The extremely shortened history of the computer
And …
How they have changed over time
Have you ever needed to lookup information? I know a lot of people would go directly to a computer for the fast and easy way of doing research. Did you ever think of how computers have changed over time? We certainly didn’t wake up one morning and invent the laptop, or did we?
The very first computer didn’t happen that way; many of the very first computers could fill a whole room. Though the first computer, made in 1936 by Konrad Zuse, only had enough hard drive space to store 64 words, it was still a mile stone in computing history. (On a side note, programs couldn’t be downloaded by this computer; they had to be read off large punch cards (shown), and couldn’t be saved, every time the cards instructions had to be reread.)
And …
How they have changed over time
Have you ever needed to lookup information? I know a lot of people would go directly to a computer for the fast and easy way of doing research. Did you ever think of how computers have changed over time? We certainly didn’t wake up one morning and invent the laptop, or did we?
The very first computer didn’t happen that way; many of the very first computers could fill a whole room. Though the first computer, made in 1936 by Konrad Zuse, only had enough hard drive space to store 64 words, it was still a mile stone in computing history. (On a side note, programs couldn’t be downloaded by this computer; they had to be read off large punch cards (shown), and couldn’t be saved, every time the cards instructions had to be reread.)After many ‘punch card’ computers a break through was made in
1981.
1981.This computer was on of the first to be called a PC (personal computer) and mildly looked like the modern computers; with a relatively small monitor (the screen) and a detached keyboard placed close-by. This computer had an operating system called ‘Microsoft basic’ and it’ data storage device was a cassette tape (floppy disk drives were optional).
That same year an operating system that was popular up to the year 1995 was released (some say it is even widely used today). It was called the DOS (disk operating system) and it is the core of all ‘windows’ operating systems (it is even in the most recent addition, ‘Vista’). The DOS program was completely words; white words on a black background, with no images (or GUI, the graphic user interface).In the following years the DOS evolved into windows and ‘Apple’ released the ‘Lisa’ and the ‘Macintosh’ (or Mac., as it’s usually called) in the 1983s and ‘84s.
In 1985, the ‘war’ between ‘windows’ and ‘apple’ starts and recently a set of humorous commercials for ‘Macintosh’ were released and aired on many TV channels. The ads point out ‘vista’s ‘obvious’ flaws, and frankly I agree, with having first hand experience.
(And on a side note the first computer game was made in 1961, and yes, you guessed it, the game was based on aliens and spaceships. It was called ‘Space Wars’)
I think that computers have changed so much, and are so different that they can hardly be called just computers. I guess it’s just another example of how humans (and their technology) have changed over time.
I think that the creation of the computer and its progress has done wonders to help human lives, to analyze, find information, contact people and much more.
Question…
Do you think the development and continuation of computers and computer programs have helped people? Why?
4 comments:
I think it has helped people because we have lots of communication and faster internet now. Now we can send messages and emails to each other in the blink of an eye. Also the internet comes up so fast that you barley need to wait for anything to come up. It has definatly improved our lives
Yes the developement of computers and computer programs has helped people because it helps people interact and connect. People can relax and unwind infront of the computer and play games or entertain themselves in other ways. You can work at home infront of your very own computer and learn about tons of different things. Without computers, I wounldn't be typing this post right now! Computers have been very influencal in the world of technology.
yes i think that the continuation
and the development of computers
have helped us because every kind of new computer has new features and is faster allowing you to get more work done. For instence the new mac computer is obvisly more eficient than the first computer invented in 1936.
yes they have helped people because if they hadnt improved then u wouldnt be able to email people or go on the internet with people
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