Homework Help: Computers: History: General History of Computers

Computers these days are used for just about everything and are becoming faster and better all the time, but did you know that the first computers were people? Back in the Colonial days, about the time the United States was first getting organized, men who would calculate mathematical problems were called "computers!"

The word "compute" means to count or to figure. From that definition you can easily see why these men were called computers. Oh yeah, and by the way the 'er' part means 'one who.' So, a computer is basically 'one who computes!'

A computer from Colonial times would be called a mathematician today, but today naturally we refer to a computer as machine with a screen, keyboard, mouse, and some nifty games and applications to play on.

The first non-human computer on record was mechanical and was invented by Charles Babbage in the late 1800's. He worked on it for almost 38 years never did finish his machine because he could not find anyone to build the complex parts he needed. Although he may not have succeeded, the computers since then have always been based on his ideas.

Later, when Vacuum Tube electronics established itself in 1943, a computer called Colossus was built in Britain. This was during World War II to crack enemy coded messages. However decoding messages was all it could do; nothing more, nothing less!

The first computer for general use was an American computer called Eniac, completed in 1946. The early versions of these computers had thousands of vacuum tubes and were massive machines that filled large rooms. They were nothing like today where you can have a better and faster computer that can sit on your lap!

Later came the transistor (a computer part but not a computer itself) which helped make computer technology view computers as smaller machines. The Transistor had a new feature which is widely know today as the microchip or integrated circuit. The microchip contained several transistors made into devices known as or-gates, nor-gates, and-gates, nand-gates, and so on. These devices are still used in some applications today.

Later on, the microprocessor was invented. A few examples of the microprocessor are the IBM 8080, the Motorola 6800, and the 6502 (used by Apple and Commadore computers). All three of these have fairly the same features of hardware and software, but were run in unique ways.

Intel later came out with the Z80 which was very similar to the 8080 but had extra features. The Z80 was used by Sinclare and Tandy computers. All were used around late 1970's.

Now, the personal PC has been born. You're probably viewing this website with one now!

Homework Help: Computers: History

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