What is a computer?
When trying to explain the computer to my grandparents I realizing just how complicated it is Explaining what it is and why it’s so powerful, the differences between data and information and how the computer knows what to do.
First what is a computer? A computer is a general purpose device that can be programmed to carry out a 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. (Computer) One interesting fact George stibitz built the first computer to use binary circuits to perform an arithmetic operation on a kitchen table he named it the model K which is kind of comical because it was assembled on the kitchen table. (Computer)
Did you know one of the first computers ever was The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), it was developed in 1946 it took up 1,800 square feet and weighed 30 tons. (Computer)
Second let’s look at why the computer is so powerful, the internet is one reason why a computer is so powerful it brings millions of information to one page, making it easy to find things. What is the internet? People have many different views of how to use and what the internet is for some think is it a worldwide system of computers that are connected together to com...
... middle of paper ...
...ta and information you need information to make data such as a recipe is information to make something into data, therefore data is the result of information. How does a computer know what to do, computers have their own language telling it tasks to do only when someone is prompting the computer to do so, otherwise a computer can’t function correctly without a person running it.
Work cited
Computer. 6 Nov 2013. 19 Nov 2013 . contributors., Diffen. Data vs Information. n.d. 20 Nov 2013 .
ENIAC. n.d. 20 Nov 2013 .
Internet. 20 Nov 2013. 20 Nov 2013 .
"Microsorft office 2010." Introductory. microsoft office. 2013. com2.
Ever wonder how those tiny handheld smartphones and computers came into our lives? It is all thanks to John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert. They both played a major role in inventing the ENIAC, the first computer known to man. The ENIAC has had a massive effect on our lives today.
When World War II broke out in 1939 the United States was severely technologically disabled. There existed almost nothing in the way of mathematical innovations that had been integrated into military use. Therefore, the government placed great emphasis on the development of electronic technology that could be used in battle. Although it began as a simple computer that would aid the army in computing firing tables for artillery, what eventually was the result was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). Before the ENIAC it took over 20 hours for a skilled mathematician to complete a single computation for a firing situation. When the ENIAC was completed and unveiled to the public on Valentine’s Day in 1946 it could complete such a complex problem in 30 seconds. The ENIAC was used quite often by the military but never contributed any spectacular or necessary data. The main significance of the ENIAC was that it was an incredible achievement in the field of computer science and can be considered the first digital and per...
I remember the first time I sat on a computer; it was an IBM with a windows 98 installed. We didn’t have Internet connection at the time, and we mainly used our computer for work. The Internet has been around for almost half a century, it has helped us humans communicate easier, get around the world accessibly and exchange goods and services effortlessly. The Internet helped us facilitate a lot of tasks; in the past we had to do a lot of work to get something we needed. Nowadays all of what we can possibly want can be done with a click of a button. The Internet can enhance some of our cognitive abilities; understand thoroughly what we want to know, new concepts and different ways of acquiring knowledge and eventually sharpen our brains to live better.
The website for Princeton University’s Computer Science department offers a great analogy of the subject, “What energy is to physics, information is to computer science.”
Another invention that is now frequently used is the computer. The concept was made in 1822, by Charles Babbage, but it wasn’t until 1837 when he ...
There are many different beginnings to the origins of computers. Their origins could be dated back more than two thousand years ago, depending on what a person means when they ask where the first computer came from. Most primitive computers were created for the purpose of running simple programs at best. (Daves Old Computers) However, the first ‘digital’ computer was created for the purposes of binary arithmetic, otherwise known as simple math. It was also created for regenerative memory, parallel processing, and separation of memory and computing functions. Built by John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry during 1937-1942, it was dubbed the Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC).
Computer engineering started about 5,000 years ago in China when they invented the abacus. The abacus is a manual calculator in which you move beads back and forth on rods to add or subtract. Other inventors of simple computers include Blaise Pascal who came up with the arithmetic machine for his father’s work. Also Charles Babbage produced the Analytical Engine, which combined math calculations from one problem and applied it to solve other complex problems. The Analytical Engine is similar to today’s computers.
4. Software- Instructions given for the computer to follow. They are made of data in
The First Generation of Computers The first generation of computers, beginning around the end of World War 2, and continuing until around the year 1957, included computers that used vacuum tubes, drum memories, and programming in machine code. Computers at that time where mammoth machines that did not have the power our present day desktop microcomputers. In 1950, the first real-time, interactive computer was completed by a design team at MIT. The "Whirlwind Computer," as it was called, was a revamped U.S. Navy project for developing an aircraft simulator.
The computer evolution has been an amazing one. There have been astonishing achievements in the computer industry, which dates back almost 2000 years. The earliest existence of the computer dates back to the first century, but the electronic computer has only been around for over a half-century. Throughout the last 40 years computers have changed drastically. They have greatly impacted the American lifestyle. A computer can be found in nearly every business and one out of every two households (Hall, 156). Our Society relies critically on computers for almost all of their daily operations and processes. Only once in a lifetime will a new invention like the computer come about.
“In 1946, John Mauchly and J Presper Eckert developed the fastest computer at that time, the ENIAC I. It was built under the assistance of the US army, and it was used on military researches. The ENIAC I contained 17468 vacuum tubes, along with 70000 resistors, 10000 capacitors, 1500 relays, 6000 manual switches and 5 million soldered joints. It covered 1800 square feet of floor space, weighed 3 tons, consumed 160 kilowatts of electrical power.”(Bellis, Inventors of Modern Computer)
The history of the computer dates back all the way to the prehistoric times. The first step towards the development of the computer, the abacus, was developed in Babylonia in 500 B.C. and functioned as a simple counting tool. It was not until thousands of years later that the first calculator was produced. In 1623, the first mechanical calculator was invented by Wilhelm Schikard, the “Calculating Clock,” as it was often referred to as, “performed it’s operations by wheels, which worked similar to a car’s odometer” (Evolution, 1). Still, there had not yet been anything invented that could even be characterized as a computer. Finally, in 1625 the slide rule was created becoming “the first analog computer of the modern ages” (Evolution, 1). One of the biggest breakthroughs came from by Blaise Pascal in 1642, who invented a mechanical calculator whose main function was adding and subtracting numbers. Years later, Gottfried Leibnez improved Pascal’s model by allowing it to also perform such operations as multiplying, dividing, taking the square root.
The information can be expressed through words, numbers, sounds, and images. By better understanding digital technology, we improve our control over such information.
In designing a computer system, architects consider five major elements that make up the system's hardware: the arithmetic/logic unit, control unit, memory, input, and output. The arithmetic/logic unit performs arithmetic and compares numerical values. The control unit directs the operation of the computer by taking the user instructions and transforming them into electrical signals that the computer's circuitry can understand. The combination of the arithmetic/logic unit and the control unit is called the central processing unit (CPU). The memory stores instructions and data.
In the year 1977 computers went on sale for the national public. Today in the year 2004 computers with connection to the internet are an essential item to have in the household. Accountants and typists are no longer the only ones buying computers. Age does not matter. Everyone needs a computer in the household. Computers help all kinds of people. Meeting different people’s needs, therefore computers are a useful tool for all age groups. Children, teenagers, adults, and senior citizens all can use the same computer, but they all use the computer for a different purpose.