The History of
the Computer
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An Abacus, otherwise known as a counting frame, was used in ancient times in many parts of the
world. This calculating tool has been developed and improved in areas such as Asia and Rome.
The Abacus was a useful instrument because it was an efficient way in the past for performing
arithmetic processes. The most popular technique of constructing an abacus today is a bamboo
frame with beads sliding on wires. This hand made calculator was in use centuries before the
written modern numeral system and was adopted by merchants and traders. Anyone who uses
the abacus was known as an Abacist .They slide the beads of the Abacus by hand. This primeval
tool was the first step for the idea of a computer.
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He formed the idea that he could
create a machine that would
automatically provide more accurate
tables. Unfortunately, Babbage died
before completing his various
projects due to an illness.
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BaBBage’s Machines
In 1822, Babbage invented the
difference engine, an automatic
machine that calculated numbers.
However, his invention would be a
costly project and he solicited to the
British government in 1823. Great
Britain was the first country to
finance the advancement of technology
of computers. Charles soon ran into
many problems, such as not having the
proper tools to build precise parts of
the difference engine. As a result, he
constructed his own advanced tools,
crediting himself on having an impact
on the Tool Manufacturing Industry.
Unfortunately, he never finished his
project due to money.
In 1832, Babbage began a new
engine, the Analytical engine. It
was similar to a modern day
computer because it included a
mill, related to a modern CPU, and
the store, which was the memory
vault. Punch cards were the
instructions that were inserted
into the machine. Both engines are
classified as mechanical
computers because they contained
metal gears and shafts.
Ada Augusta
Ada Augusta was a strong opinionated woman
who publicized Charles Babbage’s analytical
engine. Ada was most known as Countess of
Lovelace and daughter of the wealthy Lord
Bryan Rosh. Ada Augusta discovered Babbage
at a public dinner party, where his engines were
on display. On seeing the machine, she was
fully impressed and interested. As a result, she
wrote and published an article supporting the
analytical engine. When Babbage died, her
sketches of his machine earned her the title of
the World’s first programmer.
Census Count
13,000
17,854
11,442
In the late 1800’s, the U.S Census Bureau encountered a census problem. A
usual census count was taken every ten years, but it changed when America was
becoming the world’s greatest Industrial power. As a result, the United States
population was increasing 35% each decade, which made a census count
impossible for humans to manage. Seven years had passed between 18801887 and the census was still incomplete, but one great man changed this
difficult dilemma.
Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith was the inventor of a machine that solved the census problem. When the census was
still unfinished, the government had staged a contest to find a quicker, more efficient way to count the
growing population.
Herman Hollerith invented a incredible machine that recorded the population through efficient punch cards. He
named it, “The Hollerith” and it was 10 times faster than the other 2 competing systems. The device even finished
counting the census within 6 weeks. The Bureau leased 56 of his machines at $1000 each. Herman Hollerith was not
only a good business man, but an important step to computers.
s
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“The Hollorith”
After the success of “The Hollerith” Herman Hollerith
formed his own company called, "The Tabulation Machine
Company”. He tried to expand his business and
experimented by leasing his machines to the railroads.
Hollerith’s main target was the New York Central Railroad
Company, but the machines were removed because they
were not fast enough to meet the railroad’s demands. After
3 unsuccessful months, “The Hollerith” was removed. Since
his first machine did not satisfy the railroads, he used his
own funds to start a brand new machine. This time, the
same railroad accepted his new and improved machine. The
enhanced, “Hollerith” was a complete success, but soon
after, Herman Hollerith was diagnosed with a bad heart. He
sold his company to Thomas Watson Jr., who renamed it
IBM, the International Business Machine.
WORLD WAR II
The ENIAC was considered to be the
first machine similar to modern day
computers. The specific meaning of
ENIAC is the "Electronic Numerical
Integrator And Computer.” The
ENIAC was originally developed by
John Mauchly, a physicist, and later
completed by Prespert Eckert.
THE ENIAC
Their construction on the ENIAC began in secret at
the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of
Electrical Engineering and was supported in funds
by the United States Army during World War II. The
machine was built because there was a shortage of
firing tables, which were not being produced fast
enough by "human” computers. This great computer
is 100 feet long, weighs 30 tons, has 18,000 vacuum
tubes and 70,000 resistors.
Problems with the ENIAC
Although the ENIAC was considered to be an amazing piece of machinery, the
computer still had its problems. The many vacuum tubes on the ENIAC
constantly burnt out, similar to a light bulb burning out, which damaged its
reliability. Even though this set back was minor, it crippled the ENIAC because
it contained a fair amount of vacuum tubes.
However, Eckert solved this problem by producing vacuum tubes that were built to
higher tolerance and could run under lower power. The ENIAC was finally completed
after World War II, but was never used for practical reasons because its memory was
somewhat primitive. But even with all of these difficulties, the ENIAC proved
computers could be built.
John Van Neumann was a Manhattan
Project Scientist and was widely
regarded as one of the best
Mathematicians. Originally, Neumann
wrote a paper on a computer’s
Internal Memory. His paper became
well-known and therefore he was
credited for developing this specific
part. However, two new people have
entered the picture. These past
inventers, Mockely and Eckhert,
argued that they were the first people
to discover Internal Memory.
Unfortunately, the public ignored
them and Neumann officially became
the founder.
Now! John Von Neumann discovered a
new secret! He invented the computer’s
internal memory! But fame does not last. Two
new people have entered the picture. Mockley and Eckert
are arguing that they discovered this
technology.
Presidential Elections of 1952
The United States presidential
election of 1952 took place during
the Cold War era. The two
candidates were the headstrong
Dwight Eisenhower and Adlav
Stevenson. This particular election
was a big part of the Univac’s
popularity. It was the first time that
an election’s results were being
predicted by a computer. In the end,
the Univac correctly calculated the
votes, which made this election the
cause of a computer-using
revelation. The 1952 election was
won by noble Dwight Eisenhower,
who was President from 1953-1961.
The Univac was a universal business computer invented by Mauchly
and Eckert. The computer was built for the US census bureau, but
since the project was very costly, it had to be bailed out financially.
As a solution, Eckert and Mauchly joined with Remington Rand,
which was a typewriter manufacture, and the Univac was soon
delivered to the census bureau.
This incredible machine was used to predict the 1952
presidential elections . Originally, Univac predicted that
Eisenhower, one of the people elected, would win by a
landslide. But since the polls said otherwise, the Univac was
reprogrammed. As it turned out, the computer was correct and
CBS admitted that they were wrong about the computer.
The Univac’s power proved useful and the business machine
manufactures finally jumped on the “computer” wagon.
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Thomas Watson Sr. transformed the
“Tabulation Machine Company” into his
own corporation called IBM, which was
the largest manufacturer of electronic
typewriters and data-processing
equipment, But even though he was
successful, T. Watson Sr. was not eager to
jump into the computer manufacturing
because it was too costly.
Thomas Watson Jr., however, led
IBM(International Business Machines) into the
“computer age”. He ordered the development of
a computer in 1953 called, “The 701”. It was
IBM’s first fully electronic computer, but it still
relied on punch cards. Although business were
fed up with the bulky punch cards, it was still
considered a high technology computer.
The Space Race was a competition of space exploration between the
countries of Russia and the United States. The fight for space was from
1957 to 1975. But in 1961, Russia was winning by sending the 1st man into
outer space. America needed to beat the goal that the Soviet Union
established. As a result, the U.S installed an advanced computer into a
space ship. This allowed America to send the 1st man on the moon and to
win the space race. This great man was William Armstrong.
TRANSISTORS
Although transistors were a tiny part of a computer’s
system, they played a huge part to a computer’s
function. In 1947, three men, William Shockley, John
Bardeen and Walter Brattain, were an important part in
the history of transistors. They became a part of BELL
LABS, which was a company that produced transistors
that could replaced vacuum tubes. Transistors had at
least three terminals for a connection to an external
circuit, which led to the miniaturization of computers.
Their discovery eventually won the Nobel Prize.
Integrated Circuits
The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970’s. A microprocessor
incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit,
also known as a CPU, on a single IC. Ted Hoff was an Intel Engineer who
developed the first Microprocessor.
Later on, these devices were changed into more affordable parts,
such as 8-bit and 16-bit microprocessors. This led to the first
general purpose of microcomputers in the mid 1970’s. Most
importantly, microprocessors makes today PC possible.
However, Xerox Parc, a company who
developed many elements of modern
computing was interested in these new
functions. A man named Robert Taylor
wanted to use a P.C that had the same
components that Englebart invented.
History of
Inc.
Apple was and still is a huge leading
manufacture of technology and computers.
Apple was established on April 1,1976 by two
prominent men in computer history, Steve Jobs
and Steve Wozniak. It began with Wozniak’s
hand built Apple I personal computer. The
computer was first shown in public at the
Homebrew Computer Club, which was the
reason of it’s newfound reputation. Eventually,
many more computers were born, such as the
Apple 2, Apple Lisa and the Macintosh. These
personal computers built up the popularity of
Apple, making it an American multinational
corporation.
Throughout the history of Apple Inc., various of famous and
modern computers were invented and sold. Steve Wozniak
was the brains and engineering side of the business and he
created Apple’s very first computer, the Apple I. This early
version of a personal computer was sold as a motherboard,
complete with a CPU and RAM. It went on sale in July 1976
for $666.66.
The Computers
of Apple
Later on, Mike Markola saw the Apple II prototype, which went on
display on August 16, 1977 at the first West Coast Computer
Faire. It differed from its competing brands, such as the TRS-80
and Commodore PET, because it contained color graphics and
open architecture. Apple II was eventually succeeded by Apple III
in May 1980 as the company competed with IBM and Microsoft
The Lisa
Soon after Apple II, Steve Jobs began
working on Apple Lisa in 1978 but was
pushed from the project in 1982 due to
infighting. Jobs took over Jef Raskin’s
low-cost computer project called the
Macintosh. A war soon broke out
between the two competing teams on
which computer would ship first and
save the company.
VS.
The Macintosh
Lisa won the race in 1983 as the first
personal computer sold to the public
with a GUI. Unfortunately, Mac moved
on and became powerful due to its
advance graphic capabilities. With the
sales from Apple II and the
introduction of the Macintosh, Apple
reached new goals and high sales.
History of
Windows
Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 and is currently the chairman of
Microsoft. He is most known as the richest man in the world, but how did he
gain is wealth in the first place? It began after the launch of the Altair 8800,
when he arranged a meeting with the creators of the new microcomputer, the
MITS. Gates wanted to demonstrate the BASIC programming language for the
system and MITS agreed to distribute the Altair BASIC.
Soon after this agreement, Gates left Harvard University,
moved to New Mexico where MITS was located, and founded
Microsoft there. Gates later became CEO when Steve Ballmer
joined. A year after Microsoft created Microsoft Windows, the
company had an Initial Public Offering in 1986. The stock
closed at $27.75 per share, making Microsoft’s two founders,
Gates with 45% of the company and Allen with 25%, instant
millionaires