History of Computers

This chapter is a brief summary of the history of Computers. It is supplemented by the

two PBS documentaries video tapes "Inventing the Future" And "The Paperback
Computer". The chapter highlights some of the advances to look for in the
documentaries.

In particular, when viewing the movies you should look for two things:

The progression in hardware representation of a bit of data:

1. Vacuum Tubes (1950s) - one bit on the size of a thumb;
2. Transistors (1950s and 1960s) - one bit on the size of a fingernail;
3. Integrated Circuits (1960s and 70s) - thousands of bits on the size of a
hand
4. Silicon computer chips (1970s and on) - millions of bits on the size of a
finger nail.

The progression of the ease of use of computers:

1. Almost impossible to use except by very patient geniuses (1950s);
2. Programmable by highly trained people only (1960s and 1970s);
3. Useable by just about anyone (1980s and on).

to see how computers got smaller, cheaper, and easier to use.

First Computers

The first substantial computer was the giant ENIAC machine by John W. Mauchly
and J. Presper Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania. ENIAC (Electrical Numerical
Integrator and Calculator) used a word of 10 decimal digits instead of binary ones like
previous automated calculators/computers. ENIAC was also the first machine to use
more than 2,000 vacuum tubes, using nearly 18,000 vacuum tubes. Storage of all
those vacuum tubes and the machinery required to keep the cool took up over 167
square meters (1800 square feet) of floor space. Nonetheless, it had punched-card
input and output and arithmetically had 1 multiplier, 1 divider-square rooter, and 20
adders employing decimal "ring counters," which served as adders and also as quick-
access (0.0002 seconds) read-write register storage.

The executable instructions composing a program were embodied in the separate units
of ENIAC, which were plugged together to form a route through the machine for the
flow of computations. These connections had to be redone for each different problem,
together with presetting function tables and switches. This "wire-your-own"
instruction technique was inconvenient, and only with some license could ENIAC be
considered programmable; it was, however, efficient in handling the particular
programs for which it had been designed. ENIAC is generally acknowledged to be the
first successful high-speed electronic digital computer (EDC) and was productively
used from 1946 to 1955. A controversy developed in 1971, however, over the
patentability of ENIAC's basic digital concepts, the claim being made that another
U.S. physicist, John V. Atanasoff, had already used the same ideas in a simpler
vacuum-tube device he built in the 1930s while at Iowa State College. In 1973, the
court found in favor of the company using Atanasoff claim and Atanasoff received the
acclaim he rightly deserved.

Progression of Hardware

In the 1950's two devices would be invented that would improve the computer field
and set in motion the beginning of the computer revolution. The first of these two
devices was the transistor. Invented in 1947 by William Shockley, John Bardeen, and
Walter Brattain of Bell Labs, the transistor was fated to oust the days of vacuum tubes
in computers, radios, and other electronics.

The vacuum tube, used up to this time in almost all the computers and calculating
machines, had been invented by American physicist Lee De Forest in 1906. The
vacuum tube, which is about the size of a human thumb, worked by using large
amounts of electricity to heat a filament inside the tube until it was cherry red. One
result of heating this filament up was the release of electrons into the tube, which
could be controlled by other elements within the tube. De Forest's original device was
a triode, which could control the flow of electrons to a positively charged plate inside
the tube. A zero could then be represented by the absence of an electron current to the
plate; the presence of a small but detectable current to the plate represented a one.

Vacuum tubes were highly inefficient, required a great deal of space, and needed to be
replaced often. Computers of the 1940s and 50s had 18,000 tubes in them and housing
all these tubes and cooling the rooms from the heat produced by 18,000 tubes was not
cheap. The transistor promised to solve all of these problems and it did so.
Transistors, however, had their problems too. The main problem was that transistors,
like other electronic components, needed to be soldered together. As a result, the more
complex the circuits became, the more complicated and numerous the connections
between the individual transistors and the likelihood of faulty wiring increased.

In 1958, this problem too was solved by Jack St. Clair Kilby of Texas Instruments. He
manufactured the first integrated circuit or chip. A chip is really a collection of tiny
transistors which are connected together when the transistor is manufactured. Thus,
the need for soldering together large numbers of transistors was practically nullified;
now only connections were needed to other electronic components. In addition to
saving space, the speed of the machine was now increased since there was a
diminished distance that the electrons had to follow.

Mainframes to PCs

The 1960s saw large mainframe computers become much more common in large
industries and with the US military and space program. IBM became the unquestioned
market leader in selling these large, expensive, error-prone, and very hard to use
machines.

A veritable explosion of personal computers occurred in the early 1970s, starting with
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak exhibiting the first Apple II at the First West Coast
Computer Faire in San Francisco. The Apple II boasted built-in BASIC programming
language, color graphics, and a 4100 character memory for only $1298. Programs and
data could be stored on an everyday audio-cassette recorder. Before the end of the
fair, Wozniak and Jobs had secured 300 orders for the Apple II and from there Apple
just took off.

Also introduced in 1977 was the TRS-80. This was a home computer manufactured
by Tandy Radio Shack. In its second incarnation, the TRS-80 Model II, came
complete with a 64,000 character memory and a disk drive to store programs and data
on. At this time, only Apple and TRS had machines with disk drives. With the
introduction of the disk drive, personal computer applications took off as a floppy
disk was a most convenient publishing medium for distribution of software.

IBM, which up to this time had been producing mainframes and minicomputers for
medium to large-sized businesses, decided that it had to get into the act and started
working on the Acorn, which would later be called the IBM PC. The PC was the first
computer designed for the home market which would feature modular design so that
pieces could easily be added to the architecture. Most of the components, surprisingly,
came from outside of IBM, since building it with IBM parts would have cost too
much for the home computer market. When it was introduced, the PC came with a
16,000 character memory, keyboard from an IBM electric typewriter, and a
connection for tape cassette player for $1265.

By 1984, Apple and IBM had come out with new models. Apple released the first
generation Macintosh, which was the first computer to come with a graphical user
interface(GUI) and a mouse. The GUI made the machine much more attractive to
home computer users because it was easy to use. Sales of the Macintosh soared like
nothing ever seen before. IBM was hot on Apple's tail and released the 286-AT,
which with applications like Lotus 1-2-3, a spreadsheet, and Microsoft Word, quickly
became the favourite of business concerns.
That brings us up to about ten years ago. Now people have their own personal
graphics workstations and powerful home computers. The average computer a person
might have in their home is more powerful by several orders of magnitude than a
machine like ENIAC. The computer revolution has been the fastest growing
technology in man's history
Benefit

In the current world, its almost impossible to imagine that someone can live without computers.
Computers have become an electronic device of almost every day use for individuals of every
age. They are essential in almost all the business dealings that are made nowadays. The most that
any industry has gained from the discovery of the computers is the business industry because of
its nature. Computers have gained significance as they have improved the efficiency and
productivity of work done. Large amounts of information in industrial and business sectors as
well as in the personal lives are stored on computers.

Computers can help businesses by making their staff efficient and productive and also save their
valuable time in any business or office. Computers in schools will help the learners to
comprehend the basic concepts better with the help of video or audio examples. Computers in
higher learning institutions will help the professors and researchers to do their work very fast and
in an efficient and better way and also help them to share the same knowledge with their other
members of staff. Computers become a vital gadget in several sectors; railways, banking,
electricity, telephone departments, shopping carts etc are just but a few of them. Computers are
also used in the medical industry to help doctors in diagnosing the diseases quickly and
efficiently. All the administrative systems, whether private or public are now using computers
and this practice can be evident in every part of the world.

Computers have also helped the media and the entertainment industries. Be it a multi-million
dollars movie or a two minutes commercial, computers have changed the usual concept of
providing entertainment to the public. With the computer business growing so fast, the computer
industry has also brought about an invention. Tablets, palmtops, and laptops have replaced the
desktops. With the decrease in size, it has become very easy to carry the computer and use them
anywhere you are to the fullest.

The importance of computers in our daily lives can be judged by the number of people using
them each single day. Computer is not only used by professionals, but also by the little children
and grownups at our homes.

Today, everything related to your everyday life can be done using computers. You can order
your breakfast online using your computer, you can read newspaper online, you can work from
the comfort of your home with the help of your computer, you can watch movies and videos
through your computer, you can listen to music through your computer, you can read novels and
books through e-books, you can play games, you can also contact people and talk to them
through your computer etc. These are just but a few things that can be done with the help of your
computer.
Side effect
1. Musculoskeletal problems
2. Repetitive stress injury
3. Vision problems
4. Headache
5. Obesity

Problem Solving
You can read or search on http://www.thehealthsite.com/fitness/is-
your-workplace-making-you-ill-expert-interview/ From That Problem.
References

Princeton.edu: The Impact of Home Computer Use on Childrens

Activities and Development
Parenting-Healthy-Children.com: Negative Effects Of Television
Addiction and Computer Addiction Show Children Need Protection