History of the Computer Industry in America
“The Computer”
It’s History and Spot in American Society
“The Computer”
It’s History and Spot in American Society
It is not very often that a new invention comes about and touches every aspect of our lives. Such a device that changes the way we work, live, and play is a special one, indeed. A machine that has done all this and more now exists in nearly every business in the U.S. and in one out of every two households. This incredible invention is the computer. The electronic computer has been around for over a half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years. However, only in the last 40 years has it changed the American society. From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor, the computer has changed nearly every aspect of people 's lives for the better. The very earliest existence of the modern day computer 's ancestor is the abacus, which dates back to almost 2000 years ago. It is simply a wooden rack holding parallel wires on which beads are strung (Williams). When these beads are moved along the wire according to programming rules that the user must memorize, all ordinary arithmetic operations can be performed (Hitmill).
The next innovation in computers took place in 1694 when Blaise Pascal invented the first digital calculating machine. It could only add numbers, which had to be entered by turning dials. It was designed to help Pascal 's father who was a tax collector. In the early 1800’s, a mathematics professor named Charles Babbage designed an automatic calculation machine. It was steam powered and could store up to 1000 50-digit numbers. Built in to the machine were operations that included everything a modern general-purpose computer would need (Williams). The machine was programed by the operator it would than store the data on cards with holes punched in them, appropriately called punch cards. For the most part, his inventions were failures because of the lack of precision in
It’s History and Spot in American Society
“The Computer”
It’s History and Spot in American Society
It is not very often that a new invention comes about and touches every aspect of our lives. Such a device that changes the way we work, live, and play is a special one, indeed. A machine that has done all this and more now exists in nearly every business in the U.S. and in one out of every two households. This incredible invention is the computer. The electronic computer has been around for over a half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years. However, only in the last 40 years has it changed the American society. From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor, the computer has changed nearly every aspect of people 's lives for the better. The very earliest existence of the modern day computer 's ancestor is the abacus, which dates back to almost 2000 years ago. It is simply a wooden rack holding parallel wires on which beads are strung (Williams). When these beads are moved along the wire according to programming rules that the user must memorize, all ordinary arithmetic operations can be performed (Hitmill).
The next innovation in computers took place in 1694 when Blaise Pascal invented the first digital calculating machine. It could only add numbers, which had to be entered by turning dials. It was designed to help Pascal 's father who was a tax collector. In the early 1800’s, a mathematics professor named Charles Babbage designed an automatic calculation machine. It was steam powered and could store up to 1000 50-digit numbers. Built in to the machine were operations that included everything a modern general-purpose computer would need (Williams). The machine was programed by the operator it would than store the data on cards with holes punched in them, appropriately called punch cards. For the most part, his inventions were failures because of the lack of precision in
Cited: Bellis, Mary. “Computer History Timeline.” History-Timelines. N.p., 2011. Web. 4 May 2012. 2Computer History Museum. “Selling the Computer Revolution.” Computer History Museum. N.p., 2012. Web. 4 May 2012. Hitmill. “History of Computers.” HitMill. N.p., 3 May 2012. Web. 4 May 2012. Onifade, Adebowale. “History of the Computer.” IEEE Global History Network. N.p., 2012. Web. 4 May 2012. Williams, Kenneth A. “History of Computing.” North Carolina A&T State University. N.p., 2011. Web. 4 May 2012.