1 1 Aaron Stevens NOTE: WE DIDN’T HAVE A LECTURE FOR THIS MATERIAL, BUT THESE ARE MY NOTES FROM LAST SEMESTER. Some images courtesy Wikimedia Commons, IBM CS101 Lecture 3: Brief History of Computing "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 2 What You Will Learn Today – Why should you care about the history of computing? – How can computers learn new tricks? – Who are the main actors in the history of personal computing? – Why have computers become so much better, faster, and cheaper over time? – AND: answers to some dumb questions
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
1
1
Aaron StevensNOTE: WE DIDN’T HAVE A LECTURE FOR
THIS MATERIAL, BUT THESE ARE MYNOTES FROM LAST SEMESTER.
Some images courtesy Wikimedia Commons, IBM
CS101 Lecture 3:Brief History of Computing
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."-- Ken Olson, founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
2
What You Will Learn Today
– Why should you care about the history ofcomputing?
– How can computers learn new tricks?– Who are the main actors in the history of
personal computing?– Why have computers become so much
better, faster, and cheaper over time?– AND: answers to some dumb questions
2
3
Why should we care?
“Predictions are that by 2013 asupercomputer will be built thatexceeds the computation capability ofthe human brain.”Did You KnowGlobalization and The Information Age --Created by Karl Fisch, and modified by Scott McLeodhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q
Is this for real?
4
Why should we care?
“Predictions are that by 2049 a$1000 computer will exceed thecomputational capabilities of thehuman race.”Did You KnowGlobalization and The Information Age --Created by Karl Fisch, and modified by Scott McLeodhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q
Is this for real?
3
5
Early History of ComputingAbacus (2400 BC)Ancient device to record numeric values
Above: a reconstructed Roman abacus
6
Early History of ComputingBlaise Pascal (1623-1662)Mechanical device to add, subtract, divide & multiply
4
7
Early History of ComputingJoseph Jacquard (1801)Jacquard’s Loom, the punched card
83
What tricks does your computer do?– Web browsing, email, instant messenger– Play games– Watch movies, organize photos– Word processing, spreadsheets, database
Programmability is the ability to give a general-purpose computer instructions so that it canperform new tasks.
Programmability
5
9
Difference Engine
Charles Babages’ mechanical calculatingmachine, designed in 1820s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBuJqUfO4
10
Early Digital Computers
Harvard Mark I (1944)
6
11
Harvard Mark I
12
Early Digital Computers
Harvard Mark I (1944)First fully automatic digital computer to becompleted• 51 feet wide, 8 feet high, 2 feet deep• Built out of switches, relays, and rotatingmechanical shafts/clutches• Storage for 72 numbers, each 23 decimal digitsin length• Read instructions from paper tape, one at a time
7
13
First Computer Bug
Log of first computer bug, discovered by Grace Hopper, 1945
27:00 - Microsoft in Albuquerque, basic for the Altair29:12 - Steve Jobs, Jim Warren, sixties counter culture31:30 - Apple Computer, Apple I, II // 35:0035:00 - venture capital for apple, apple II, manufacture37:10 - computer fair39:55 - Intro VisiCalc on an Apple II44:38 - wall street use of PC46:15 - wrap up characters48:50 - closing remarks
9
17
Moore’s Law
Computing hardware will keep getting better,faster, cheaper for the rest of our lives.
183
It’s about the software– Hardware performs only a limited set of fundamentalinstructions (“tricks”).– Software harnesses this set of instructions.– Computers do not think, and are not creative.
Cheaper, Faster, Better
Computing hardware will keep getting better,faster, cheaper for the rest of our lives.
10
19
20
What You Learned Today
– Be afraid of Scary Stories– Mechanical Computers– Programmability– Digital Computers– Moore’s Law