History of computing: "Computer" has been around since the middle ages
The term Computer derives from the Latin word "computare", meaning "charge" or" means to count.
- "Computo" is translated as "I calculate".
- In the middle ages, Computer was a job title. These people made calculations, such as they carried out complicated calculations for astronomers.
- Later, there were calculating machines, the first of which were already in the middle of the 17th century. Century by Wilhelm Schickard and Blaise Pascal developed independently of each other. The people who operated these machines were called "computers"now.
- Today is a Computer that is generally a machine which processed with the help of a programs data.
Computer history: emergence and development of the PC (image: Pixabay)
The emergence of the PC: Many ideas, little implementation
- After the first calculating machines of the 17th century. Century were always thought up new ideas for such machines, the Problem was mostly the technical implementation of the theoretical templates.
- The first programmable "Analytical engine" designed by Charles Babbage in 1837. With the four basic arithmetic operations could be carried out. As the first programmer can, therefore, apply to Ada Lovelace. The associate of Babbage had written the language of the machine.
- Has not been built, the machine should be operated with steam, however, due to the lack of non-financial and technical resources - today, we know that you would have to work.
- Only at the end of the 19th century. Century were built of simple computing machines in great style and came mainly in the United States in offices.
- The mass processing of data then took place for the first time, with the use of punch card machines until the 1950s.
From the room to the Computer to the Computer for each room
The Computer, as we understand it today, was then during the 2. World war invented.
- First, electro-mechanical, later electronic data processing systems were the forerunners of the PCs of today.
- The large-scale computing systems, we owe thanks to many outstanding engineers, including the German Konrad Zuse, according to a computing machine was named. As a Zuse Z3 work, you can also read. Other plants had names like "Mark" or "ENIAC".
- The monstrous plant had not only to be maintained constantly, and you had even a fraction of the computing power of today's small PCs. In addition, globally, there were just a handful of these computing systems.
- In the mid-1950 years, finally, a lot of space demanding Relay and replace the tubes with smaller Transistors, and thus to make the devices smaller.
- To surprised at the beginning of the 1970s, the company Intel that it had succeeded, the whole series of these Transistors on a small piece of silicon to accommodate. That was the birth of the microprocessor , and a milestone in the history of computing.
Development of the PC: the Computer to be small (image: Pixabay)
Rapid development of the PC
After the development of the chip step, the reduction of the Computer quickly.
- In 1975, Ed Roberts introduced the Altair 8800 for $ 397 the first home computer kit in the shops. The Computer had neither a keyboard nor a mouse. A Monitor could not be connected, and Software, or application programs, there were also. Nevertheless, the Altair 8800 was a legend.
- It is legendary Altair-Clubs were formed and in one of these Clubs, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak met for the first time, the founder of the company Apple.
- What was missing from the time computers, was Software. This Bill Gates delivered his in a Garage based company Microsoft. The operating systems MS-DOS and Windows made him a billionaire.
- Today, there is nothing to be running almost without a Computer. Also in their private everyday lives the Computer has become indispensable.
Computers are getting smaller and more powerful. Every Smartphone can do so much more than the first PC. Reason enough for us to ask, since when is it phones out there. The development in the course of time, we will show in our next practice tip.
