History of Computers
Hi everyone welcome back to my blog and this time we'll be learning about the history of computers.
So I hope you all are at home safe and sound. And before starting, as I told you in other posts {and will be telling you in future} to WEAR A MASK, WASH OR SANITIZE YOUR HANDS and MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCING.
!!Stay Home, Stay Safe!!
I cant wait to give you some information about the history of computers so lets get started.
What Is A Computer?
A computer is simply a machine that follows a set of instructions in order to execute sequences of logical or arithmetic functions. However, when we think of modern computers, we don’t see them as just calculators performing functions. Yet, that’s exactly what they are at their core.
Every time you make a purchase on Amazon or post a picture on Instagram, your computer is executing instructions and processing a massive amount of binary. However, when we consider the definition of a computer, we realize that the history of computers goes far back.
When Was The First Computer Invented?
The history of computers goes back thousands of years with the first one being the abacus. In fact, the earliest abacus, referred to as the Sumerian abacus, dates back to roughly 2700 B.C. from the Mesopotamia region. However, Charles Babbage, the English mathematician and inventor is known as the “Father of Computers.” He created a steam-powered computer known as the Analytical Engine in 1837 which kickstarted computer history.
Digital Vs. Analog Computers
The very first computer, the abacus, is a digital computer because it deals in digits. Today’s computers are also digital because they compute everything using binary: 0’s and 1’s. However, most of the computers between the time of the abacus and modern transistor-based computers were in fact analog computers.
Analog computers, rather than calculating single digits, deal with more complex mathematics and functions. Rather than 1’s and 0’s, analog computers are more often represented by continuously varying quantities. The earliest analog computer, the Antikythera mechanism, is over 2000 years old. These ancient computers paved the way for modern transistor-based computers.
Brief History of Computers
The history of computers goes back as far as 2500 B.C. with the abacus. However, the modern history of computers begins with the Analytical Engine, a steam-powered computer designed in 1837 by English mathematician and “Father of Computers,” Charles Babbage. Yet, the invention of the transistor in 1947, the integrated circuit in 1958, and the microprocessor in 1971 are what made computers much smaller and faster.
In fact, the first personal computer was invented in 1971, the same year as the microprocessor. Then, the first laptop, the Osborne-1 was created a decade later in 1981. Apple and IBM joined the personal computer industry shortly thereafter, popularizing the home PC. Then, when the world wide web came online in 1989, which would eventually serve to connect nearly the whole world.
The 1990s was a booming decade for computer history. IBM produced the first smartphone in 1992 and the first smartwatch was released in 1998. Also, the first-ever quantum computer in history was up and functioning in 1998, if only for a few nanoseconds.
First Automatic Computer
1941: Konrad Zuse, a German Computer Scientist, invented the Z3 computer. Zuse’s Z3 was the first programmable fully automatic computer in history. It was much larger than the Complex number calculator and contained more than 2,500 relays. Since the Z3 computer didn’t demonstrate any advantage to the Germans during world war II, the government didn’t provide any funding for it and it was eventually destroyed in the war.
First Electric Digital Computer
1942: Professor John Vincent Atanasoff invented the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC). The ABC was the first automatic electric digital computer in history. It contained over 300 vacuum tubes and solved linear equations but it was not programmable or Turing complete. However, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer will forever hold a place in Computer history.
First Laptop Computer
1981: The first laptop in the history of computers, the Osborne 1, was released by the Osborne Computer Corporation. It had an incredibly small 5-inch display screen, a bulky fold-out keyboard, 64 KB of main memory, and weighed 24 pounds. Not surprising, the Osborne 1 was actually very popular, selling more than 125,000 units in 1982 alone. The going rate for an Osborne 1 was $1,795.
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