History of Computers

What  is  a  Computer ?   

• Literally,  the  term  computer  means  equipment  that  can  compute .   
• The  computer  is  a  combination of electronic  devices used  to  process  data .   
• In  the  computer  all  types  lf  data  is  converted  to  numbers . The  computer  can  only  work  with  numnb ers ,  not  letters ,  sounds or  pictures . All  forms  of  data  are  converted  to  numbers  for  processing .    
• Computer  can  receive,  analyze,  store  information  and  produce reports .   
• Computers are  useful for  accurate  and  fast  processing  of  accounts .    

History of Computers :   

• On  about  500 BC 'Abacus' was invented in China  which was the  earliest calculator . It was used for addintion & subtraction .   
• On the  17th century a French scientist named Jacquard , invented an which could be used as calculator . 
• On the 18th century a Frecnch scientist named Jacquard, invented an automated loom that could receive designs from punched cards . ]
• At a certain step of perpetual research , came Charles Babbage with unique ideas . He is often called the  father orf  modern  computers . He  invernted 'Differntial Engine' on 1812 .  
• He performed fas calculations with this cachine . On 1833 he  planned to make a 'Analytical Engine'. This research did not go far due to hindrance of promised fund byu the  Royal Society od England .    
• Later Lady Ada Augusta invented a numb er of  techniques, which utilized the  concept of the  Analytical Engine . She was the  daughter of the  English poet Lord Byron and a close friend of Babbage . She invented the techniques required to solve mathematical problems, step by step . This is why she is considered as the  first computer programmer in the  world .  
• On 1944 , A cachine called 'Markone' was built under the  supervision professor Howard Eken of Harvard University of USA. The machine was 51 feet wide, 8 feet high.  If had 5000 miles of electric cable and combination 7.5 lakh electronic parts . Though a dinosaur among today's neat compact computers , this was the  first computer of the  first computer-age (1944-50) . 
• The ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Intergrator and Calculator ) was built in the  Universityh of Pennsylvania on 1946 ; it consisted almost eighteen thousand valves .  It was made for the  Ministry of Defense . In 1948 transistors were intgroduced, which ultimately replaced the  valves . Transistors are mininture electronic switches that functions the  same as the  electronic valves and then some . 1958 saw the  introduction of Integrated Circuits, popularly known as IC,  which made the  huge availability of computers today possible .   
• Then  came  Gordon Moore  on  1971  with  his  revolutionary invertion of microprocessors .
• After the  microprocessors , the  progress was fast . IBM  of  USA  intgroduced Microcomputers,  which  is  now  popularly knopwn  as PC or  Personal  Computer .   
• The  speed  of data  processing  depends on how powerful the  processor is .  Currently processors with speed above 2.0 GHZ is available in the  market .  
• The  latest magic in the  computer world today is the  Internet; virtually the whole  world can be reached through this little box with an Internet connection . 
• We conclude, on the  note that the  computer has become an inseparable part of the  modern civilization .