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Computer History
This category includes questions and answers about the history of the computer. Ask questions about the first computer and major developments in computing.
5,564 Questions
When was the internet made commercially available?
Delphi was the first national commercial online service that offered Internet access to its subscribers. It opened an email connection in July 1992 and a full Internet service in November 1992.
When was the computer developed?
Despite popular conception, it was not Bill Gates. Software dates back to way before Bill Gates was born (20 years). In fact, "The first theory about software was proposed by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay On Computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem."
It has generally been concluded that the first person to write computer programs as they are understood today was Ada Augusta Countess of Lovelace in late 1842. These programs were written to run on Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine (the first general purpose programmable digital computer invented), had it ever been built.
Some people try to claim that as these programs never actually ran on a machine that they don't count, or that Babbage contributed more to these programs than she did. Careful readings of their letters at the time indicate:
- she selected the problems to be programmed
- Babbage provided mathematical formula and requirements only on the most complex of these problems, on review she found several grave errors in his math and returned his notes for clarification and correction
- she was entirely responsible for the design of the programs to solve these problems
- she was entirely responsible for coding the programs to solve these problems
Why was the calculator invented?
To carry out long complicated calculations that the human mind might not be able to perform, and as a result, to also save time.
What was the first email ever sent?
Much like the first telegraph or phone call, the first email marked an historic moment in the evolution of communication. Unfortunately, the message itself was less than earth shattering. The text of that first electronic missive consisted of "something like QWERTYUIOP." Sent by computer engineer Ray Tomlinson in 1971, the email was simply a test message to himself. The email was sent from one computer to another computer sitting right beside it in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but it traveled via ARPANET, a network of computers that was the precursor to the Internet.
How did the underground railroad lead to the civil war?
The Underground Railroad helped the run away slaves escape from slavery by transporting them to Canada. They would by night to pervent being seen by their owners or slave catchers.Some died from either being take back to their owners and being punished or from the suffer of the long hard jurney."conductors were responsible for transporting slaves to Canada.
What did Howard Aiken do to help to progress of computers?
He designed several computers for Harvard University, starting with the electromechanical Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator which was built by IBM but after an argument between Aiken and IBM he renamed it the Harvard Mark i and banished IBM from Harvard. The rest of his computers were built entirely by people from Harvard.
What were 1970's computers used for?
In the 1970s, computers were used in banking and for the (then quite new) credit card systems. They were also used in universities and large national organisations requiring computing power - such as the Meteorological Office in the UK (for weather forecasting) and NASA in the USA. Most offices did not have one and virtualy no one used one at home.
There were a limited number of personal computers, much larger than today's standalone computers (and very much large than laptops!). These just used a keyboard for input and a screen (VDU) that only displayed lines of text. These would have been used on some offices - with no Internet or other connectivity and very limited (black and white) printing.
How many digital computer in the world?
It depends on what you really call a computer, the alarm clock is also a computer and the watch you wear is also a computer. If this is so then every house has a computer ranging from 1 to 50 per house.
How much does a supercomputer cost?
These computers are of significant size and cost millions of dollars.
What did the computers look like in the 1960's?
Computers in the 1960s were huge, heavy machines that took up entire rooms in air-conditioned buildings. (Think of rows and rows of refrigerators filling up a hall)
Expanded AnswerIn the sixties, computers were huge, but more huge (huger?) than the previous answer allows. Catch "A Touch Of Mink" on TMC or AMC some time. (Stars Doris Day and Cary Grant; MARVELOUS!) You'll see a fair representation of a "computerized" business of the day. Keep in mind that the machines that Doris Day sabotages, the ones that malfunction, are merely terminals; they're just card readers, and the actual computers are in many more cabinets spread all over the building. Additional ExpansionLarge computers looked like rooms full of lockers, som had glass/acrylic doors behind which you could see tape drives (reels of magnetic tape that rotated jerkily to get to the data on the tape).There were very few small computers but one was the Olivetti Programma 101 (google that to find pictures of it) a desktop computer that looked like a cross between a calculator and a typewriter.
Super old and not worth looking at. If you have ever seen Terminator 3, at the end it shows some pretty old computers, if you look at those then you get the idea.
The main advantage of a GUI is that the visual representation of functions allows easier use of the computer compared to a command-line-based interface. It also speeds up the user's work for non-technical people.
What year was the tv and computer invented?
Many types of TV were invented:
- Electromechanical TV was invented and patented in 1884, but not built.
- In 1907 development of vacuum tube amplifiers began to make TV practical.
- In 1911 a crude TV system was built with mechanical image scanner and electronic CRT display.
- In 1925 several inventors demonstrated TV systems capable of showing static displays.
- The first demonstration of electromechanical TV was in 1926, it had moving pictures but only 30 horizontals lines of resolution.
- Much work was done through the 1020s and 1930s on both electromechanical and electronic systems.
- In 1939 RCA unveiled their new electronic TV in 5 models at the World's Fair.
- WW2 interrupted work on TVs and they did not reappear until 1947.
Computers were developed in the 1940s, none of them used CRT displays (although some of the early 1950s machines used CRT memories to provide 500 to 2000 words of DRAM). CRT displays did not appear on computers until the mid to late 1950s and those were all "random dot or vector" analog displays as the computers were too slow to update video.
What was IBM's first compact computer?
First IBM PC (Personal Computer) was IBM model number5150, which was introduced on August 12, 1981.
IBM's first electronic digital computer was the 701 Defense Calculator, introduced in 1952.
IBM's first computer was the Harvard Mark I, in 1942, but it was electromechanical.
Which three parts of the computer give output?
The desk, the keyboard, and anything that lets the aputer run.(screen, power cord like and Xbox power cord.
When do computer programers use math?
Depending on the kind of programming they do, possibly almost all the time. I've worked for several major financial companies and we've used everything from high school algebra and trigonometry to create graphics software, up to doctoral-level math when we did probability and statistics. My nephew programs games and he uses all sorts of math to make the the look and behavior of the characters appear realistic. He has to worry about everything from how a ball behaves when it bounces, to how light reflects off a surface.
The Missouri Compromise dealt with what?
The Missouri Compromise dealt with the expansion of slavery into the western territory (previously known as the Louisiana Territory).
How have computers affected relationship's?
Personally, i strongly believe that computers have affected relationships by separating one another, how? you ask well rather than couples talking on the phone or meeting each other places thay base their time with each other on the internet and the one time they finally get to see each other they don't have anything "real" to talk about, or it could just be awkard
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<P>Computers have their upsides. They allow you to talk to people across the globe, even meet new people. But computers have also made things very impersonal. Emails to a person just down the hall from you at work, for example.
<P>That is one way they have affected things. IM'ing and emailing in exchange for face to face conversation or even talking on the phone have affected not only romantic relationships, but relationships in general. There is no need to meet up with an old freind over coffee anymore, just exchange email addresses. This new day-and-age has made relationships and friendships very impersonal. This can be good, however, if you have friends or family members that do live far away and you cannot afford to call them, email is a fast, effective and cheap way to communicate.
<P>Another way computers have affected specifically romantic relationships is by online-dating sites and chat-rooms. Meeting people online versus meeting them face to face could be a good or bad thing. It could be good because it does give you a chance to broaden your horizons and meet new people. However, online-dating blurs the lines of relationships and also affect how truthful people need to be, which also affects the relationships.</P>
How did the delegates compromise about enslaved people?
By using the 3/5ths compromise.Only counting 3 out 5 slaves to be counted as 1.
What is the difference between analog and digital computers device?
On The Lighter Side
An analog computer is the computer which is used not for home porpoises. Digital is. An analog computer is used to measure temprature and all. Digital isn't.etc.
What is the key difference between old computers and the present day computers?
- vacuum tubes, large sized, high power dissipation, high voltages
- transistors, medium sized, medium power dissipation, low voltages
- integrated circuits, small size, medium power dissipation, low voltages
- microprocessors, very small size, low power dissipation, low voltages
Do all computers include one of marcian hoff's inventions?
no, his invention was the 4004. many newer inventions have long superseded it, but it was the breakthrough that made the later inventions possible.
Very much like the Fairchild invention of the planar transistor was the breakthrough that made monolithic ICs possible, but ICs aren't just lots of planar transistors, they have other components as well as wiring on the one chip.
Why was assembly code created?
To program computers without having to memorize all of the numeric opcodes and other values used in machine code.
However assembly code is exactly as machine specific and tedious to program with as is machine code. The program has to be completely rewritten from scratch in another assembly language to port the program to a different computer.
High Level Languages were created to allow programming to be done in terms that people more easily understand and to simplify porting programs to different computers.
Who created program for analytical engine?
It was Ada Augusta (1815-52), the daughter of Lord Byron, who had become the Countess of Lovelace when she married. She studied mathematics enthusiastically under the famous Augustus de Morgan. Lady Lovelace learned how the Analytical Engine worked from an English translation of an Italian report by L.F. Menabrea of a talk about it given by Charles Babbage in Turin in 1840.
