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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
What is pre-Mechanical in computer history?
- Writing and alphabets
Petroglyths- signs or simple figures curved in rock
ideograph- symbols to represent ideas or concept
A proposal for the machine was written in late 1942 and submitted to the Army for calculating Artillery Firing Tables. ENIAC was built between 1943 and 1945. Its first real program, simulation of Edward Teller's Classical Super fusion bomb, was run in December 1945 and January 1946, used a million punched cards. The simulation showed this fusion bomb design to be not workable. ENIAC was publicly announced and demonstrated in February 1946 (prior to this it was a Top Secret project).
yes, Mackintosh is a real name. Like the Mackintosh apple or a computer and it can also be a last name. One of my friend's last name is Mackintosh.
Who invented a loom that used punch cards?
Jean-Baptiste Falcon and Basile Bouchon were the first to use punch cards to control textile looms, Joseph Marie Jacquard improved it with his 'Jacquard Loom' and Charles Babbage came up with idea of how to use it as input for a computer. Herman Hollerith came up with a working model of the punched card loom for the US Census at the end of the 19th century.
Who invented the keyboard stand?
The invention of the modern computer keyboard began with the invention of the typewriter. Christopher Latham Sholes patented the typewriter that we commonly use today in 1868. Early computer keyboards were first adapted from the punch card and teletype technologies. In 1946, the Eniac computer used a punched card reader as its input and output device. In 1948, the Binac computer used an electromechanically controlled typewriter to both input data directly onto magnetic tape and printout results With VDT technology and electric keyboards, the keyboard's keys could now send electronic impulses directly to the computer and save time. By the late '70s and early '80s, all computers used electronic keyboards and VDTs. Nevertheless, the layout of the computer keyboard still owes its origin to the inventor of the first typewriter, Christopher Latham Sholes who also invented the QWERTY layout. However, the computer keyboard does have a few extra function keys which have been added by developers over this time to improve tools that can be accessed directly from the keyboard.
Sir Tim Berners Lee has written a proposal named ENQUIRE, an information management system in 1980. It is a closed project which is not open to the general public. ENQUIRE has pages which are called cards and hyper links within these card.
The hyperlinks have different meanings and many relationships which are displayed to the creator, things, groups & documents described by the cards.
Everybody is allowed to include the new cards but they cannot remove the existing card.
It functions almost like the present Wikipedia but not like a website.
The problem in ENQUIRE is updating the information regularly. Another problem is that external links from the existing database were not allowed.
So, the Berners Lee wrote a proposal in March 1989 which is known as World Wide Web to make it accessible to everyone where people can create their cards independently without linking to the present cards. However, they may link their cards without updating the existing card.
What types of computers are there?
FriPilot
What is the capacity of supercomputer floppy?
Supercomputers do not usually use any type of floppy disk, they usually use custom made high data rate hard disks and tape drives.
Modern supercomputers would typically use a RAID system of multiple disks providing a high reliability high data rate facility that looked to the computer's OS like a single drive with a capacity of several petabytes (or possibly exabytes by the time you read this).
Tracert is the one you're looking for I believe.
--XombieJer
How did they tell the Colossus computer what to do?
The Colossus was setup for desired tests by the operator inserting plugs in sockets and setting switches. This meant the Colossus took some time for each setup to be made and checked for correctness before it could begin working on the cipher text, which was punched on paper tape and threaded around the pulleys of the "bedstead" so that a motor could move it past the photomultiplier tubes which read the cipher text at 5000 characters per second.
It usually took several different tests for Colossus to extract enough analysis statistics to generate a possible group of wheel settings, which would then be tried on a Tunny machine to see if they produced readable plain text German for that message. If they produced gibberish the operator would have to begin all over again on the Colossus, selecting different tests in the hopes of generating a better possible group of wheel settings.
Why do you think Herman hollerith is considered to be a pioneer in the field of computer?
Because he developed a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards to rapidly process statistics from the 1890 census.
We don't really need to have the computer, but it can be helpful sometimes.
---- No, not really, but we have let ourselves become dependent on it. If we don't know how to ring up a sale, make an airline reservation, send a letter, buy auto parts, and manage traffic signals without a computer, we are going to be pretty sorry when our constant and plentiful sources of electricity become unreliable.
your question is very vague. do you mean what kind of computer (lap top, Desktop, Server)? Operating systems? specific models?
Unfortunately you would need to take a 4 year electronic engineering or computer engineering degree course to fully understand this subject and I don't have the time to type that much information. Especially for free. I had to pay for my degree.
