, Research Paper

The History and Future of Computers

Tim Gash

CRS-07

Mr. Drohan

January 31, 1997

With the progresss in computing machine engineering it is now possible for more and

more Canadians to hold personal computing machines in their places. With discoveries in

computing machine processing velocities and with computing machine storage capacity, the combination

of this with the decreased size of the computing machine have allowed for even the smallest

flat to keep a computing machine. In the yesteryear the lone topographic points to hold computing machines

were military institutes and some universities ; this was because of their

huge size and monetary value. Today with falling computing machine monetary values and the chance

to entree larger webs, the sum of computing machines has grown from merely 10 % in

1986 to 25 % in 1994. Besides, of the 25 % , 34 % of them were equipped with modems,

which allow for connexion to on line services via telephone lines.

The crude start of the computing machine came about around 4000 BC ; with the

innovation of the abacus, by the Chinese. It was a rack with beads strung on

wires that could be moved to do computations. The first digital computing machine is

normally accredited to Blaise Pascal. In 1642 he made the device to help his

male parent, who was a revenue enhancement aggregator. In 1694 Gottfried Leibniz improved the machine

so that with the rearrangement of a few parts it could be used to multiply. The

following logical progress came from Thomas of Colmar in 1890, who produced a machine

that could execute all of the four basic operations, add-on, minus,

generation and division. With the added versatility this device was in

operation up until the First World War.

Thomas of Colmar made the common reckoner, but the existent start of

computing machines as they are known today comes from Charles Babbage. Babbage designed

a machine that he called a Difference Engine. It was designed to do many long

computations automatically and publish out the consequences. A on the job theoretical account was built

in 1822 and fiction began in 1823. Babbage plants on his innovation for 10

old ages when he lost involvement in it. His loss of involvement was caused by a new thought

he thought up. The Difference Engine was limited in adaptability every bit good as

pertinence. The new thought would be a general intent, automatic mechanical

digital computing machine that would be to the full plan controlled. He called this the

Analytic Engine. It would hold Conditional Control Transfer Capability so

that commands could be inputted in any order, non merely the manner that it had been

programmed. The machine was supposed to utilize clout cards which were to be read

into the machine from several reading Stationss. The machine was supposed to

operate automatically by steam power and merely necessitate one individual at that place to

run it. Babbages machines were ne’er completed for grounds such as, non-

precise machining techniques, the involvement of few people and the steam power

required for the devices was non readily available.

The following progress in calculating came from Herman Hollerith and James Powers.

They made devices that were able T

O read cards that information had been punched

into, automatically. This progress was a immense measure, because it provided memory

storage capableness. Companies such as IBM and Remington made improved versions

of the machine that lasted for over 50 old ages.

ENIAC which was thought up in 1942, was in usage from 1946 to 1955. Thought

up by J. Presper Eckert and his associates. The computing machine was the first high-

velocity digital computing machine and was one 1000 times faster than its predecessor,

the relay computing machines. ENIAC was really bulky, taking up 1,800 square pess on the

floor and holding 18,000 vacuity tubings. It was besides really limited in

programmability, but it was really efficient in the plans that it had been

designed for.

In 1945 John von Neumann along with the University of Pennsylvania came up

with what is known as the stored-program technique. Besides due to the increasing

velocity of the computing machine subprograms needed to be repeated so that the computing machine

could be kept busy. It

would besides be better if instructions to the computing machine could be changed

during a compution so that there would be a different result in the compution.

Neumann fulfilled these demands by making a bid that is called a conditional

control transportation. The conditional control transportation allows for plan sequences

to be started and stopped at any clip. Direction plans were besides stored

together so that they can be arithmetically changed merely like informations. This

coevals of computing machines included 1s utilizing RAM, every bit good as the first

commercially available computing machines, EDVAC and UNIVAC. These computing machines used

punched-card or punched tape reading devices. Besides some of the ulterior 1s were

merely about the size of a expansive piano and contained 2,500 negatron tubings, which

was much smaller than ENIAC.

During the 1950ss and sixties the two most of import progresss were

magnetic nucleus memory and the transistor. These finds increased RAM sizes

from 8,000 to 64,000 words in commercially available computing machines. The first

supercomputers were made with this new engineering. During this period

successful commercial computing machines were made by Burroughs, IBM, Sperry-Rand,

Honeywell and Control Data. These computing machines could now hold pressmans, disc

storage, tape storage, stored plans and memory runing systems. These

computing machines were normally owned by industry, authorities and private research labs.

The following progress came in the signifier of a bit. Transistors and vacuity tubings

created huge sums of heat and this damaged the delicate internal parts of the

computing machine. The heat job was eliminated through vitreous silica. The incorporate

circuit made in 1958 consisted of three constituents placed on a Si phonograph record that

was made of vitreous silica. As engineering advanced more and more constituents were fit

onto indiviual french friess and this resulted in smaller and smaller computing machines. There

was besides an operating system created during this phase that allowed for many

plans to be run at one time, with one cardinal plan that had the ability to

proctor and co-ordinate computing machine memory.