Evolution of Computers Essay Example For Students

Evolution of Computers Essay How many inventions in your lifetime can you think of that have changed everything in our society today? Computers have taken over todays society. From everyday tasks to moving satellites in space, PCs have revolutionized almost everything in our society. Computers werent always this complicated though, and were around a long time before anyone even knew what the word computer meant. The Abacus was the first known machine developed to help perform mathematical equations. From what researchers have discovered it was invented around 500 to 600 BC in an area around China or Egypt. This early tool was used to perform addition and subtraction and can still be found used in some of todays Middle Eastern cultures. In 650 AD the Hindus invented a written symbol for zero. Before this no true written calculations could be made, making this one of the most essential inventions to help computers. In 830 AD the first mathematics textbook was invented by a man named Mohammed Ibn Musa Abu Djefar. The subject of this textbook he wrote was Al Gebr Wel Mukabala which in todays society is known as Algebra (History of Computers). So what does all of this have to do with computers? Well without numbers computers wouldnt exist or have any reason to exist. The whole point of a computer is to perform mathematical computations. Computers werent the first to do these mathematical calculations though. In 1623 AD Wilhelm Schickard invented The Calculating Clock which would perform operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In the year 1801 Jacquard Loom devised a punch card system with a power loom and an automatic card reader. Later that century in 1890 Herman Hollerith invented a census calculator that put each persons information on a punch card and sent it through an electrical/mechanical tabulating machine. This sped up the process from about 7 years to 2 years making this a very efficient method of performing a census, which in turn helped spread it around the world (History of Computers). Jump to the year 1937 when John V. Atanasoff invented the first electronic computer. This computer and others below, unless otherwise stated, were made using vacuum tubes, an electronic device in which conduction by electrons takes place through a vacuum within a sealed glass or metal container and which has various uses based on the controlled flow of electrons (Dictionary.com). From 1941 to 1954 the governments of various countries started developing different computers for different purposes (Sandiego 1). The year of 1941 was a very important year for computers. It marks the year the first fully functional program controlled computer was invented. This pc was developed in secret by Konrad Zuse and was called the Z3. It was the first to introduce the general architecture for todays microprocessor. In the picture below the items seem simple, but at the time this was very advanced. This was the start of the true evolution of computers. After this, from 1943 to 1954, governments and r esearch teams continued to pump out different computers. The last of the vacuum tube computers was created in 1954, and was called the SAGE aircraft warning system. This was the largest vacuum tube computer system every built (Sandiego 1). These were all first generation computers. Second generation computers utilized transistors instead of vacuum tubes and were invented from around 1954-1959. In 1950 NBS (The National Bureau of Standards) created SEAC (Standards Eastern Automatic Computer). This system used over 10,000 germanium diodes, germanium is a semiconductor that is more expensive than silicon but better suited and more efficient than silicon, and was used to solve over 50 unrelated scientific problems per day. In 1959 GE, General Electric Corporation, made an ERMA (Electronic Recording Machine Accounting) computer system for the Bank of America in California. This system introduced automation in banking, which later helped with the creation of ATMs (Sandiego 2). The era of third generation computers was from 1959-1971 and they utilized ICs (Integrated Circuits) for these computers. In 1959 Jack Kilby, of Texas instruments, patented the first IC. The first commercial IC product was a hearing aid made and produced in 1963. IBM produced SABRE in 1964 for American Airlines. Its a tracking system for ticket reservations, which helped speed up the reservation process considerably. DEC was the creator of the first mini-computer called the PDP-8. It was one of the first mini-computers made in mass production that pretty much anyone could afford at the time. In 1969 the DOD, Department of Defense, developed the precursor to the internet which was called ARPANet (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). This was an experimental WAN (Wide Area Network) that would survive a nuclear war. (Sandiego 3)Fourth generation PCs were the first to use microprocessors and were in the era of 1971 to 1987. Gilbert Hyatt patented the microprocessor in 1971. Later that year Ted Hoff, of Intel, introduced new microprocessors to use in calculators. IBM arrived with the first 8 in. floppy disk. They also started using these microprocessors in unison with LCD screens in calculators and watches. November of that year Intel introduced the first microcomputer to the public called the MCS-4. In 1972 Nolan Bushnell introduced the arcade game to the public with Computer Space. Later that year he also created and introduced Atari and the game Pong to the public which became the beginnings of todays Video Gamer. The next year in 73 IBM developed the first hard disk drive utilizing two 30MB platters. Two years later they started selling Altair personal computers. This is when Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak became influenced and developed the Apple personal computer. Also within the same year the 5.25 in. floppy disk was introduced (Sandiego 4). Prostitution Essay The other two cards have the capability of storing thousands of times of data in the magnetic strip. They are optical memory cards (OMCs) and Smart cards. Both of them are always used in the security system of computers. However, it is not enough for just using password system and card-keys to protect the memory in the computer. A computer system also need to have a restricting program to verify