Types of machines and systems to help people calculate and keep track of numbers and accounting have been around for thousands of years. For example the abacus was used sense the 13th century to help people calculate, it was used in every civilization from the Native Americans to the Egyptians. The computer was born of these same basic ideas but just further improved the accuracy and speed. From the abacus to tabulating machines to computers the technology has not stopped improving and becoming more efficient. A big time period in this rapid growth for these machines was from the 1950’s through the 1970’s. This was a time of huge technological advances in the computing world. Between third generation computers with integrated circuit to the
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This all changed in 1951 when the UNIVAC 1 was created with magnetic tape storage. The computer was able to store tons more date in was less space. The magnetic tape worked in the same way that a music or audiotape worked. The small compact design and tons of tape rolled into the small plastic tons of bites of data could be stored. This was revolutionary for the computer improving many aspects like size, weight, efficiency, and speed. The second and revolutionary idea was the idea of transistors. A Transistor is a device put inside of a computer or calculator that is used to amplify and switch electronic signals. This basically took a signal from the input device and sent it into the computer and to the output device. This may not seem like that big of a deal but the old technology was much larger, slower and used more energy. The first transistorized computer was in 1953 and completely changed the game. These transistors made computers exceptionally faster and more energy efficient, which means more affordable. The IBM Company was so impressed it made it mandatory to only use transistors in its computers from then on. Transistors were miles better then vacuum tubes and had made massive improvements for the computer. …show more content…
By far the most interesting advancement in computers to me was the development of the “supercomper” called ATLAS. The University of Manchester developed ATLAS in the United Kingdom and it was officially authorized in 1962. This computer was unlike anything seen before; it was ten times faster then any other computer built. There were many different changes in to the make the supercomputer so much faster and smarter. They changed their transistors from germanium to silicon. At this point they still struggled with the problem of over heating. The supercomputer was still a major break through and opened an entire different field for computer developments. Now with these massive computers capable of such high calculations and predictions there was a huge market for them. They were used in Military’s to help predict elections and weather. They could truly do amazing things. The biggest down fall that still exists with them today is they are extremely expensive. Two other inventions I thought were very interesting and the first of their kind were the mouse and the floppy disk. The mouse was invented in 1963 by Douglas Engelbart. The mouse was the first input device of its kind used to drag across the monitor of the computer and edit or engage things on the monitor. This was a revolutionary idea hence we still use it today. The funny thing about the mouse is although it was invented in 1963 it wasn’t
This all changed in 1951 when the UNIVAC 1 was created with magnetic tape storage. The computer was able to store tons more date in was less space. The magnetic tape worked in the same way that a music or audiotape worked. The small compact design and tons of tape rolled into the small plastic tons of bites of data could be stored. This was revolutionary for the computer improving many aspects like size, weight, efficiency, and speed. The second and revolutionary idea was the idea of transistors. A Transistor is a device put inside of a computer or calculator that is used to amplify and switch electronic signals. This basically took a signal from the input device and sent it into the computer and to the output device. This may not seem like that big of a deal but the old technology was much larger, slower and used more energy. The first transistorized computer was in 1953 and completely changed the game. These transistors made computers exceptionally faster and more energy efficient, which means more affordable. The IBM Company was so impressed it made it mandatory to only use transistors in its computers from then on. Transistors were miles better then vacuum tubes and had made massive improvements for the computer. …show more content…
By far the most interesting advancement in computers to me was the development of the “supercomper” called ATLAS. The University of Manchester developed ATLAS in the United Kingdom and it was officially authorized in 1962. This computer was unlike anything seen before; it was ten times faster then any other computer built. There were many different changes in to the make the supercomputer so much faster and smarter. They changed their transistors from germanium to silicon. At this point they still struggled with the problem of over heating. The supercomputer was still a major break through and opened an entire different field for computer developments. Now with these massive computers capable of such high calculations and predictions there was a huge market for them. They were used in Military’s to help predict elections and weather. They could truly do amazing things. The biggest down fall that still exists with them today is they are extremely expensive. Two other inventions I thought were very interesting and the first of their kind were the mouse and the floppy disk. The mouse was invented in 1963 by Douglas Engelbart. The mouse was the first input device of its kind used to drag across the monitor of the computer and edit or engage things on the monitor. This was a revolutionary idea hence we still use it today. The funny thing about the mouse is although it was invented in 1963 it wasn’t