A computer has been one of mankind's greatest invention among
other inventions ever since the foundation of science began. Its development
was a result of years and years of long experiments spanning a hundred or so
years conducted not just by one man, but many. Development of computers as it
is today is a continuous process and it will ever be. Computers, however simple
they may seem now to the computer literate, has a complex set of system
underneath. It takes multiple disciplines in both computer studies and
electronics to fully understand them. After all, computer in itself is
subdivided into branches as is science itself.
While other technological inventions may have had already been
developed prior to the foundation of science, "technology" is not yet
a proper term for such. The word technology, after all, is always correlated
with science and both science and technology are mutually inclusive to one
another, strictly speaking in terminologies. Computers of today, however
advanced they may seem, have had its origins in humble beginnings.
How did computer began?
Abacus, the earliest form of calculator, has been recorded to be
in use since the early civilizations estimated to be around 1000 and 500 B.C.,
only to be adopted elsewhere in the world. The idea on how the algorithm of a
computer does its arithmetic was based on this, in logic. Soon after, for as
early as 1820's, in the personification of Charles Babbage, dubbed to be one of
the fathers of modern computer, developed ideas on how computers should do its
math, initially known as the difference engine, it developed later after to
become what is known as the analytical engine. While Charles Babbage, due to
funding issues, didn't get to see his ideas into fruition during his lifetime,
it is his youngest son, Henry Babbage, who did so in 1910 based on his.
However, this primitive form of computer is not as advanced as how we see on
computers of today.
The idea of the need to do the computation on our behalf as man,
hence the word 'computer,' came out of the need to handle complex problems and
perform complex computations that is both difficult and takes longer time for
man to handle. Especially true during the times of the industrialization era
and great world war where the need for such arose. How a computer behaves is
what's in a library of a computer.
The development of computer grew by a lot since laying the
foundation by Charles Babbage as was inspired by existing
"technologies" of its time. From names of people of the past
significant in the foundation of computers such as Ada Lovelace, Konrad Zuse,
Alan Turing, John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry, Howard Aiken & Grace
Hopper, so on and so forth, up to the present computer giant names such as
William Gates, Steve Wozniak, and Steve Jobs, among others, computers of today
are bigger in functions than they are their sizes and have found a spot in
every people's lives in both commercial and personal usage.
How do people use computers in their daily lives?
Modern day computers laid out the foundation on how we perform
duties of today. It is a lot more efficient and makes the work done in shorter
times. From a simple household leisure such is playing games or running
multimedia programs, to doing office works, to a more difficult developing
programs, up to a more complex computations such is done in NASA, computers
made all this possible -- all in a single box. What once takes a long time to
finish in groups as in seen in companies without computers, can now be finished
in shorter times with those.
Computers taking over the world
Also one of the most popular usage of computers is the internet.
What once was the trend for telephones and telegrams, has become internet's -
and it is worldwide. Literally, computers taking over the world.
Although initially used for military purposes concurrent to the
development of the computer, the internet grew up to become commercialized as
it is used today. The internet, in conjunction to and other than the previous
means, made communication around the world possible which also gave rise to
communication tools such as the social media. To date, billions of people use
computers with the internet every day.