Computers were made to do the very tedious computations of everyday life and business. The first calculators performed computations in seconds that would take someone using a slide rule minutes if not hours to do. Calculations for NASA entry and exit trajectories would take days or even weeks to calculate by hand and the first mainframe computers would do the calculations in minutes.

"The Father of Computers" Charles Babbage who invented the 1st mechanical Computer.. in 1834 he dreamt of designing mechanical calculating machines. "... I was sitting in the rooms of the Analytical Society, at Cambridge, my head leaning forward on the table in a kind of dreamy mood, with a table of logarithms lying open before me. Another member, coming into the room, and seeing me half asleep, called out, "Well, Babbage, what are you dreaming about?" to which I replied "I am thinking that all these tables" (pointing to the logarithms) "might be calculated by machinery. "

The British government first financed the project but then later cut off support. Babbage went on to design his much more general analytical engine but later returned and produced an improved design (his "Difference Engine No. 2") between 1834 and 1869.

Meanwhile Ada Lovelace is credited as the "first Computer programmer" since she was writing programs -that is, manipulating symbols according to rules-for Babbage's machine. The rest Followed.

The first programmable electronic digital computer was invented by Tommy Flowers to help break German "Fish" teletype ciphers during World War 2. Ten of these were built before the end of the war, also making it the first computer built in a quantity larger than one until 1952 when Remington Rand began making the UNIVAC i.

This is not a question with a simple answer. It partly depends on what you mean by "computer". Many inventors contributed to the history of computers and that a computer is a complex piece of machinery made up of many parts, each of which can be considered a separate invention. Many say the first computer is the "difference engine." The first of these devices was conceived in 1786 by J.H. Müller. It was never built.

Difference engines were forgotten and then rediscovered in 1822 by Englishman Charles Babbage, who is known as "the father of the Computer". This machine used the decimal numbers system and was powered by cranking a handle. The British government first financed the project but then later cut off support. Babbage went on to design his much more general analytical engine but later returned and produced an improved design (his "Difference Engine No. 2") between 1834 and 1869. But he was never able to build any of these designs.

Others point out that this is the first DIGITAL computer. The earliest computer known is the Antikythera Machine, a mechanical analog device that computed the positions of the astrological signs on any given date, past or future. It was discovered in an ancient shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea and dates to approximately 250 BC. The designer/builder is not known, but because of its similarity to other mechanical devices known to have been designed by Archimedes, it is probably his work.

Still others will say the abacus is the first computer. They were invented by the Chinese between 2600 BC and 300 BC is considered as the first computer ever. Abacus was used by the merchants and Clerks in China. However the abacus is NOT automatic, but it is digital; so it is more of a "calculation aid" or "calculator" than a computer.

Here is still more input:

• If you mean Electronic Computer, it was a man called Alan Turing from Cambridge UK, who was drafted in to Bletchley park secret base where they worked at cracking the WWII enigma codes that the Germans used every day. The Germans changed their Enigma machines to a four digit code maker. However, Because what went on at Bletchley Park the computer made from thousands of valves was kept top secret up until recently. The computer, named Colossus was smashed to pieces at the end of the war. The buildings have now been restored as a tourist center.

• The Colossus Mark I 1943, the world's first programmable, digital, electronic, computing devices... its follow up the Mark II was used by British codebreakers to read encrypted German "tunny" teletype cypher during World War II (notably D Day)

• The first computer, or "modern computer" was invented in World War II by a German engineer, Konrad Zuse in 1941 called the Z3. The Z3 was a fully digital, binary, floating point arithmetic, electromechanical relay machine programmed with punch recycled 35mm film. About the only things it lacked were conditional branches, loops, and subroutines. It was destroyed in an allied bombing raid after completion but before it saw real use.
• It was Konrad Zuse. He invented the z1, z2, z3, z4 and other ones. The z3 was the first fully functional program-controlled electromechanical digital computer in the world-completed in 1941. Charles Babbage just made a mechanical computing machine.

• The first electronic digital computer was invented by Bulgarian John Vincent Atanasoff. He named it the Atanasoff Berry Computer, or the ABC. It was the world's first electronic digital computer and built between 1937-42 by John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry at Iowa State University. It used regenerative memory (i.e. dynamic), parallel processing, binary arithmetic and split computing functions (routines) away from memory use and management. However it was not programmable (it could only solve simultaneous equations problems).

• Now, if we're talking technical knowledge and actual precursors to the PC - IBM may have accidentally spread it around when they allowed cloning of the PC architecture. But they were not the first. [This answer refers to desktop "personal" computers. These were far from the first computers.

• These are all pre-IBM machines: MITS ALTAIR 8800, Apple II, TRS80, Atari 800 and the Commodore 64. [This answer refers to desktop "personal" computers. These were far from the first computers.

• Purists who claim that the ALTAIR was not the first, will say it was 'Simon' by Berkley Enterprises, 1950, costing $300. [This answer refers to desktop "personal" computers. These were far from the first computers.]

• The first completely electronic computer was developed in England in 1943. It was known as Colossus. It took up 1,000 Sq. ft. weighed 30 tons/60,000 pounds. And took 150 kilowatts which is enough power to light up a small town.

• The first working computer (in the modern sense) was invented by Konrad Zuse. But others had created machines or ideas close to it before. These were people like Pascal, Leibniz and Turing.

• The first patent for a working computer (outside the military) was the UNIVAC, created by Drs. John Mauchly and Presper Eckert in 1948. They formed the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, which was bought in 1950 (just as they were on the verge of bankruptcy) by Remington Rand. Their computer was used in the 1950 census (starting in mid-1951 when the first one was finished) and by Walter Cronkite in the 1952 Presidential election.

• The ENIAC patent was declared invalid on October 19, 1973, by US Federal Judge Earl R. Larson. He attributed Atanasoff and Berry with the invention of the electronic digital computer. For more information see the related Link.

• If you define a computer as the first device for doing mathematical calculations, the answer would be the "Babbage Difference Engine", invented by Charles Babbage but never completely built. However, computers trace their lineage to 19th-century power looms which became "programmable" by use of something akin to a punch-card which was used to determine which color thread would be used at any given time in the loom's weaving process. On an even more basic level, you could consider the first use of cams to determine timing of any mechanism (such as steam engine poppet valves) to be the first "computer".

Charles Babbage, an English mathematician, originated the concept of a programmable computer. Considered a "father of the computer", Babbage is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs. His proposed models were the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine. The Difference Engine came first around 1822 and was more limited and not programmable. it was intended to generate mathematical tables. This machine contained 25,000 parts and weighed 15 tons. Babbage followed this with a "difference engine 2" which, although well funded, was never completed. Babbage also designed a printer to go along with the computer, but this also was never completed. In 1989-1991, the London science museum made a difference engine 2 and printer from Babbage's design. Both worked perfectly. The programmer for the Analytical Engine, built around 1825, was Ada Lovelace (first programmer). None of these machines was ever built during Babbage's time, for many reasons including: Babbage could never finalize a design he always had to go on to improved designs, arguments with his machinist, funding, etc.

American physicist John Atanasoff built the first rudimentary electronic computer in the late 1930s and early 1940s, although for several decades afterward credit for the first electronic computer went to the scientists who assembled the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) for the United States military by 1945. Danish physicist Allan Mackintosh recounts in a Scientific American article how Atanasoff first conceived of the design principles that are still used in present-day computers. Dr. Atanasoff's Computer The men who for decades were credited with inventing the first electronic digital computers were not, in fact, first. That honor belongs to a once forgotten physicist named John V. Atanasoff.

The answer to this question depends on your definition of a "computer". The earliest "computers" were mechanical devices used to help people count. The first known counting devices or tools were Tally Sticks from about 35,000 BCE.

The abacus was invented, possibly by the Babylonians or the Chinese in about 2400 BCE. The abacus consists of movable counters that can be manipulated to add and subtract. The abacus is still used today for basic arithmetic.

As mathematics became more complex, it got harder and harder to invent mechanical devices to solve math problems. One of these devices was conceived in 1786 by J. H. Mueller, who called it a "Difference Engine." It was never built.

Difference engines were forgotten and then rediscovered in 1822 by Mathematics Professor Charles Babbage. This machine used the decimal number system and was powered by cranking a handle. The British government first financed the project but later cut off support. Babbage went on to design a much more general analytical engine in 1845, but later returned and produced an improved design (his "Difference Engine No. 2") between 1847 and 1849. Babbage's design was completed in 1871 by his son, Helmet P.Babbage. The Analytical Engine was designed to be powered by a steam engine and was to use punched cards to direct its operation. Punched cards were in use to program mechanical looms at the time.

During WWII Konrad Zuse invented the Z1. According to Mary Bellis, the Z1 was the first real functioning, binary computer (actually, it was a very large calculator--but a computer nonetheless!). Zuse used it to explore several ground-breaking technologies in calculator development: floating-point arithmetic, high-capacity memory and modules or relays operating on the yes/no principle. Zuse's ideas, not fully implemented in the Z1, succeeded more with each Z prototype.

In 1939, Zuse completed the Z2, the first fully functioning electro-mechanical computer. It was followed by the Z3. These machines were used to produce secret codes for the German military. For a while this gave the Germans a decided advantage. But then, the British, guided by mathematician Alan Turing, created the Colossus Mark I.

Colossus was the world's first programmable, digital electronic computer, developed in 1942-43 at "Station X", Bletchley Park, England. British code breakers used Colossus to read the encrypted German messages. The Germans didn't know their "Enigma" code had been broken. This is one reason the D-Day Invasion succeeded.

In 1939, John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry developed the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) at Iowa State University, which was regarded as the first electronic digital computer. The ABC was built by hand and the design used over 300 vacuum tubes and had capacitors fixed in a mechanically rotating drum for memory.

In 1945, ENIAC, created by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, was unveiled. ENIAC (Electronic Numerator Integrator Analyzer and Computer) weighed in at 27 tons and filled a large room. Not surprisingly, ENIAC also made big noises, cracking and buzzing while performing an equation of 5,000 additions. Before the invention of ENIAC, it took a room full of people to calculate a similar equation.

The first electronic computer that could store its own programs was developed in 1948 at Manchester University. It was called "The baby" and celebrated its 60th birthday in 2008. See BBC and Manchester University links in related links below. This is widely considered to be the forerunner of the modern computer.

The UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer) was the first commercially available, "mass produced" electronic computer. It was manufactured by Remington Rand in the USA and was delivered to the US Census Bureau in June 1951. UNIVAC I used 5,200 vacuum tubes and consumed 125 kW of power. 46 machines were sold at more than $1 million each. By this time, computer design was limited primarily by the size and heat of vacuum tubes.

The vacuum tube was eventually replaced by the transistor. Shortly afterward, in 1959, the monolithic integrated circuit (now called the microchip) was invented by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas, and a few months later by Robert Noyce, of Fairchild Semiconductor in California. The two companies were embroiled in legal actions for years, but finally decided to cross-license their products. Kilby was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000.

The microchip led to the development of the microcomputer -- small, low-cost computers that individuals and small businesses could afford. The first home computers became commercially viable in the mid to late 1970s, but more so in the early 1980s. By the 1990s, the microcomputer or Personal Computer (PC) became a common household appliance, and became even more widespread with the advent of the Internet.
It is hard to state the exact date the computer was invented as it a continuous process. Computers were first introduced in 1822.

There were many engineering refinements to the laptop concept. Here are some of the significant developments:

The "clam shell" design which represents our modern laptop was created in 1979 by William Moggridge (a Briton) for GRiD Systems Corporation. GRiD's Compass Computer entered the market in 1981. GRiD was acquired by Tandy Corporation in 1988.

One of the first commercially available laptop computers was invented by Adam Osborne in 1981. It was called the "Osborne I" and cost $1795. It came bundled with $1500 worth of programs. It had a tiny computer screen built into it. The Osborne I and Kaypro II were not really laptops, but "luggables" - at 23.5 lb and 29 lb, respectively.

One of the first modern style of "laptops" may well have been the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100, with weight of approximately 3.1 lb.

Compaq Computer introduced their first computer which was considered portable around 1981 or 1982. It was about the same size as a modern mini-tower laid on its side, included a green monochrome monitor that was about 7 inches diagonally, and had a full-sized keyboard with a coiled cord that snapped over the monitor.

"The Dynabook concept was created by Alan Kay in 1968, two years before the founding of Xerox PARC. Kay wanted to make "A Personal Computer For Children Of All Ages." The ideas let to the development of the Xerox Alto prototype, which was originally called "the interim Dynabook". It embodied all the elements of a graphical user interface, or GUI, as early as 1972. The software component of this research was Smalltalk, which went on to have a life of its own independent of the Dynabook concept.

The Dynabook concept now known as a laptop computer or, (in some of its other incarnations) a tablet PC or slate computer with nearly eternal battery life and software aimed at giving children access to digital media. Adults could also use a Dynabook, but the target audience was children."
The laptop computer was invented by Adam Osborne in 1981. It was called the "Osborne 1" and cost $1795. It came bundled with $1500 worth of programs. It had a tiny computer screen built into it.

What is a laptop computer?

A laptop is a computer that can be folded up and carried around.

When was the laptop invented?

The laptop was invented in 1981.

Where was it invented?

It was invented by Osborne Computers, a book company that sold books to McGraw-Hill.

How was it invented?

It was invented by taking computer technology from that time and scaling it down to make a smaller, more portable computer.

Adam Osborne invented the laptop

There were many engineering refinements to the laptop concept, however ....

"The Dynabook concept was created by Alan Kay in 1968, two years before the founding of Xerox PARC. Kay wanted to make "A Personal Computer For Children Of All Ages." The ideas let to the development of the Xerox Alto prototype, which was originally called "the interim Dynabook". It embodied all the elements of a graphical user interface, or GUI, as early as 1972. The software component of this research was Smalltalk, which went on to have a life of its own independent of the Dynabook concept.

The Dynabook concept now known as a laptop computer or, (in some of its other incarnations) a tablet PC or slate computer with nearly eternal battery life and software aimed at giving children access to digital media. Adults could also use a Dynabook, but the target audience was children."

etc.

Steven John Freer in 1979

The "clam shell" design which represents our modern laptop was created in 1979 by William Moggridge (a Briton) for GRiD Systems Corporation. GRiD's Compass Computer entered the market in 1981. GRiD was acquired by Tandy Corporation in 1988. Tandyrecognizing the significance of the GRiD Patent portfolio (which also represented over 20 patents for hand writing recognition and pen based computing) aggressively pursued

settlements with most of the major laptops and computers sales company . As a former GRiD exec we always wished we could have had the resources to do the same prior to the Tandy acquisition. GRiD was sold again in 1993 to AST Computers with Tandy holding onto to the GRiD patents.

One of the first commercially available laptop computers was invented by Adam Osborne in 1981. It was called the "Osborne I" and cost $1795. It came bundled with $1500 worth of programs. It had a tiny computer screen built into it.

(The Osborne I and Kaypro II were not really laptops, but "luggables" - at 23.5 lb and 29 lb, respectively)

One of the first modern style of "laptops" may well have been the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100, with weight of approximately 3.1 lb.

Compaq Portable circa 1981 or 1982?

I can't say if this was the definitive "invention" of the laptop, but I do remember that, when IBM PC XTs were running 8088 processors at 4.77MHz with 5MB disk drives, Compaq Computer introduced their first computer which was considered portable at the time. It was about the same size as a modern mini-tower laid on its side, included a green monochrome monitor that was about 7 inches diagonally, and had a full-sized keyboard with a coiled cord that snapped over the monitor. I think it ran an 8086 processor at 6 or 8MHz.

Below is a link to a site with several photographs.
Steve Jobs
Designed in 1979 by a Briton, William Moggridge, for Grid Systems Corporation, the Grid Compass was one fifth the weight of any model equivalent in performance and was used by NASA on the space shuttle program in the early 1980's. A 340K byte bubble memory lap-top computer with die-cast magnesium case and folding electroluminescent graphics display screen. Other computers before this were portable, but too heavy, and therefore, it is questionable if they can be called laptops. A few other models that were lightweight had two line, text only displays and should also be considered.

• Case
• Power Supply (Sometimes comes with case)
• Motherboard
• Processor/CPU
• RAM/Memory
• Hard Drive
• CD/DVD Drive
• Peripherals, such mouse, keyboard, and monitor.
• An Operating System. Such as Windows or Linux.

Optional Components:

• Video Card (For graphic intensive actions. Games and graphic design)
• Sound Card (Higher quality sound. Home theaters and professional music editing)
• Other peripherals, like earphones.

Before you buy, make sure all parts are compatible.

This is a simple summary of what to do, consult the manuals for each part for an in-depth guide.

1. Place power supply into case.
2. Put motherboard in place. Connect necessary cables.
3. Install other components. Connect cables.
4. Once all parts are done, close case and move onto peripherals.
5. Plug peripherals in.
6. Turn computer on.
7. Install operating system.
8. Install necessary drivers, usually found with product or on its website.

what type of motherboard is it? (brand name, model #, mhz, etc.)

once a brand name is given for the motherboard and the model number, you can try searching for the manufacturer's website for downloading a manual or online instructions for installation. another important tip is to be careful of magnetic objects (screw drivers, etc.) near these parts AND static causing agents (including your hands, carpeting). these will ruin the parts by shorting them out.

The easiest way would be to buy a "BareBones" system. Depending how much you want spend will determine what you will get. Some of the systems will only require a harddrive and a operating system.

For a computer to produce useful output its hardware and software must work together. Nothing useful can be done with the hardware on its own, and software cannot be utilized without supporting hardware. To take an analogy, a cassette player and its cassettes purchased from the market are hardware. However, the songs recorded on the cassettes are its software. To listen to a song, that song has to be recorded on one of the cassettes first, which is then mounted on the cassette player and played. Similarly, to get a job done by a computer, the corresponding software has to be loaded in the hardware first and then executed. Following important points regarding the relationship between hardware and software are brought out by this analogy:

1. Both hardware and software are necessary for a computer to do useful job. Both are complementary to each other.

2. Same hardware can be loaded with different software to make a computer perform different types of jobs just as different songs can be played using the same cassette player.

3. Except for upgrades (like increasing main memory and hard disk capacities, or adding speakers, modems, etc.); hardware is normally a one- time expense, whereas software is a continuing expense. Like we buy new cassettes for newly released songs or for songs whose cassettes, we do not have, we buy, new software to be run on the same hardware as and when need arises, or funds become available.
Hardware refers to the physical parts of a computer. For example, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speaker, graphic cards, printer, and many more that we can touch. Software or otherwise known as a program, provide a series of instructions for common purpose that tells the computer how to perform tasks.

In order for a computer to do a useful job, the hardware and software must work together. For example, when we play a song via Media Players or other software that exists in the computer, it will produce sound at the speaker. A speaker is hardware.
For a computer to perform its functions it needs have 50% hardware and 50% software. Therefore, the relationship would be that they are all found in the process of accepting, processing, displaying and storing data.
Basically Software is the virual suff like Programs, Apps and the Hardware is the Fisical Stuff like the keyboard, the mouse, the video graphic card, something you can touch

Neumann's architecture is one in which a single memory location (memory address)can be used either to store data or program and not both.for example if locations from 8000 to 8050 are used to store a program then input and output data cannot be in locations from 8000 to 8050.Normally microprocessors follow neumann architecture

Whereas in Havard architecture normally followed by microcontrollers,there will be separate data and program memory.Both can have same address,so that if program is from location 8000 to 8050 in program memory data can be stored in locations from 8000 to 8050 in data memory ie same address can be used for data and program.

More Information:

John von Neumann was the Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who invented EDSAC...the world's first stored-program computer to operate a regular computing service...using local memory.

With that said..."Von Neumann's computer Architecture" is the umbrella term for that type of functionality...stored-program computers operating a regular computing service using local memory.

Also, von Neumann didn't "invent" EDSAC. Some of his ideas inspired it, but its lead designer was Maurice Wilkes.

An important aspect of a von Neumann machine is that it implements a Turing-complete Finite State Machine - that is, the machine follows a program in a series of discrete steps, ending in a specific state after each step.

See the Wikipedia article on this subject for more specifics of a von Neumann machine (link at bottom of this article).

Von Neumann proposed the architecture for the computers we use today - the constant cycle around and access to memory on trip around the loop. As we press a key etc we interrupt the loop. The 8086 computers, etc., all used this technology. As technology has advanced to we have found ways to store instructions - pipelines, store memory, etc., for fast access in cache, but the basic principle of cycling round remains. This makes a misnomer of a PC being able to multitask. No PC can multitask; they all time-slice and take short intervals of time.

The modern PC is a little like an old motor car. You add things to it, you can give it bigger wheels, put shiny bits on it but at the end of the day its still an old motor car.

When Von Neumann gets put to bed so will all of the computer software we have running today.

Turing (earlier in the answer) and Babbage made adding machines.

It is called a microprocessor because it is the single microchip integrated circuit processor of a microcomputer. The term minicomputer was already taken and referred to small computers whose processor was built of many different microchip integrated circuits. There was never anything called a "miniprocessor" in these computers, just as there was never anything called a "mainframe processor" in the big computers.

Note: Some early microprocessors were not single microchips, but were instead a family of related microchips that could be interconnected in a variety of different ways (e.g. AMD 2900 family). This served two functions:

1. it avoided the limits of the number of transistors that could be put on a single microchip with the technology available then
2. providing greater design flexibility (e.g. the same microprocessor family could be used to build microcomputers having very different word lengths depending on the requirements: 16 bit, 32 bit, 48 bit, 64 bit, etc.)

There were many different attempts to produce a mechanical writing machine, but the first one to be commercially successful was invented by Christopher Latham Sholes (1819-1890).

He was an American engineer who, together with SW Soule and G Glidden, invented the first typewriter that was later commercially manufactured by Remington, then a sewing machine company.

Their first machine was made in 1866, but the keys jammed easily. To solve this problem they followed the suggestion of a business colleague, James Densmore, who suggested separating the more common letters so that people would have to type more slowly. This was how, in 1868, our QWERTY keyboard originated.