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Computer

Computers and technology

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Shamma Al nuaimi
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17 views

Computer

Computers and technology

Uploaded by

Shamma Al nuaimi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A broad range of industrial and consumer products use computers as control systems.

Simple
special-purpose devices like microwave ovens and remote controls are included, as are factory
devices like industrial robots and computer-aided design, as well as general-purpose devices
like personal computers and mobile devices like smartphones. Computers power the Internet,
which links hundreds of millions of other computers and users.

Early computers were meant to be used only for calculations. Simple manual instruments like
the abacus have aided people in doing calculations since ancient times. Early in the Industrial
Revolution, some mechanical devices were built to automate long tedious tasks, such as
guiding patterns for looms. More sophisticated electrical machines did specialized analog
calculations in the early 20th century. The first digital electronic calculating machines were
developed during World War II. The first semiconductor transistors in the late 1940s were
followed by the silicon-based MOSFET (MOS transistor) and monolithic integrated circuit (IC)
chip technologies in the late 1950s, leading to the microprocessor and the microcomputer
revolution in the 1970s. The speed, power and versatility of computers have been increasing
dramatically ever since then, with transistor counts increasing at a rapid pace (as predicted by
Moore's law), leading to the Digital Revolution during the late 20th to early 21st centuries.

Conventionally, a modern computer consists of at least one processing element, typically a


central processing unit (CPU) in the form of a microprocessor, along with some type of computer
memory, typically semiconductor memory chips. The processing element carries out arithmetic
and logical operations, and a sequencing and control unit can change the order of operations in
response to stored information. Peripheral devices include input devices (keyboards, mice,
joystick, etc.), output devices (monitor screens, printers, etc.), and input/output devices that
perform both functions (e.g., the 2000s-era touchscreen). Peripheral devices allow information
to be retrieved from an external source and they enable the result of operations to be saved and
retrieved.

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