Chapter 1 Our Digital Planet

Computers are no longer a luxury but rather a commodity.

Computers and their applications are involved in all aspects of our daily life.

All computers take in information called input and give out information called output.

The computer’s versatility is built upon its:

.Hardware: The physical part

.Software: The instructions that tells hardware how to transform the input data (information  in a form it can read) into the necessary output

The First Real Computers:

-1939: Konrad Zuse completed the first programmable, general-purpose digital computer.

-1939: Iowa State University professor John Atanasoff developed what could have been the first electronic digital computer, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC).

-1944: Thanks to a one million dollar grant from IBM, Harvard professor Howard Aiken developed the Mark I.

Vacuum tubes were used in early computers.

Transistors replaced vacuum tubes starting in 1956.

By the mid-1960s transistors were replaced by integrated circuits.

1971: The first microprocessor was invented
by Intel engineers.

The personal computer revolution began in 1970:

Apple

Commodore

Tandy

Personal Computers

Ø  PCs serve a single user at a time.

q  Common applications include:

•         word processing

•         accounting

•         gaming

•         enjoying digital music and video

Portable Computers: machines that are not tied to the desktop

Notebooks (laptops)

Handheld computers (PDAs)

Web browsers

Programs that, in effect, serve as navigable windows into the Web

Hypertext links

Tie together millions of Web pages created by diverse authors

Internet supports varied activities

eBay used to make international transactions

Real-time multiplayer games

Application: Digital Technology in Action

1. Network applications
2. Word processing and desktop publishing
3. Spreadsheets and other number-crunching applications
4. Databases
5. Computer graphics and digital image processing
6. Digital audio, digital video, and multimedia
7. Entertainment
8. Customized problem-solving
9. Artificial intelligence

Computers have evolved at an incredible pace since Charles Babbage’s  plan for an Analytical Engine.

Computers today come in all shapes and sizes, with specific types being well-suited for particular jobs.

Connecting to a network enhances the value and power of a computer:

Internet

WWW

Email