Brief History on Computers

A computer is defined by Dictionary.com as "… an electronic device designed to accept data, perform prescribed mathematical and logical operations at high speed, and display the results of these operations." While there have been many machines since early history that have helped humans perform these operations, it has only been recently in terms of human history that computers have existed. Computers as we know them today were not born overnight but through many different computers that with the innovations made to them improved computers as a whole.

One of the first recorded machines that fit this description was the Hollerith Machine which was made around 1890. It was invented by Dr. Herman Hollerith for use by the Census Bureau who up until this point in history had performed the census by hand every 10 years. The main problem that the Census Bureau ran into was there were far too many people to be counted by hand; the Hollerith Machine solved this problem. It accepted the responses from the census questionnaire in the form of punch cards. When there was a hole in the punch card it would make an electrical signal in order to make the needed calculations. After inventing the Hollerith Machine, Hollerith went on to form the Tabulation Machine Company which went on to become the modern day company, IBM. (Abdelmoumin)

(Hollerith Machine)

The next machine, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) is considered to be the first computer in the modern sense. It was conceived during the winter of 1937-1938 by Dr. John Vincent Atanasoff of Iowa State College. It wasn't until 1939, when funding was secured, that construction on the computer by Atanasoff and a graduate student Clifford Berry began and it lasted through 1942. This computer gave birth to many concepts still used in computers today. Some of these concepts are binary arithmetic and separate memory and computer functions. It weighed more than 700 pounds, and contained about a mile of wiring. (Atanasoff-Berry Computer)

(Atanasoff-Berry Computer)

After the Atanasoff-Berry Computer came Colossus, regarded as the first programmable computer. It came to be during World War II as a tool for breaking the large number of top secret high-level communications that were encrypted and then sent using the Germans Lorenz Machine, code named by British code breakers as “Tunny.”. Colossus Mark I was completed, moved to its permanent location, and operational by February of 1944. In June of 1944 the Colossus Mark II, an improved version of the Colossus Mark I, was complete. It operated five times faster than the Mark I. The Colossus was the first computer to be able to do boolean calculations which are calculations that return either true or false. The Colossus was also the first programmable computer, although it was not programmable in the sense of computers today. Today, computers are programmed through software, the applications which are installed on the computer. The Colossus was programmed through the use of switches and plug panels, which are types of hardware. Examples of hardware that may be more familiar include a keyboard or a mouse. (Colossus)

(Colossus)

Next week I will continue with the history of computers from after Colossus through modern times

Works Cited:

Abdelmoumin, Ghada A. "CSC 110 Class." Personal interview. Aug. 2012.

"Atanasoff-€“-Berry Computer." Atanasoff-€“-Berry Computer. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Atanasoff–Berry_Computer.html>.

"Colossus." Colossus. N.p., 2004. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.   http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants/en/colossus.htm>.

"Computer." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/computer?s=t>.

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