Integral Part Of The Computers example essay topic

In a sense computers have been around for centuries. The abacus, a counting machine, was invented by the Chinese sometime between 500 and 400 BC. The numeral zero was first recognized and written by Hindu's in 650 AD, without which written calculations would be impossible. In 1623 the great grandfather of the processor was born, the calculating clock. Wilhelm Schick ard of Germany invented this adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing machine based on the principle of algorithms. For the next three hundred years or so various machines were invented which could perform calculations but none were any vast improvement over Shickard's clock, perhaps with the exception of Babbage's punch card machine in 1832 (it was never finished).

1910 marked one of the most important times in the history of the computer with the invention of the first electrical automatic computing machine, the Z 1, designed by Konrad Zuse in Germany. Finally after three hundred years there was an advance worth writing home about, but the German government had no time for such things as WWI began to rage through Europe, so sadly Zuse's machine was also never completed. Nevertheless the idea had caught on, and the true father of digital computing, Alan Turing, developed the Colossus, a machine which could decipher code. Alan went on to write essays on the subject of artificial intelligence and began a revolution the likes of which would change the world.

Turing's works are still referred to by computer scientists today. Finally in 1945 the first computer as we know it today was completed, ENIAC as it was called could perform calculations in hours which would take a human years to finish. ENIAC had plenty of drawbacks though, first and foremost its size, and secondly the 18,000 tubes it took to run it. ENIAC and UNIV AC, which came shortly after, were indisputably the greatest advances in technology of all time, but they were still useless to the mass majority due to size, cost and time of construction.

The invention of the transistor in 1947 solved this problem for the most part, allowing computers to become smaller and more reliable. But alas due to the cost only the largest of private companies and governments could use the machines. By 1964 this had changed, International Business Machines or IBM as we know them today introduced the system 360 mainframe, a solid state semi portable computer which could handle many types of data and allowed many conventional businesses to enter the computer age. Still, all of this meant nothing to the consumer except perhaps a new excuse for foul ups at work, "the computer messed up!" As with all things, things change and in 1972 that change began at Intel corporation labs where the first microprocessor was born, the 8008 microchip. Interestingly enough Intel found no use for the 8008, it wasn't cost affective according to company officials, and they were selling millions of dollars worth of mainframe computers daily, so why make them smaller?

So for 2 years the small piece of metal that was destined to transform the world sat in an Intel basement guarded by dust. In 1974 Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, Inc. (MITS) bought a shipment of the 8008 chips and built a kit for computer hobbyists to build their own computers called the Altair. The demand for these kits was astounding although it had no monitor, no keyboard, and no way to store data. While the Altair was being designed, Bill Gates and Paul Allen wrote a language that could be used to communicate with the Altair. They appropriately dubbed their new programming language "BASIC" and then proceeded to start a small company named Microsoft.

Two other visionaries in the industry were busy creating their own version of the microcomputer which they hoped would find its way onto peoples desks at work and at home. Steve jobs and Stephen Wozniak sold their most prized possessions to create the Apple computer which became the worlds first true PC that could be used by all. Both the Altair and the Apple used the new microprocessor technology that Intel had pioneered and ignored. These processors were an integral part of the computers that would revolutionize our society and find their way into devices we take for granted today. Today PC's and microprocessors influence many parts of our everyday life, take for example your car, your stereo, your microwave, even your cell phones. Almost 60% of homes now employ a desktop computer as an indispensable tool used for many parts of daily life.

Where would communications be without computers, we would have no Internet, no satellite television, no email, and no instant long distance connections. As I mentioned before microprocessors are an integral part of today's automobiles, they control fuel usage, emission control, and idle speed among other things. Even small household appliances such as digital radios now use simple microprocessors to control them. Where would our military be without computers to direct fire, track the enemy, and produce satellite images? There is truly nothing that has affected our lives in last fifty years more than the microcomputer.