Wednesday, October 20, 2010

October 20, 2010

Ways computers play a critical role in modern life
- Business
- Education
- Communication

Circumstances and ideas that lead to dev. of modern computers
- War
- Science Needs
- Organization

Trends in the evolution of modern computers
- Smaller devices
- Faster

Relationship between hardware and software
*Hardware is the power, what makes the computer run, and software is the output of this work and it is the program.



Growth of the Internet
- Schools now require research, and students use the internet
- It is practically a must in higher level of education
- People of all ages now talk over the internet
- You can look up what a stores inventory online and people use that almost exclusively.
- People now order merchandise online instead of going to the store
- By 2005, over a billion people had access to the  internet

Nobody considers computers a luxury, it is now a commodity, practically a must.

Technology or computers permeate nearly everything in our lives now.
It is a versatile tool.


The first real computers
        Konrad Zuse made first functional program-controlled Turing-complete computer, the Z3, in 1941 


1943 Alan Turing Colossus considered by many to be the first electronic digital computers


1939 An Iowa State University Professor John Atanasoff developed what could have been the first electronic digital computer, the Atansoff-Berry Computer (ABC)


1944: A million dollar grant from IBM,  Harvard Professor Howard Aiken developed the Mark I.




John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert helped the U.S. effort in WWII by constructing a machine to calculate trajectory tables for new guns
     - ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer


After WWII, Mauchly and Eckert created a private company, Sperry and made UNIVAC I, the first general-purpose commercial computer


-Vacuum tubes were used in early computers
-Transistors replaced vacuum tubes starting in 1956
-By the mid-1960s transistors were replaced by integrated circuits. 


Integrated Circuits Brought
 - Increased Reliability
 - Smaller Size
 - Higher Speed
 - Higher Efficiency 
 - Lower Cost


>The first microprocessors were created by Intel Engineers in 1971
>The personal computer revolution began in 1970
    - Apple
    - Commodore
    - Tandy


Desktops haven't completly replaced big computers which have also evolved


Embedded computers
    - Special-purpose computer: Dedicated computers that perform specific tasks 
       ^Controlling temp. and humidity
       ^ Monitoring your heart rate


It is embedded in silicone so it cannot be altered. This is called Firmware.


Personal Computers
     > PCs serve a single user at a time 
        ^Word Processing 
        ^Gaming 
        ^ ETC.


Workstations
        High-end desktop computers with massive computing powers used for high-end interactive applications.
               *For example it is used for high tech. scientific analysis


Portable Computers: Machines that are not tied down


Servers 
  - Computers designed to provide software and other resources to other computers over a network.


Mainframes and Supercomputers 
  -Mainframes
       ^ Used by large organizations, such as banks and airlines, for big computing jobs
       ^ Communicate with mainframe through terminals
       ^ Multiple communications at one time through process of timesharing.


-Supercomputers 
       ^ For power users who need access to the fastest, most powerful computers made.




The Emergence of Networks
       ^ Connect devices together
       ^ 1960s: Internet developed with backing of the U.S. government


>E-mail software


>Web Browser 
      - Programs that, in effect, serve as navigable windows in the web


>Hypertext Links
      - Tie together millions of Web pages created by diverse authors


>Internet supports varied activities
      - eBay used to make international transactions
      - Real-Time multi-player  games


>In the history of our society  we have had:
      - An agricultural age
      - An industrial age



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