Computers
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Computer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Computer (disambiguation).
"Computer system" redirects here. For other uses, see Computer system (disambiguation).
"Computer technology" redirects here. For the company, see Computer Technology Limited.
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A computer is a general purpose device that can be programmed to carry out a finite set of arithmetic or logical operations. Since a sequence of operations can be readily changed, the computer can solve more than one kind of problem.
Conventionally, a computer consists of at least one processing element, typically a central processing unit (CPU) and some form of memory. The processing element carries out arithmetic and logic operations, and a sequencing and control unit that can change the order of operations based on stored information. Peripheral devices allow information to be retrieved from an external source, and the result of operations saved and retrieved.
The first electronic digital computers were developed between 1940 and 1945 in the United Kingdom and United States. Originally they were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs).[1] In this era mechanical analog computers were used for military applications.
Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space.[2] Simple computers are small enough to fit into mobile devices, and mobile computers can be powered by smallbatteries. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". However, the embedded computers found in many devices from mp3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are the most numerous. Contents [hide] * 1 History of computing * 1.1 Limited-function early computers * 1.2
Computer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Computer (disambiguation).
"Computer system" redirects here. For other uses, see Computer system (disambiguation).
"Computer technology" redirects here. For the company, see Computer Technology Limited.
Computer |
|
A computer is a general purpose device that can be programmed to carry out a finite set of arithmetic or logical operations. Since a sequence of operations can be readily changed, the computer can solve more than one kind of problem.
Conventionally, a computer consists of at least one processing element, typically a central processing unit (CPU) and some form of memory. The processing element carries out arithmetic and logic operations, and a sequencing and control unit that can change the order of operations based on stored information. Peripheral devices allow information to be retrieved from an external source, and the result of operations saved and retrieved.
The first electronic digital computers were developed between 1940 and 1945 in the United Kingdom and United States. Originally they were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs).[1] In this era mechanical analog computers were used for military applications.
Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space.[2] Simple computers are small enough to fit into mobile devices, and mobile computers can be powered by smallbatteries. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". However, the embedded computers found in many devices from mp3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are the most numerous. Contents [hide] * 1 History of computing * 1.1 Limited-function early computers * 1.2
References: The Most Famous Image in the Early History of Computing[18] This portrait of Jacquard was woven in silk on a Jacquard loom and required 24,000 punched cards to create (1839) The Zuse Z3, 1941, considered the world 's first working programmable, fully automatic computing machine. * The secret British Colossus computers (1943),[29] which had limited programmability but demonstrated that a device using thousands of tubes could be reasonably reliable and electronically reprogrammable. It was used for breaking German wartime codes. * The Harvard Mark I (1944), a large-scale electromechanical computer with limited programmability.[30] * The U.S