History of Computers

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History of Computers

Introduction

The paper covers the history of computer with an overview and description of analog computers, first programmable computers, and future developments in the computer systems, as well as the chronology of computers.

The value of personal computers in modern life cannot be underestimated. The computer has evolved from the computing machine, and for this reason, the history of computers starts with the introduction of computing machines. Blaise Pascal was the first to submit a calculating machine to reliable witnesses; he is credited with the invention of the calculator, the Pascaline in 1642. This is the first machine that can perform all four arithmetic operations without using human intelligence (but multiplication and division are performed by repetition).

History of Computers

It is hard to imagine the life of modern man without a computer. We use them everywhere; at the airport, at a manufacturing plant, hospital, or school. Less than half a century, the computer has done in its development and improvement in such a rapid way, which cannot be compared with any other human invention including nuclear energy and space technology. Now the computer has become an integral part of our daily lives and it is quite natural desire of people to know the history of this "miracle" and the names of its creators, have at least a general, superficial understanding of its structure, functions and applications (Georges, 2001). The history of computers is the story of expert technical solutions, utopian fantasies and commercial audacity.

Charles Babbage called "The Father of the Computer" invented two machines; the machine differential in 1822 and the Analytical Engine in 1833. The Analytical Engine was able to solve any equation and for carrying out the most complicated mathematical analysis (Kidwell and Williams, 1992). In 1885, the calculators are embellished with keyboards that facilitate data entry. Subsequently, the electricity can be motorized and mechanical calculators to replace certain mechanisms (such as cranks) by the electromechanical were brought in existence.

Analog computers

Before the Second World War, analog computers were, either mechanical or electrical, considered the latest technology and many thought they would be the future of computing. These analog computers were used for physical quantities such as voltage, current or speed of rotation of the axes to represent numbers (Levy, 1994). Thus, they had to be manually reprogrammed for each new problem. Their advantage over early digital computers was their ability to handle more complex problems with some form of parallelism.

With the introduction to stochastic computing, the physical was replaced by a probability; the time seemed to be the future of analog computer (Turing, 1983). They were indeed cheap, easy to mass produce, and fast (especially for multiplication). But digital computers, even easier to program, replaced the analog computers.

The First Programmable Computers

In 1938, Konrad Zuse started construction of the first series-Z, electromechanical calculators featuring memory and limited programming. Zuse was supported by Wehrmacht who use these systems for guided missiles. The Z-series were the precursors of many technological advances such as binary arithmetic and floating point ...