Lecture 1

Introduction to
Computer Technology
What is Computer?
 What is Computer?
A computer is an electronic device, operating
under the control of instructions stored in its own
memory that can accept data (input), process the
data according to specified rules, produce
information (output), and store the information
for future use.
The term computer is derived from the Latin
term computare, this means to
calculate or programmable machine.
What is a computer and what does it do?
A computer can be defined as a programmable,
electronic device that accepts data, performs
operations on that data, presents the results, and
stores the data or results as needed. Being
programmable, a computer will do whatever the
instructions called the program tell it to do.
The programs being used with a computer
determine the tasks the computer is able to
perform.
 Basic Functions of Computer
These four primary operations of a computer can be
defines as follows:
Storag
Input entering data into the computer
Processing performingeoperations on the data
Output presenting the results
Storage saving data, programs, or output for
future use Proces
Input Output
s
Data vs. Information
Data is the raw material that is to be processed for
information or for collection of details.

Information is processed data. The data that can

be made useful is known as information.
Examples of Data
Student Data on Admission Forms:
When students get admission in a college. They fill
admission form. This form contains raw facts (data of
student) like name, fathers name, address of student
etc.
Survey Data:
Different companies collect data by survey to know the
opinion of people about their product.
Students Examination data:
In examination data about obtained marks of different
subjects for all students is collected.
Examples of Information
Census Report:
Census data is used to get report/information about
total population of a country and literacy rate etc.
Survey Reports and Results:
Survey data is summarized into reports/information to
present to management of the company.
Result Cards of Individual Students:
In examination system collected data (obtained marks
in each subject) is processed to get total obtained
marks of a student.
 History of Computing/Computer
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ABACUS
The abacus gained popularity fast after it was invented.
The later type of abacus was widely used in Middle East
and Asia and still being used now.
Computations are done by sliding beads on a wire arranged
on a tray.
The term abacus came from the Greek word abax
meaning flat surface.
Another type of abacus containing movable beads on wire
appeared in China and was known by its local name suan
pan
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ABACUS

Roman Abacus
Asian abacus

Suan pan
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1617 - Logs and Bones
John Napier, a Scottish mathematician, became famous for
his invention of logarithms.
The use of logs reduced a problem of subtraction. Then,
he invented the computing device using a set of sticks
called bones which can perform both multiplication and
division.
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1617 - Logs and Bones

Logs and Bones

 History of Computing/Computer
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1617 - Logs and Bones
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1617 - Logs and Bones
Problem: Multiply 425 by 6 (425 x 6 = ?)
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1617 - Logs and Bones
Problem: Multiply 42 by 9 (42 x 9 = ?)
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1642 Pascaline
Pascal's calculator is a mechanical calculator invented by
Blaise Pascal in the early 17th century.
It was called the arithmetic machine and later became
known as the Pascaline.
He designed the machine to add and subtract two numbers
directly and to perform multiplication and division through
repeated addition or subtraction. More than 50 prototypes
was designed.
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1642 Pascaline

Play video
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1672 Stepped Reckoner
Step Reckoner, was a digital mechanical calculator invented
by the German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von
Leibnitz around 1672 and completed in 1694.
It is a calculator which can multiply and divide directly as
well as extract square roots.
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1672 Stepped Reckoner
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1860s Father of Modern Computing

Charles Babbage
Invented the Analytical and Difference Engine
Born on Dec. 26, 1791
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1860s Babbages Engines
Difference Engine
During that period, mathematical tables for logarithmic and
trigonometric functions were produced by teams of mathematicians
working long hours using primitive calculators.
Aside form these tables, tracking of the positions and directions of
movement of stare were performed.
With Babbages observation that any mathematical operation involved
in the application of series of well-defined steps, he concluded that
such steps can be applied more efficiently by a properly constructed
machines are excellent at executing repetitive tasks without mistake
with less effort and time.
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1860s Babbages Engines
Difference Engine
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1860s Babbages Engines
Analytical Engine
Ten years into crafting the Difference Engine, Babbage came up with
the idea of a more sophisticated machine called Analytical Engine. It
was the first ever device that can be considered as computer.
The basic design of the Analytical Engine required over 50,000
components.
Can store around 1,000 numbers of up to 50 decimals.
It also allowed output devices for displaying results.
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1860s Babbages Engines
Analytical Engine
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Mid 1800s: Ada Lovelace
First female computer programmer
Ada Lovelace, daughter of the poet Lord Byron, worked with Babbage
on the Analytical Engine Programmed Analytical Engine using punched
cards. Considered first computer programmer, Ada programming
language named after her.
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1939 ABC Computer
The Atanasoff Berry Computer, later named the ABC, was built at Iowa
State University from 1939-1942 by physics professor Dr. John Vincent
Atanasoff and his graduate student, Clifford Berry.
It is a special purpose electronic digital computer powered by
electricity and used vacuum tubes; it was designed to find solutions to
systems of linear equations.
It was ruled by a judge as the first automatic digital computer.
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1939 ABC Computer
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1943 Colossus
Colossus was the world's first electronic, digital, programmable
computer invented by Allan Turing. British code breakers used Colossus
to read secret German messages during World War II.
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1943 Colossus
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1944 Mark I
Howard Aiken of the Harvard University, in collaboration with the IB
engineers constructed Mark I.
The official name of Mark I was Automatic Sequence Controlled
Calculator (ASCC). It took 5 years to build the size approximately 50
feet long, 8 feet high, with 7,000,000 moving parts and hundred miles
of wiring.
Mark I could perform the four basic operations, locate stored
information and process numbers up to 23 digits long. It could also
multiply 8 digits numbers in one second.
It is considered as the largest electromechanical computer and the first
automatic general purpose digital computer.
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1944 Mark I
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1945 1st Computer Bug
September 9, 1945, U.S. Navy officer Grace Hopper found a moth
between the relays on the Harvard Mark II computer she was working
on.
In those days computers filled (large) rooms and the warmth of the
internal components attracted moths, flies and other flying creatures.
Those creatures then shortened circuits and caused the computer to
malfunction.
The term bugs in a computer had been used before, but after Grace
Hopper wrote in her diary first actual case of bug being found the
term became really popular, and thats why we are still using it today.
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1945 1st Computer Bug
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1946 ENIAC
John Mauchley and Presper Eckert complete the Electronic Numerical
Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC) at Univ of Pennsylvania.
Much based on Atanasoffs ABC .
First general purpose, digital electronic computer Could compute a
ballistic firing trajectory in 20 sec vs. 30 min conventional way
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1946 ENIAC
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EDVAC
EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) was to be a
vast improvement upon ENIAC. Mauchly and Eckert started working on
it two years before ENIAC even went into operation.
Their idea was to have the program for the computer stored inside the
computer. This would be possible because EDVAC was going to have
more internal memory than any other computing device to date.
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EDVAC
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UNIVAC
The UNIVAC I was the world's first commercially available computer.
UNIVAC is an acronym for UNIVersal Automatic Computer.
First stored program computer
The first UNIVAC I was delivered on June 14, 1951. From 1951 to 1958 a
total of 46 UNIVAC I computers were delivered, all of which have since
been phased out.
The UNIVAC can store programs in a memory device that makes it
capable of changing and modifying the programs easily. In 1953, the
first high speed printer was developed by Remington Rand for use in
the UNIVAC
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UNIVAC
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1962 Mouse
The mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1964 and consisted of
a wooden shell, circuit board and two metal wheels that came into
contact with the surface it was being used on.
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1967 Floppy Disk
The floppy disk drive (FDD) was invented at IBM by Alan Shugart in
1967. The first floppy drives used an 8-inch disk (later called a
"diskette" as it got smaller).
The 5.25-inch disks were dubbed "floppy" because the diskette
packaging was a very flexible plastic envelope, unlike the rigid case
used to hold today's 3.5-inch diskettes.
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1974 The first personal computer
Ed Roberts of Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems (MITS) began building a
small computer based on the Intel 8088 chip, which he planned to sell for as
low as US$500.00.
The prototype was completed within the year and was called Altair 8800. He
coined the word personal computer as a part of the advertising campaign for
the Altair. It was considered as the first personal computer.
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1967 Apple I Computer
Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs finished the computer circuit board of the Apple I
computer in 1976. They formed a company called Apple Computer Company on
April fools Day. While Steve Wozniak designed the Apple computer, Steve Jobs
promoted it.
The computer board was delivered to the stores in July of the same year at
US$666.66 a piece.
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1967 Apple I Computer
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1989 www (World Wide Web)
Tim Berners-Lee at CERN develops the WWW, a global web of interconnected
documents, which runs on top of the Internet.
The Web would become popular several years later when Netscape develops an
easy-to-use web browser.
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1992 Microsoft Windows
Microsoft (Bill Gates) releases Windows 3.1, the first version of Windows that
was widely successful.
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1992 Microsoft Windows
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1998 Google
Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin drop out of Stanford to create Google,
a Web search engine which uses their novel PageRank algorithm to order search
engine results Google originated from a misspelling of googol which is 1
followed by 100 zeros.
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2003 Worms and Viruses
The most devastating Internet worms and viruses cause millions of dollars in
damages to individuals and companies.
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200x Social Networks
Online social networks (and sharing too much trivial information) first became
popular in the early 2000s.