The Invention of Colossus Mark 1 and Other Important Events in History - Essay Example

Assignment 8" College Attends YOUR VIEW OF THE TIMELINE 1933 Punch Cards IBM was the originator of the punchcard phenomenon. It was whereby the help of the punch cards that the IBM German Subsidiary was able to assist the Nazis in singling out the Jews from among the rest of the Germans. This enabled selective and timely execution and elimination of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis. 1943 Colossus Mark 1 The invention of Colossus Mark 1 marked the emergence of the very first variable coefficient based single purpose computer. The birth of this computer played a major role in the World War II. These computers were used as code breakers in the world war. the encrypted messages of the counterparts were decoded and decrypted with the help of these massive computers. The telegraphed messages sent by the German High Command to their army commands throughout occupied Europe were breached and decoded enabling the allies to formulate timely strategies against their opponents. 1944 Colossus Mark 2 The Colossus Mark 2 was a newer and improved version of The Colossus Mark 1. This computer also assisted the allies greatly against the Germans in the World War II. "Womens Royal Naval Services" Wrens were the operators of many of the Colossus Mark II machines for the sole purpose of code breaking during the World War II. Same was the case with the women of the US Navy who performed the same task by using Colossus Mark II. 1945 Harvard Mark I Developed by the Harvard University and built by the IBM the Harvard Mark I was a physically massive computer having dimensions of length 55 feet, height 8 feet and it weighed 5 tons. It usage during the World War II was vital in the sense that it provided crucial calculations for the allies navy force. This computer was thought to be the worlds first programmable computer. 1970 - 1980 The Cray I Supercomputer The Cray I was the fastest computer processor of its Era and retained its reign of the computer industry for around five consecutive years. The Cray I processor based computer was hand wired and it took approximately one whole year to get a single piece built. A unique Vector Processing design was embedded in Cray I. This design specialty made the computer suit to many critical problems. These included the making of bomb simulation, cryptography and aircraft design. 1990s American Industrial Revolution and Intel Pentium Processors The introduction of the Pentium Processor enhanced the calculation speeds to computers and gave a new life to the PC. The prevalence of the PCs within increasing number of places reflected the industry. The American Industrys Revolution was assisted immensely by the invention of the Pentium Processor. The American Industry Boom can be assessed by the fact that by the ear 1994 there were 30 million jobs that were computer related. 1990 -1991 Computers forming Weapons The advancements in computer Technology led to the use of computing technology in the battle field right in the form of weapons. Weapons of Desert Storm, Tanks, vehicles, artillery were all equipped with processors in one form or the other. 2010 IBM Roadrunner A supercomputer created by IBM. The birth of a supercomputing machine has led to nuclear calculations and 3D imagery for medical purposes. DARWINIAN SELECTION The term computer is said to have become meaningless because when the term was coined in the beginning it was being termed as an accomplice of the corporate world. The phenomenal computer in that era was supposedly thought to act as a tool for the bureaucrats. The earlier forms of computers had helped the allied forces against the Nazis during the World War II and similarly many of the tasks beneficial for the tactics of bureaucracy were being facilitated by virtue of computers as Markoff of the New York Times is quoted by Isaacson (2011) "Computing went from being dismissed as a tool of bureaucratic control to being embraced as a symbol of individual expression and liberation,” Markoff also mentioned the shift of the using of computers in his above statement that had begun to occur around three decades before the culmination of the century. This shift was occurring due to the advancements in computing technology that were making computers grow smaller in sizes and easier to work out with. The personal computer industry had begun to formulate though the thoughts were of a world that had not yet come into being. Moreover, with the enhancement of the usability of a computer the West had also begun to realize that there was no need to keep the computer restricted only to intense bureaucratic and secretive governmental tasks but the computer could also be used to assist in lighter modes. It was now beginning to be realized that a computer could relay information just as a newspaper or a radio/ television could and could also act like books, records and movies becoming a source of information to the masses. Isaacson (2011) compares Steve Jobs with Thomas Edison and calls the former the founder of modern day computing. It is emphasized by Isaacson that it was not the mere ability of a computer to compute that led to the production of the first Apple PC but it was actually the "division of labor" that resulted in the formulation of such an immense potential machine. Further down in the memory lane Jobs was able to combine the creativity of the musicians and the technical expertise of his workers into the production of iPod and iTunes both of which were remarkable outlets of the first Personal computer Steve and Wozniak had bought forth in the 1970s. Comparing the above mentioned times to the early days of the twenty first century Markoff mentioned his repeated meetings with Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple and the earlier head of Pixar. This showed how the term computer itself had become immaterial as so many superlative advanced mechanisms had sprung up that they had camouflaged the whole concept of computing itself. "To Compute" had now become so very common that its functioning was now being considered as an everyday thing, something inevitable and understood. The animations done in a movie were accomplished by using computers but only the animated sequences were commemorated. the working of a computer behind the animations was not hailed because the outward forms had transformed into such intelligible meanings that they took whole sole credit of their existence. THE COUNTERCULTURE TAKES ACTION The Whole Earth Catalog and the WELL were like the spiritual originator of the concept of computing. The concept of Globalization was bought forth for the very first time practically into peoples houses by the Whole World Catalog. Prior to such a publication people used to remain restricted to markets in their vicinity and would not look ahead than that. The Whole World Catalog broadened the horizons of a persons vision. This combined with the upcoming ease of commuting. The first edition of the Whole World Catalog had emerged into the times when the socio Economic culture of America was on the verge of a drastic change. Though the first catalog focused mainly only on clothing supplies and camping equipment the subsequent versions were posed as a catalog for numerous companies that were retailers of tools of just about everything that was needed for an independent living. The Bulletin Board Systems emergence in the end of the 1980s led to the emergence of a virtual forum of discussion that was termed as WELL or the Whole Earth Lectronic Link. A forerunner of the concepts originally launched by the Whole Earth Catalog Stewart Brand and Lary Brilliant was proud to have brought up this interactive concept. The WELL required only a phone line via which a dial up connection was needed to be established. It was the evolution and upgrading of this concept only that led initially to the formulation of publically accessed ISPs and then eventually into the conceptual existence of the World Wide Web - The Internet. The WELL was like an electronic whole world catalog where information travelled horizontally within conferences and from peer to peer. Commercial, social and cultural all kinds of discussions made up the communities within the WELL. Mondo 2000 was the predecessor of Wired and was often thought of as its mentor. Both the magazines focused on cyber culture. The need for the magazines diminished owing to the boom computing achieved with the combination of the internet. The portability of the computing devices and the expanding horizons of information and virtual cyberspace via the internet made the need for physical paper magazines to eliminate. The Well and the Whole Earth Catalog built the mindset of people and made them realize that they could process loads of information if it is put up to them in a specific integrated manner. This was like making people ready for the coming up of the internet which was practically drilled via the WELL. Thought he print edition of the Whole Earth Catalog slowly faded but this was to be replaced very soon by the computing alternate: the INTERNET. The cyber space, when became accessible to the general public opened up horizons of unlimited and unrestricted access to information where there could be hundreds and millions of such real world catalogs merged all into one cyberspace that was accessible conveniently via a computer system. The limitlessness of the horizons that computers had bought to the socially distressed generation of the 1960s youth can be realistically depicted in the following words of Stewart Brand: " As it turned out, psychedelic drugs, communes, and Buckminster Fuller domes were a dead end, but computers were an avenue to realms beyond our dreams. " (Brand, 2006) The generation of the 1960s saw computing as their dream come true and perceived as a practical implementation and successors of all their pre-digitization efforts. REFERENCES: Black, E. (2001). IBM and the holocaust: The strategic alliance between nazi Germany and Americas most powerful corporation. Crown Pub. Isaacson, W. (2011). Steve Jobs. JC Lattès. Turner, F. (2006). From counterculture to cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the rise of digital utopianism. University Of Chicago Press. Read More