A Brief History Of Computers

A Brief History Of Computers 
By Logan Rokwild, Mon Jan 2nd 

The word 'computer' originally implied a person, who, underinstructions from a mathematician, performed mechanicalcalculations. Mechanical calculating devices such as the abacuswere often put to use to aid this process. 

At the end of the Middle Ages, mathematics and engineering inEurope received a considerable boost, thus leading to theinvention of numerous mechanical calculating devices. Thetechnology for clockwork was developed by the early 17thcentury. The period between the early 19th century and early20th century saw the development of a number of technologieswhich would be vital for the development of the digital computerlater on. Some examples are the punched card and the valve.Charles Babbage was the first person to design a fully programmablecomputer as early as 1837. However, he was unable toactually construct his computer due to a variety of reasons.

Analog computers were increasingly used in the first half of the20th century for a number of scientific computing needs.However, they became obsolete after the development of thedigital computer.

The first digital computer was the Atanasoff Berry Computer . Itused a binary system of arithmetic, parallel processing, aseparation of memory and computing functions and regenerativememory. Binary math and electronic circuits - both of which areused in today's computers - were first used in the AtanasoffBerry Computer.

In the 1930's and 1940's, newer and more efficient computerswere continuously developed. Gradually, they came to possess thekey features which are present in modern day computers - digitalelectronics and flexibility of programming.

Among the more important machines to be developed during thistime, the American ENIAC was prominent. It was a general purposemachine, but had an inflexible architecture. Later a farsuperior technique known as the stored program architecture wasdeveloped. It is the foundation from which all moderncomputers are derived. 

Throughout the 1950's, computer design was primarily valvedriven. This was later replaced by transistor-driven design inthe 1960's. Transistor-based computers were smaller, faster andcheaper, and hence commercially viable. Integrated circuittechnology, adopted in the 1970's enabled computer productioncosts to hit a new low, so that even individuals could affordthem. That was the birth of the personal computer, as it isknown today. 

About the author:Logan writes about various topics. This article is free tore-print as long as all hyper links remain intacked and therel="nofollow" tag isnt added to any links. Thank-You

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