Homework. History of computers~

An Illustrated History of Computers
Part 1

___________________________________


John Kopplin © 2002


The first computers were people! That is, electronic computers (and the earlier mechanical computers) were given this name because they performed the work that had previously been assigned to people. "Computer" was originally a job title: it was used to describe those human beings (predominantly women) whose job it was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute such things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs. Imagine you had a job where hour after hour, day after day, you were to do nothing but compute multiplications. Boredom would quickly set in, leading to carelessness, leading to mistakes. And even on your best days you wouldn't be producing answers very fast. Therefore, inventors have been searching for hundreds of years for a way to mechanize (that is, find a mechanism that can perform) this task.


This picture shows what were known as "counting tables" [photo courtesy IBM]


A typical computer operation back when computers were people.

The abacus was an early aid for mathematical computations. Its only value is that it aids the memory of the human performing the calculation. A skilled abacus operator can work on addition and subtraction problems at the speed of a person equipped with a hand calculator (multiplication and division are slower). The abacus is often wrongly attributed to China. In fact, the oldest surviving abacus was used in 300 B.C. by the Babylonians. The abacus is still in use today, principally in the far east. A modern abacus consists of rings that slide over rods, but the older one pictured below dates from the time when pebbles were used for counting (the word "calculus" comes from the Latin word for pebble).


A very old abacus


A more modern abacus. Note how the abacus is really just a representation of the human fingers: the 5 lower rings on each rod represent the 5 fingers and the 2 upper rings represent the 2 hands.

In 1617 an eccentric (some say mad) Scotsman named John Napier invented logarithms, which are a technology that allows multiplication to be performed via addition. The magic ingredient is the logarithm of each operand, which was originally obtained from a printed table. But Napier also invented an alternative to tables, where the logarithm values were carved on ivory sticks which are now called Napier's Bones.


An original set of Napier's Bones [photo courtesy IBM]


A more modern set of Napier's Bones

Napier's invention led directly to the slide rule, first built in England in 1632 and still in use in the 1960's by the NASA engineers of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs which landed men on the moon.


A slide rule

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) made drawings of gear-driven calculating machines but apparently never built any.


A Leonardo da Vinci drawing showing gears arranged for computing

The first gear-driven calculating machine to actually be built was probably the calculating clock, so named by its inventor, the German professor Wilhelm Schickard in 1623. This device got little publicity because Schickard died soon afterward in the bubonic plague.


Schickard's Calculating Clock

In 1642 Blaise Pascal, at age 19, invented the Pascaline as an aid for his father who was a tax collector. Pascal built 50 of this gear-driven one-function calculator (it could only add) but couldn't sell many because of their exorbitant cost and because they really weren't that accurate (at that time it was not possible to fabricate gears with the required precision). Up until the present age when car dashboards went digital, the odometer portion of a car's speedometer used the very same mechanism as the Pascaline to increment the next wheel after each full revolution of the prior wheel. Pascal was a child prodigy. At the age of 12, he was discovered doing his version of Euclid's thirty-second proposition on the kitchen floor. Pascal went on to invent probability theory, the hydraulic press, and the syringe. Shown below is an 8 digit version of the Pascaline, and two views of a 6 digit version:


Pascal's Pascaline [photo © 2002 IEEE]


A 6 digit model for those who couldn't afford the 8 digit model


A Pascaline opened up so you can observe the gears and cylinders which rotated to display the numerical result

Homework.

kinds of computer

A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions.
There are a lot of terms can be found over the internet related to computer. All type of computer have processor, Memory, keyboard, mouse and screen to display output. But their is a significant difference how people or organizations use computes for their usage. We can divide all type of computers to 10 categories.
Personal Computer (PC) : A personal computer (PC) is a computer whose original sales price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals, and intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator. People generally relate this term with Microsoft’s Windows Operating system. Personal computers generally run on Windows, Mac or some version of Linux operating system.


Desktop: Desktop computer is just another version of Personal Computer intended for regular use from a single use. A computer that can be fit on a desk can also be called as desktop. Desktop computers comes in different form vertical tower cases to small form factor. For more information please visit desktop at Lenovo.com
Laptop: Laptop computer , Laptop or Notebook all are same. Laptop’s are generally small mobile computers run on a single main battery or from an external power supply that will served as to run the laptop as well as charge the battery. Laptop contains all the components of computer but all these are optimized for mobile users.
Personal Digital Assistants(PDAs): A personal digital assistant (PDA) is a handheld computer, also known as small or palmtop computers. Newer PDAs also have both color screens and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones (smartphones), web browsers, or portable media players. Many PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi, or Wireless Wide-Area Networks (WWANs). Many PDAs employ touch screen technology.
Workstation: A computer that has a more power resources like Processing Power, Memory and additional capabilities to perform special task refers to as workstation. Workstations are often optimized for displaying and manipulating complex data such as 3D mechanical design, engineering simulation results such as for computational fluid dynamics, animation and rendering of images, and mathematical plots.


Server: A server computer is a computer dedicated to running a server application. A server application is a computer program that accepts connections in order to service requests by sending back responses. Examples of server applications include web servers, e-mail servers, database servers, and file servers.
Mainframe: In early days of computing Mainframes are big computers that can fill the entire room or entire floor. Mainframes are mainly used by large organizations for critical applications, such as consumer statistics, ERP, and financial transaction processing.
Minicomputer: Minicomputers are lie between the Mainframe computer and small Personal Computers. Minicomputers also refereed to Mid-Range Servers. Minicomputers are more powerful but still compatible version of a personal computer.


Supercomputer: A computer which, among existing general-purpose computers at any given time, is superlative, often in several senses: highest computation rate, largest memory, or highest cost. Predominantly, the term refers to the fastest “number crunchers,” that is, machines designed to perform numerical calculations at the highest speed that the latest electronic device technology and the state of the art of computer architecture allow.
Wearable : Wearable computers are computers that are worn on the body. They have been applied to areas such as behavioral modeling, health monitoring systems, information technologies and media development. Government organizations, military, and health professionals have all incorporated wearable computers into their daily operations. Wearable computers are especially useful for applications that require computational support while the user’s hands, voice, eyes or attention are actively engaged with the physical environment.

Updatee.

Ganda ng araw kooooooooooooooooooooooo! :D
1st. Pagpasok na pagpasok ko, Pinansin niya ako. Nakapagkwentuhan. Nililink ako sa iba -.- :))
2. GOODVIBES!
3. Nagkwentuhan kami nung uwian..
4.Dun sa national book store, nakita ko siya. pati kuya niya. Omg :D Hampogee kamo. :"D
5. DALWA lang assignment! :D

B.V rin, kasi..
Di ako nakinig sa Algeb kanina! :| Haha. Dun pa naman may assignment..
Tapos la pa rin siyang text.
Well, thats all.
July 7, 2011
July 16, 2011
July 25, 2011 ♥ :)

Update!

Naka-Juwe na galing Vigan! Haha. May balikbayan kasi tita ko korea at states at canada :D
Hirap makipag KOREANO makipag ENGLISHAN wew xDD Well, Enjoy naman. kasi katext ko si ano. =))
kaso nga lang natatakot ako sa mga reply niya. idk if naboboring siya katext ako :D ganun tlga boring ako katext. wala akong Kusa! XD tapos si MAMA pa na-stuck kami sa SCTEX dahil nawala niya yung CARD para makaenter sa tarlac. hayuufffff :) Daming Pulis nakapaligid samin! pero ok lang katext ko naman siyaa. HA-HA-HA. Gagawa na ako ng prelim mamaya! yey. Di kasi nakapagOnline kagabi. nasa byahe pa kami ngaun ~ wee. :"D

T.I.R.E.D

Grabe! Parang Intrams kanina. CHESS, VOLLEYBALL, BADMINTON.. Kakapagod! Pero masaya. Pero ngaun gabi BV! May Prelim sa COM.ED! =)) Whooooooooo. Hahaha.

IntrotoEnvironmentalScanningP...

More PowerPoint presentations from Gerichelle Abiera

BV NA GV NA BV NA GV!

Haha! Yeaah. Watta dayy! xD Pinapagawa kami ng PPT ni sir esporas! Di ko alam gagawin ko o.O di ako marunong gumawa :| :| :| Haaay. Wish me luck nalangg. :-D Gagawa pko nung business card, HAHA. NATALO KO SI SHANE SA CHESS! Although na tinulungan ako ni francis sa huli, atleast nung nsa CLIMAX ng LABANAN Walang turuaan! \m/ DUDE! Its my first time to defeat shane! waa. im so proud of myselff. :)) haha. K byee! :D

WATTA DAY!!

Ah, SO B.V :| Sakit ng Ulo ko! Grabee. La pumapasok sa isip ko hbang nagaaral kanina. Baka magkachickenpox nrn ako! shocks. and di pa kami nagpapansinan knina. haysus -.-
eto pa, di pa rin namin tapos ung bulletin board! di na namin alam gagawin namin, nako namn. haha, bye review na~

Kakapagod.

TIRED. dami pa di nasasagutan sa ICT. Prelim na bukas sa PHEM.! Wish me luck. :) Hehe. Nytt ♥ Review pa ~

Assinment #6?

INTELLIGENCE.:
Musical: Because I love playing piano, GUITAR, Base, Beatbox, Flute, Violin (a bit) and composing songs when im inspired.
BODILY KINESTHETIC: Because I like playing Badminton, Volleyball, Table tennis :D

July 7 ♥ ♥ ♥

Heey! Long time no blogg! Wee. BEST DAY EVER! Kilig vibes attacks mee. :"} Tapos nanuod pa ng ANG GURO ~ Nahug ko si Mam wela! :"> Favorite teacher! =D, Tapos grabe. Haha, basta un na un. xD Bye.