses made out, but if you take from where the people are they made out because they get the technology. Page 3 In the very beginning the computer was not very good. "It took a lot of concentration, and even more patients to put it together" (Computer, Thinking, and Social Studies 11).
With decades, and decades going by they have had chances to do many things with the computer. "Between 1850, and 1900 great advances were made in mathematical physics"(Short History of the Computer 3). In 1945 John Von Neumann invented the Modern Stored Program or what we call a processor. This processor could do 1,000 operations per second. In the 1950's the world of computer expanded leaps, and bounds.
Discovery of the magnetic core memory, and the Transistor were made. With the discovery of both of these items the computer RAM increased from 8,000 to 64,000 words availability. The computer could now access words in times of 2 to 3 milliseconds. The downfall to this discovery in the 50's is that the computers were way too expensive for the average family. After the 1950's came the wonderful 60's.
With the 60's came many of improvements to the computer. Businesses now could use the computer for Accounting, Payroll, Inventory control, Ordering Supplies, and Billing. Added to the computer where printers, and graphing devices. Now what ever you did on the computer could be easily printed out as many times as you like.
Along with printing businesses where booming. There were no more needs for many employees, because the computer could do a better job than a human, and didn't need to be paid. What a way to save the company some money. Page 4 Many companies, such as Apple Computer, and Radio Shack, introduced very successful PC's in the 70's, most of which was because of the video game fad.
In the 80's some problems occurred in the crowded PC world. Apple, and IBM where going at it in the race for top PC seller, and Intel, and Motorola Corporations where in competition for the semi-conductor chips. By the late 1980's PC's where being run on microprocessors that could process about 4,000,000 instructions per second. In our society if we didn't have any computers, then we would have to do everything the long way. As much as we are wieners about other easier things, we would be really hard pressed to be without computers.
We are very fortunate to have computers, we wouldn't have any fun without them. With companies they have evolved into multi-billion corporations, just selling computers to other businesses, and individuals. Think of a life with no computers. You would have to write out everything you wrote, you would have to talk to everyone on the phone, and not over the internet, you wouldn't be able to play games (except on the video games). Businesses would have to keep all of their records, and files by hand, and would take a lot of man work to take care of it. Works Cited Page Http://www.
ibm.com/IBM/history/timeline.nsf/events1/ Http:www.softlord.com/comp/ Northup, Terry. Computers, Thinking, and Social Studies.
Libraries Unlimited, 1989. William I Trevor. The history of the Invention From Stone Axes to Silicon Chips. Yugoslavia, MacDonald, and Co., 1987.
