Sunday, November 17, 2013

The History of Computer Science: The Old to the New

Where did computer science start? When did we start programing? One of the earliest machines that was designed was the Charles Babbage. This machine used mechanical energy to perform calculations. The input was designed to handle punch cards. Regardless of what machine it was there were several components that were necessary to compute. The input was needed or else there would be nothing to compute, the processing units that would make the calculations, the memory that holds values and the control unit which directs all information, and lastly the output, without which there would be no point in making the calculations without seeing the results. Later on more and more advances in technology allowed for more, faster, and more efficiently. Mechanical energy changed into electrical energy. Buttons replaced punch cards, followed by later innovations such as the key board and mouse and touch screens. The devices became smaller and faster with the invention of the microchip. Calculations that were once done by using punch card machines that could take up a room can now be done in a device which can fit in one's hand.
File:Babbage Difference Engine.jpg
Babbage's Difference Engine
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage

2 comments:

  1. Hi John!

    Looks like I'm the first comment for this blog post. First of all I like the very old primitive computer picture you placed in your article. It might actually be a good idea to shrink it a bit since it does go off the center guidelines just a bit. I do like the structure of how you wrote your blog post but it does seem to be a bit short. Otherwise great job!

    Jeff

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  2. Hi Chiem,
    Nice to read your post. I saw the machine last Saturday at Computer History museum. Just as you said, the machine used mechanical energy to perform calculations. As a great computer pioneer, Charles Babbage designed the first automatic computing engines. The first real differential engine was created 153 years after it was designed.
    From room size machine to palm size device, computers have underwent huge change. Human is smart. Science is great.

    Your post is informative and clear. It will be better if you can divide it into paragraphs.
    Anyway, it is a good post.

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