Description: The History of computers Engineering Seminar Presentation suggests the history of computers. In 1000 BC was created the first calculating device called the ‘abacus’. In the 17th Century Pascal devised a mechanical device useful for computing it could help do additions and subtractions. In the 19th century scientist at Cambridge, Charles Babbage with the assistance of Lady Ada Lovelace created a machine that could store information and perform some logical computing. Howard Aikens and Grace Hooper developed an electrically operated machine which could calculate, store data, read characters and also special symbols. The machine was gigantic in size. It was named Harvard Mark 1. In 1945 First electronic general purpose calculator, ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) built in U.S, weighs 33 tons consumes 150 kw and averages 5000 operations per second. In 1947 transistor, an essential storage device in computers was created by William Shockleen and John Bardeen. In 1948 First stored program computer, Manchester Mark 1, built in UK. Using valves, it can perform about 500 operations per second and has the first RAM. It fills a room the size of a small office. In 1951 early computer game, Nim, was played by Ferranti Nimrod computer at the Festival of Britain. In 1975 Microsoft was founded by American businessmen Bill Gates and Paul Allen. They developed DOS which later becomes the dominant operating system for computers.
In 1981 first portable computer, Osborne 1 was produced. At the size and weight of a sewing machine, however, it was much less convenient than current portable computers. In 1985 Microsoft launched Windows for PC. Windows is a GUI similar to Mac’s, making personal computer much easier to use. In 1990 IBM Pentium PC was produced. It holds up to 4,000 mega bytes of RAM and can perform up to 112 million instructions per seconds. The microprocessor chip at the heart of the computer measures 16mm by 17mm and contains 3.1 million transistors. It is designed using a system called VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration).
The presentation concludes saying that every computer has four basic parts, or units: an input unit such as the keyboard, that feeds information into the computer; a central processing unit (CPU) that performs the various tasks of the computer; an output unit , such as a monitor , that displays the results; a memory unit that stores information and instructions.
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