Resident Scholar
Modern Technology
Computers
The first computer was the size of a
room and only had 22 bits (8 bits to
a byte) of storage. Now we have
gigabytes (1,000,000,000) and
terabytes (1,000,000,000,000), and
computers can fit on your lap. You
can do everything from playing
games, to watching movies, and
emailing your friends. Your
computer is your encyclopedia and
info center too.
Laptop
At first , laptops were slower than desktop
computers. Now some laptop processing speeds
surpass some desktop computers. Laptops are now
1/2-1 inches thick. This makes them capable of
easy transport.
Desktop
Desktops have the advantage over laptops that the
spare parts and extensions tend to be standardized,
resulting in lower prices. Desktops have several
standardized expansion slots too. Another
advantage of desktops is that power consumption
is not as important in a desktop because a desktop
is not powered by a rechargeable battery.
TV
Almost all American households have a TV. We
use them to entertain children, get some laughs,
and follow our favorite sports teams. Black and
white 6-inch screens have become 72-inch HD
DLP plasma screens with TiVo DVR.
Video Games
One form of modern entertainment is video games.
What used to be a white, pixelated ball bouncing
across the screen is now a gun-toting soldier
fighting aliens
X-Box 360
Xbox 360 is the second and
latest video game console to be
produced by Microsoft. The
Xbox 360 is the successor to the
Xbox, and competes with
Sony's PlayStation 3 and
Nintendo's Wii as part of the
seventh generation (game
systems produced from 2004) of
video game consoles.
Wii
The Wii is the fifth home video
game console released by
Nintendo. A feature of the
console is its wireless
controller, the Wii Remote,
which can be used as a
handheld pointing device and
can detect acceleration and
angle in three directions.
Cell phones
Phones used to only be available in
people's households, but now most
people have them in their pockets.
People can take pictures, listen to
music, and go on the Internet
wherever you are. Cell phones have
revolutionized the way we
communicate and will certainly
continue to do so.
Space Travel
Space travel used to be a basketball sized probe
crammed with electronics hurled into space with a
rocket booster. Now privately funded, manned
spacecraft are taking off.
Cars
Before there were chunky pollutant-spewing cars
going barely over walking speed. Now there are
sleek little cars going 100 MPH. And there is also
a system called sync that uses voice recognition to
control music and BlueTooth systems.
Credits
http://irb.cs.tu-berlin.de/~zuse/Konrad_Zuse/en/
Rechner_Z3.html=z3 picture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/laptop=laptop pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/desktop=desktop pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/plasma screen=TV picture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pong=pong picture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/xbox360=xbox360 pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ii=wii pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/iphone=iphone pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/spaceship1=spaceship1
pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cars=cars pictures