History of Computers and Its Impact on Society - Essay Example

History of Computers and Its Impact on Society. The history of the computer can be traced back to the invention of the abbacus, which was used 300 years B.C. by the Babylonians and which has been widely used in China. (Kopplin, 2002). There had always been a need to make calculations and the modern computer was developed after a long process. In 1617, John Napier invented logarithms, which allow multiplication to be done via addition. He also invented the Napier's Bones for using the logarithms in a more practical way. That invention led to the invention of the slide rule, which was built in England in 1632. Even though Leonardo da Vinci made drawings of gear-driven calculators, he never built any, and it was in 1623 that Wilhelm Schickard invented the calculating clock. Later on, in 1642, Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline, a gear-driven calculador that could only add. Then Leibniz built a four-function calculator (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) that he called the Stepped Reckoner, which used fluted drums instead of gears. (Kopplin, 2002). In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard invented the punched cards, which are still in use like in presidential ballots. By 1822, Charles Babbage obtained government funding to build what he called the Difference Engine, a steam-driven calculator. It was very difficult to build, and the machine was never finished. Then Babbage invented the Analytic Engine, using Jacquard's punched cards, adding the key function of the conditional statement. Babbage was a friend of Ada Byron, who is recognized as the first programmer thanks to her writings for the proponed Analytic Engine, which was never built. When the United States needed to speed up the census procedure, Herman Hollerith won a contest by using an invention of his own that used punched cards called the Hollerith Desk. "Hollerith's technique was successful and the 1890 census was completed in only 3 years at a savings of 5 million dollars." (Kopplin, 2002). Hollerith founded the company, the Tabulating Machine Company, which eventually became International Business Machines (IBM). IBM developed mechanical calculators for businessess, but the U.S. military needed more optimized calculators for scientific computation. As a result of this need, "the Harvard Mark I was built as a partnership between Harvard and IBM in 1944". (Kopplin, 2002). It was an electro-mechanical computer so it was very big and very noisy. It was also the first programmable digital computer made in the United States. In 1953, the first high-level language called Flowmatic was invented by Grace Hopper. This language was later known as COBOL. After using vaccum tubes and transistors for a while, then came the integrated circuit. "The primary advantage of an integrated circuit is not that the transistors (switches) are miniscule (that's the secondary advantage), but rather that millions of transistors can be created and interconnected in a mass-production process". (Kopplin, 2002). The integrated circuit was used by the early 1980's. One of the first attempts to build an all-electronic digital computer was undertaken by J.V. Atanasoff in 1937. By 1941 he and Clifford Berry built such a machine. It was the first to use binary arithmetic, but it was not programmable. During World War II the computer named Colossus was built by Britain for code breaking. "American and British computer pioneers were still arguing over who was first to do what, when in 1965 the work of the German Konrad Zuse was published for the first time in English." (Kopplin, 2002). Zuse built several computers in Nazi Germany. "The title of forefather of today's all-electronic digital computers is usually awarded to ENIAC, which stood for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator. ENIAC was built at the University of Pennsylvania between 1943 and 1945 by two professors, John Mauchly and the 24 year old J. Presper Eckert, who got funding from the war department after promising they could build a machine that would replace all the "computers", meaning the women who were employed calculating the firing tables for the army's artillery guns." (Kopplin, 2002). It was powered by vacuum tubes, which are unreliable. Later on, Eckert and Mauchly teamed up with John von Neumann to design the computer EDVAC. Several computers were designed until Eckert and Mauchly built on their own the UNIVAC computer, which was the first commercial computer during the 1950's. By that period IBM got very powerful until the 1980's. "You might wonder what type of event is required to dislodge an industry heavyweight. In IBM's case it was their own decision to hire an unknown but aggressive firm called Microsoft to provide the software for their personal computer (PC). This lucrative contract allowed Microsoft to grow so dominant that by the year 2000 their market capitalization (the total value of their stock) was twice that of IBM and they were convicted in Federal Court of running an illegal monopoly." (Kopplin, 2002). After the implementation of the integrated circuit, then came the invention of the microprocessor, which is a computer fabricated on an integrated circuit. The first microprocessor was developed by Intel in 1971. After a partnership with Busicom, Intel was successful to market its microprocessors on its own. Intel's 8080 microprocessor was used in the MITS Altair computer (the world's first personal computer). Bill Gates dropped out of his freshman year at Harvard to write programs for the Altair and the rest is well-known history. (Kopplin, 2002). Computers have had a great impact on society in many different areas. They have transformed society in many different ways. Nowadays it is impossible to think about area of society where computers do not have some kind of influence. The presence of computers is ubiquitous and their impact will continue to spread making life easier, saving money on a personal and institutional level. The impact of computers on society is multi-dimensional as it is seen below. Their personal impact can be found in the following areas: "* privacy and personal rights * data banks, computer terminals, data security * employment * job opportunities, new careers, the need for retraining * business transactions * automated billing, credit cards, interac, consumer spending * the replacement of people through automation * robots, word processing * the impact that a machine has on a human - ergonomics." (Devoy, 2004). Their community impact can be seen in the next areas: "* employment * traffic control * urban planning * law enforcement." (Devoy, 2004). Their national impact can be found in the following areas: "* communications media * the use of information for control * vote counting * electronic funds transfer * stock-market transactions * defense * surveillance * national data banks * employment * shifting patterns * telecommunications * satellite broadcasting * the possibility of fraud or theft using computer based systems * standards for computer hardware and software." (Devoy, 2004). Their global impact can be seen in the next areas: "* reporting of current events * communications media * world government * international standards * exploration of space and sea * world wide access to data" (Devoy, 2004). Their futur impact can be found in the following areas: "* computers in the home * gaming * learning * electronic mail * shopping * business transactions * information processing, storage and retrieval * the home as a work center * effect on the family unit and on familiar patterns of life * travel * computer communication as a replacement for travel * the possible disappearance of hard copy as a medium of communication * the cashless society * possible effects on the formal education system * the use of robots in industry and in the home * teleprocessing networks * communications networks." (Devoy, 2004). According to Mammootty (2008), computers have had a great impact on society in the following areas: business, communication, food and agriculture, health, education, energy conservation, machina and process control, research and development, etc. Mammootty also states: "I have just touched on some of the factors to show social and economic implications of computerisation. There are other fields like defense, crime detection, weather forecast Geological and Oceanographic investigations, which have direct impact on social and economic function of society." (2008). Even though there are many benefits with the use of computers, there are also many drawbacks like cyber-crime in the form of bank fraud, phishing, etc. The computers are also used to spread pornography, gambling, etc. Like in any mdium there are positive uses and negative uses. The computers are also used by criminals and terrorists, but in general the impact on society is positive because computers have helped a lot in the integration process of society. Many cultures that were isolated are now inter-connected thanks to computers. So the impact of computers on society has been very positive, and it will continue to benefit humankind. Works Cited. Devoy, Michael. (2004, April 12). The Impact of Computers on Society. 24 April 2009. . Kopplin, John. (2002). An Illustrated History of Computers. Computer Science Lab. 24 April 2009. . Mammootty, K.P. (2008, Sept 7). Impact of computers in society. KSEB Officers' Association. 24 April 2009. . Read More