Computer Industry Essay

The boom of Computer Industry occurred during the 20th century. In these last years of the 20th century the demand for technology was so high that it was hard to keep up with. The industry was still young but the rate growth was surprising. However, it was on the 19th century that the research for large-scale mechanical computation and the demand for information processing techniques and technology growth brought up the first ideas of computer.

The first working computer was created in 1941 by a German named Konrad Zuse. This computer was completely mechanical and was controlled by punched cards. Now, if we go back in history there is proof that even though it was not physically created, it already existed the idea of computer like this.

Charles Babbage was the first scientist ever to elaborate a programmable engine as it was the Analytical Engine. Unfortunately, Babbage’s work failed to become a reality due to the inadequacies of the contemporary engineering technology, but it did delineated the components that were of immense value to be adopted in future projects. His years of work were based on the creation of the Difference Engine and later on he became obsessed with the design and construction of the Analytic Engine, which never happened to be constructed due to different factors of that century.

In Babbage’s era important sector as engineering, astronomy, construction, finance, banking and insurance depended on printed tables for calculation. In 1821, while Babbage and his friend John Herschel were checking manually calculated tables, finding error after error, Babbage’s expression was: “I wish to God these calculations had being executed by steam” (www.computerhistory.org). The work of going through all these calcul...

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...d this happened for different reasons. Several of the reasons why Babbage was not able to finish any of his projects despite independence wealth, social position, government funding, a decade of design, development and deceptions, besides all these, was Babbage’s personality. Babbage was a prickly character, easily offended and exposed to public criticism of those he took to be his enemies, and if you add to that fitful financing, political instability, accusations of personal vendettas, delays, failing credibility and the cultural divide between pure and applied science, were all factors.

Unfortunately, there was not continuous line of development after Babbage’s death until 2002 that the first full-size Babbage Engine was built at the Science Museum in London. It works as Babbage intended and it also brings us to a closer chapter of the prehistory of computer.