Only once in a lifetime will a new invention come about to touch every aspect of our lives. Such a device that changes the way we work, live, and play is a special one, indeed. A machine that has done all this and more now exists in nearly every business in the US and one out of every two households (Hall, 156). This incredible invention is the computer. The electronic computer has been around for over a half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years. however, only in the last 40 years has it changed the American society.
From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor, the computer has changed nearly every aspect of people’s lives for the better. The very earliest existence of the modern day computer’s ancestor is the abacus. These date back to almost 2000 years ago. It is simply a wooden rack holding parallel wires on which beads are strung. When these beads are moved along the wire according to programming rules that the user must memorize, all ordinary arithmetic operations can be performed (Soma, 14).
The next innovation in computers took place in 1694 when Blaise Pascal invented the first “digital calculating machine”. It could only add numbers and they had to be entered by turning dials. It was designed to help Pascal’s father who was a tax collector (Soma, 32). In the early 1800’s, a mathematics professor named Charles Babbage designed an automatic calculation machine. It was steam powered and could store up to 1000 50-digit numbers. Built in to his machine were operations that included everything a modern general-purpose computer would need.
It was programmed by–and stored data on–cards with holes punched in them, appropriately called “punchcards”. His inventions were failures for the most part because of the lack of precision machining techniques used at the time and the lack of demand for such a device (Soma, 46). After Babbage, people began to lose interest in computers. However, between 1850 and 1900 there were great advances in mathematics and physics that began to rekindle the interest (Osborne, 45). Many of these new advances involved complex calculations and formulas that were very time consuming for human calculation.
The first major use for a computer in the US was during the 1890 census. Two men, Herman Hollerith and James Powers, developed a new punched-card system that could automatically read information on cards without human intervention (Gulliver, 82). Since the population of the US was increasing so fast, the computer was an essential tool in tabulating the totals. These advantages were noted by commercial industries and soon led to the development of improved punch-card business-machine systems by International Business Machines (IBM), Remington-Rand, Burroughs, and other corporations.
By modern standards the punched-card machines were slow, typically processing from 50 to 250 cards per minute, with each card holding up to 80 digits. At the time, however, punched cards were an enormous step forward; they provided a means of input, output, and memory storage on a massive scale. For more than 50 years following their first use, punched-card machines did the bulk of the world’s business computing and a good portion of the computing work in science (Chposky, 73).
By the late 1930s punched-card machine techniques had become so well established and reliable that Howard Hathaway Aiken, in collaboration with engineers at IBM, undertook construction of a large automatic digital computer based on standard IBM electromechanical parts. Aiken’s machine, called the Harvard Mark I, handled 23-digit numbers and could perform all four arithmetic operations. Also, it had special built-in programs to handle logarithms and trigonometric functions. The Mark I was controlled from prepunched paper tape. Output was by card punch and electric typewriter.
It was slow, requiring 3 to 5 seconds for a multiplication, but it was fully automatic and could complete long computations without human intervention (Chposky, 103). The outbreak of World War II produced a desperate need for computing capability, especially for the military. New weapons systems were produced which needed trajectory tables and other essential data. In 1942, John P. Eckert, John W. Mauchley, and their associates at the University of Pennsylvania decided to build a high-speed electronic computer to do the job. This machine became known as ENIAC, for Electrical Numerical Integrator And Calculator.
It could multiply two numbers at the rate of 300 products per second, by finding the value of each product from a multiplication table stored in its memory. ENIAC was thus about 1,000 times faster than the previous generation of computers (Dolotta, 47). ENIAC used 18,000 standard vacuum tubes, occupied 1800 square feet of floor space, and used about 180,000 watts of electricity. It used punched-card input and output. The ENIAC was very difficult to program because one had to essentially re-wire it to perform whatever task he wanted the computer to do.
It was, however, efficient in handling the particular programs for which it had been designed. ENIAC is generally accepted as the first successful high-speed electronic digital computer and was used in many applications from 1946 to 1955 (Dolotta, 50). Mathematician John von Neumann was very interested in the ENIAC. In 1945 he undertook a theoretical study of computation that demonstrated that a computer could have a very simple and yet be able to execute any kind of computation effectively by means of proper programmed control without the need for any changes in hardware.
Von Neumann came up with incredible ideas for methods of building and organizing practical, fast computers. These ideas, which came to be referred to as the stored-program technique, became fundamental for future generations of high-speed digital computers and were universally adopted (Hall, 73). The first wave of modern programmed electronic computers to take advantage of these improvements appeared in 1947. This group included computers using random access memory (RAM), which is a memory designed to give almost constant access to any particular piece of information (Hall, 75).
These machines had punched-card or punched-tape input and output devices and RAMs of 1000-word capacity. Physically, they were much more compact than ENIAC: some were about the size of a grand piano and required 2500 small electron tubes. This was quite an improvement over the earlier machines. The first-generation stored-program computers required considerable maintenance, usually attained 70% to 80% reliable operation, and were used for 8 to 12 years. Typically, they were programmed directly in machine language, although by the mid-1950s progress had been made in several aspects of advanced programming.
This group of machines included EDVAC and UNIVAC, the first commercially available computers (Hazewindus, 102). The UNIVAC was developed by John W. Mauchley and John Eckert, Jr. in the 1950’s. Together they had formed the Mauchley-Eckert Computer Corporation, America’s first computer company in the 1940’s. During the development of the UNIVAC, they began to run short on funds and sold their company to the larger Remington-Rand Corporation. Eventually they built a working UNIVAC computer.
It was delivered to the US Census Bureau in 1951 where it was used to help tabulate the US population (Hazewindus, 124). Early in the 1950s two important engineering discoveries changed the electronic computer field. The first computers were made with vacuum tubes, but by the late 1950’s computers were being made out of transistors, which were smaller, less expensive, more reliable, and more efficient (Shallis, 40). In 1959, Robert Noyce, a physicist at the Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation, invented the integrated circuit, a tiny chip of silicon that contained an entire electronic circuit.
Gone was the bulky, unreliable, but fast machine; now computers began to become more compact, more reliable and have more capacity (Shallis, 49). These new technical discoveries rapidly found their way into new models of digital computers. Memory storage capacities increased 800% in commercially available machines by the early 1960s and speeds increased by an equally large margin. These machines were very expensive to purchase or to rent and were especially expensive to operate because of the cost of hiring programmers to perform the complex operations the computers ran.
Such computers were typically found in large computer centers–operated by industry, government, and private laboratories–staffed with many programmers and support personnel (Rogers, 77). By 1956, 76 of IBM’s large computer mainframes were in use, compared with only 46 UNIVAC’s (Chposky, 125). In the 1960s efforts to design and develop the fastest possible computers with the greatest capacity reached a turning point with the completion of the LARC machine for Livermore Radiation Laboratories by the Sperry-Rand Corporation, and the Stretch computer by IBM.
The LARC had a core memory of 98,000 words and multiplied in 10 microseconds. Stretch was provided with several ranks of memory having slower access for the ranks of greater capacity, the fastest access time being less than 1 microseconds and the total capacity in the vicinity of 100 million words (Chposky, 147). During this time the major computer manufacturers began to offer a range of computer capabilities, as well as various computer-related equipment.
These included input means such as consoles and card feeders; output means such as page printers, cathode-ray-tube displays, and graphing devices; and optional magnetic-tape and magnetic-disk file storage. These found wide use in business for such applications as accounting, payroll, inventory control, ordering supplies, and billing. Central processing units (CPUs) for such purposes did not need to be very fast arithmetically and were primarily used to access large amounts of records on file.
The greatest number of computer systems were delivered for the larger applications, such as in hospitals for keeping track of patient records, medications, and treatments given. They were also used in automated library systems and in database systems such as the Chemical Abstracts system, where computer records now on file cover nearly all known chemical compounds (Rogers, 98). The trend during the 1970s was, to some extent, away from extremely powerful, centralized computational centers and toward a broader range of applications for less-costly computer systems.
Most ontinuous-process manufacturing, such as petroleum refining and electrical-power distribution systems, began using computers of relatively modest capability for controlling and regulating their activities. In the 1960s the programming of applications problems was an obstacle to the self-sufficiency of moderate-sized on-site computer installations, but great advances in applications programming languages removed these obstacles. Applications languages became available for controlling a great range of manufacturing processes, for computer operation of machine tools, and for many other tasks (Osborne, 146).
In 1971 Marcian E. Hoff, Jr. , an engineer at the Intel Corporation, invented the microprocessor and another stage in the development of the computer began (Shallis, 121). A new revolution in computer hardware was now well under way, involving miniaturization of computer-logic circuitry and of component manufacture by what are called large-scale integration techniques. In the 1950s it was realized that scaling down the size of electronic digital computer circuits and parts would increase speed and efficiency and improve performance.
However, at that time the manufacturing methods were not good enough to accomplish such a task. About 1960 photo printing of conductive circuit boards to eliminate wiring became highly developed. Then it became possible to build resistors and capacitors into the circuitry by photographic means (Rogers, 142). In the 1970s entire assemblies, such as adders, shifting registers, and counters, became available on tiny chips of silicon. In the 1980s very large scale integration (VLSI), in which hundreds of thousands of transistors are placed on a single chip, became increasingly common.
Many companies, some new to the computer field, introduced in the 1970s programmable minicomputers supplied with software packages. The size-reduction trend continued with the introduction of personal computers, which are programmable machines small enough and inexpensive enough to be purchased and used by individuals (Rogers, 153). One of the first of such machines was introduced in January 1975. Popular Electronics magazine provided plans that would allow any electronics wizard to build his own small, programmable computer for about $380 (Rose, 32).
The computer was called the “Altair 8800. Its programming involved pushing buttons and flipping switches on the front of the box. It didn’t include a monitor or keyboard, and its applications were very limited (Jacobs, 53). Even though, many orders came in for it and several famous owners of computer and software manufacturing companies got their start in computing through the Altair. For example, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, founders of Apple Computer, built a much cheaper, yet more productive version of the Altair and turned their hobby into a business (Fluegelman, 16).
After the introduction of the Altair 8800, the personal computer industry became a fierce battleground of competition. IBM had been the computer industry standard for well over a half-century. They held their position as the standard when they introduced their first personal computer, the IBM Model 60 in 1975 (Chposky, 156). However, the newly formed Apple Computer company was releasing its own personal computer, the Apple II (The Apple I was the first computer designed by Jobs and Wozniak in Wozniak’s garage, which was not produced on a wide scale).
Software was needed to run the computers as well. Microsoft developed a Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) for the IBM computer while Apple developed its own software system (Rose, 37). Because Microsoft had now set the software standard for IBMs, every software manufacturer had to make their software compatible with Microsoft’s. This would lead to huge profits for Microsoft (Cringley, 163). The main goal of the computer manufacturers was to make the computer as affordable as possible while increasing speed, reliability, and capacity.
Nearly every computer manufacturer accomplished this and computers popped up everywhere. Computers were in businesses keeping track of inventories. Computers were in colleges aiding students in research. Computers were in laboratories making complex calculations at high speeds for scientists and physicists. The computer had made its mark everywhere in society and built up a huge industry (Cringley, 174). The future is promising for the computer industry and its technology. The speed of processors is expected to double every year and a half in the coming years.
As manufacturing techniques are further perfected the prices of computer systems are expected to steadily fall. However, since the microprocessor technology will be increasing, it’s higher costs will offset the drop in price of older processors. In other words, the price of a new computer will stay about the same from year to year, but technology will steadily increase (Zachary, 42) Since the end of World War II, the computer industry has grown from a standing start into one of the biggest and most profitable industries in the United States.
It now comprises thousands of companies, making everything from multi-million dollar high-speed super computers to printout paper and floppy disks. It employs millions of people and generates tens of billions of dollars in sales each year (Malone, 192). Surely, the computer has impacted every aspect of people’s lives. It has affected the way people work and play. It has made everyone’s life easier by doing difficult work for people. The computer truly is one of the most incredible inventions in history.
Ni mara moja tu katika maisha yetu kwamba uvumbuzi mpya utakuja kugusa kila sehemu ya maisha yetu. Kifaa kama hicho kinachobadili njia yetu ya kufanya kazi, kuishi, na kucheza ni cha pekee sana. Mashine ambayo imefanya yote haya na zaidi sasa ipo katika karibu kila biashara nchini Marekani na moja kati ya kila nyumba mbili. Uvumbuzi huu wa ajabu ni kompyuta. Kompyuta za elektroniki zimekuwapo kwa zaidi ya nusu karne, lakini mababu zake wamekuwapo kwa miaka 2000! Hata hivyo, ni katika miaka 40 iliyopita tu ambayo imebadilisha jamii ya Marekani. Tangu abacus ya kwanza ya mbao hadi microprocessor ya karibuni ya kasi sana, kompyuta imebadilisha karibu kila sehemu ya maisha ya watu kuwa bora. Uwepo wa mapema zaidi wa babu wa kompyuta ya kisasa ni abacus. Hizi ni tarehe nyuma ya miaka 2000 hivi iliyopita. Ni rack ya mbao tu inayoshikilia waya zinazofanana ambazo shanga zimeunganishwa. Wakati beads hizi ni kusukumwa kando ya waya kulingana na sheria za programu kwamba mtumiaji lazima kukumbuka, shughuli zote za kawaida hesabu inaweza kufanyika. Mwaka 1694 Blaise Pascal aliunda mashine ya kwanza ya kuhesabu. Ilikuwa na uwezo wa kuongeza namba tu na zilipaswa kuingizwa kwa kugeuza nambari. Ilikuwa imeundwa kusaidia baba ya Pascal ambaye alikuwa mkusanya kodi (Soma, 32). Katika miaka ya 1800, Charles Babbage, profesa wa hesabu, alibuni mashine ya hesabu. Ilikuwa na nguvu ya mvuke na ingeweza kuhifadhi hadi nambari 1,000 zenye tarakimu 50. Mashine yake ilikuwa na utendaji wote unaohitajiwa na kompyuta ya kisasa ya matumizi ya jumla. Ilikuwa imepangwa na kuhifadhi data kwenye kadi zenye mashimo yaliyofungwa ndani yake, zilizoitwa "karti za punch". Uvumbuzi wake ulishindwa kwa sehemu kubwa kwa sababu ya ukosefu wa mbinu za usindikaji wa usahihi zilizotumiwa wakati huo na ukosefu wa mahitaji ya kifaa kama hicho. Baada ya Babbage, watu walianza kupoteza upendezi wao katika kompyuta. Hata hivyo, kati ya miaka ya 1850 na 1900, maendeleo makubwa katika hisabati na fizikia yalianza kuamsha tena upendezi huo. Maendeleo mengi hayo mapya yalitia ndani mahesabu na fomula tata ambazo zilichukua muda mwingi kwa ajili ya mahesabu ya kibinadamu. Kwa mara ya kwanza kompyuta ilitumiwa katika sensa ya mwaka 1890. Herman Hollerith na James Powers walianzisha mfumo wa kadi za punch ambayo ilifanya kazi bila kuingilia kati ya binadamu. Kwa kuwa idadi ya watu nchini Marekani ilikuwa ikiongezeka kwa kasi, kompyuta ilikuwa chombo muhimu katika kuorodhesha jumla. Kwa sababu ya faida hizo, kampuni za biashara kama vile International Business Machines (IBM), Remington-Rand, na Burroughs zilianza kutengeneza mashine za biashara zenye kutumia kadi za punch. Kwa kiwango cha kisasa, mashine za kadi za punch zilikuwa polepole, kwa kawaida zikitengeneza kadi 50 hadi 250 kwa dakika, na kila kadi ilikuwa na tarakimu 80. Hata hivyo, wakati huo, kadi za kuchomwa zilikuwa hatua kubwa sana mbele; zilitoa njia ya kuingiza, kutoa, na kuhifadhi kumbukumbu kwa kiwango kikubwa. Kwa zaidi ya miaka 50 baada ya matumizi yao ya kwanza, mashine za kadi za punch zilifanya sehemu kubwa ya kompyuta za biashara za ulimwengu na sehemu nzuri ya kazi ya kompyuta katika sayansi. Kufikia mwishoni mwa miaka ya 1930, mbinu za mashine za kadi za punch zilikuwa zimewekwa vizuri na kuaminika kwamba Howard Hathaway Aiken, kwa kushirikiana na wahandisi wa IBM, alianzisha ujenzi wa kompyuta kubwa ya dijiti ya moja kwa moja kulingana na sehemu za kawaida za umeme za IBM. Mashine ya Aiken, inayoitwa Harvard Mark I, ilishughulikia nambari za tarakimu 23 na ingeweza kufanya shughuli zote nne za hesabu. Pia, ilikuwa na programu za pekee zilizojengwa ndani ili kushughulikia hesabu za logarithm na kazi za trigonometric. Alama ya I ilidhibitiwa kutokana na mkanda wa karatasi uliopigwa. Matangazo yalifanywa kwa kutumia mashine ya kuandika ya umeme na mashine ya kuandika ya kadi. Ilikuwa na kasi ya sekunde 3 hadi 5 kwa kuzidisha, lakini ilikuwa ya moja kwa moja na inaweza kukamilisha hesabu ndefu bila uingiliaji wa binadamu. Kuibuka kwa Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Ulimwengu kulitokeza uhitaji mkubwa wa uwezo wa kompyuta, hasa kwa ajili ya jeshi. Mifumo mipya ya silaha ilitengenezwa ambayo ilihitaji meza za trajectory na data nyingine muhimu. Mwaka 1942, John P. Eckert, John W. Mauchly na wenzake katika Chuo Kikuu cha Pennsylvania waliamua kutengeneza kompyuta ya elektroniki yenye kasi sana. Mashine hiyo ilikuja kujulikana kama ENIAC, kwa Electrical Numerical Integrator And Calculator. Inaweza kuzidisha nambari mbili kwa kiwango cha bidhaa 300 kwa sekunde, kwa kupata thamani ya kila bidhaa kutoka kwa meza ya kuzidisha iliyohifadhiwa katika kumbukumbu yake. ENIAC ilikuwa na kasi ya mara 1,000 kuliko kompyuta za kizazi kilichotangulia. ENIAC ilitumia mabomba ya kawaida 18,000 ya utupu, ilichukua mita za mraba 1,800 za nafasi ya sakafu, na ilitumia karibu watts 180,000 za umeme. Ilitumia kadi ya kupasua kuingiza na kutoa. ENIAC ilikuwa ngumu sana kuipanga kwa sababu mtu alikuwa na kuibadilisha ili iweze kufanya kazi yoyote aliyoitaka kompyuta ifanye. Hata hivyo, ilikuwa yenye matokeo katika kushughulikia programu hususa ambazo ilikuwa imebuniwa. ENIAC ni kompyuta ya kwanza ya elektroniki ya kasi ya juu iliyotumiwa katika miaka ya 1946 hadi 1955. Mwanahisabati John von Neumann alipendezwa sana na ENIAC. Katika mwaka wa 1945 alifanya utafiti wa kinadharia wa hesabu, na kuonesha kwamba kompyuta inaweza kuwa rahisi sana na bado kuwa na uwezo wa kutekeleza aina yoyote ya hesabu kwa ufanisi kwa njia ya udhibiti sahihi programu bila haja ya mabadiliko yoyote katika vifaa. Von Neumann alitoa mawazo ya ajabu kuhusu njia za kujenga na kupanga kompyuta zenye utendaji na zenye kasi. "Hiyo ni kwa sababu ya teknolojia ya ""kuhifadhi programu"" ambayo ilikuja kuwa msingi kwa vizazi vya baadaye vya kompyuta za dijiti za kasi na zilipitishwa ulimwenguni kote." Mzunguko wa kwanza wa kompyuta za kisasa za elektroniki zilizopangwa ili kutumia faida ya maboresho haya ulionekana mwaka 1947. "Kundi hili lilijumuisha kompyuta zinazotumia kumbukumbu ya upatikanaji wa nasibu (RAM), ambayo ni kumbukumbu iliyoundwa kutoa upatikanaji wa karibu wa mara kwa mara kwa kipande chochote cha habari (Hall, 1975).""" Mashine hizo zilikuwa na vifaa vya kuingiza na kutoa habari kwa kutumia kadi au mkanda uliochongwa na RAM zenye uwezo wa maneno elfu moja. Kwa kweli, ENIAC ilikuwa ndogo sana kuliko ENIAC, na ilikuwa na ukubwa wa piano ya juu na ilihitaji mabomba madogo ya elektroniki 2,500. Hii ilikuwa marekebisho makubwa kuliko mashine za awali. Kompyuta za kizazi cha kwanza za programu zilizohifadhiwa zilihitaji matengenezo makubwa, kwa kawaida zilipata uendeshaji wa kuaminika wa 70% hadi 80% na zilitumiwa kwa miaka 8 hadi 12. Kwa kawaida, programu hizo ziliandikwa moja kwa moja kwa lugha ya mashine, ingawa kufikia katikati ya miaka ya 1950, maendeleo yalikuwa yamefanywa katika mambo kadhaa ya programu za hali ya juu. "Kundi hilo la mashine lilitia ndani EDVAC na UNIVAC, kompyuta za kwanza zilizopatikana kibiashara (Hazewindus, 102)."" UNIVAC ilitengenezwa na John W. Mauchley na John Eckert, Jr. katika miaka ya 1950. Mauchly-Eckert Computer Corporation ilianzishwa mwaka 1940 na kampuni ya kompyuta ya Marekani. Wakati wa maendeleo ya UNIVAC, walianza kukosa fedha na kuuza kampuni yao kwa kubwa Remington-Rand Corporation. Hatimaye walijenga kompyuta ya UNIVAC inayofanya kazi. Mwaka 1951 ilitolewa kwa Idara ya sensa ya Marekani, ambapo ilitumika kusaidia kuweka orodha ya idadi ya watu nchini Marekani (Hazewindus, 124). Katika miaka ya 1950 na 1960, teknolojia ya kompyuta ilibadilisha ulimwengu wa kompyuta. Kompyuta za kwanza zilitengenezwa kwa kutumia mabomba ya utupu, lakini kufikia mwishoni mwa miaka ya 1950, kompyuta zilitengenezwa kwa kutumia transistors, ambazo zilikuwa ndogo, za bei nafuu, zenye kuaminika zaidi, na zenye ufanisi zaidi. Mwaka 1959, Robert Noyce, mwanafizikia wa Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation, alivumbua mzunguko wa pamoja, kipande kidogo cha silicon kilichokuwa na mzunguko mzima wa elektroniki. "Kama vile mashine za zamani zilivyokuwa ""zito, zisizoaminika, lakini zenye kasi,"" sasa kompyuta zilianza kuwa ndogo, zenye kuaminika zaidi, na zenye uwezo mkubwa zaidi." Ugunduzi huo mpya wa kiufundi ulipatikana upesi katika mifano mipya ya kompyuta za dijiti. Uwezo wa kuhifadhi kumbukumbu uliongezeka kwa asilimia 800 katika mashine zilizopatikana kibiashara mapema miaka ya 1960 na kasi iliongezeka kwa kiasi kikubwa. Mashine hizo zilikuwa ghali sana kununua au kukodisha na hasa zilikuwa ghali kuendesha kwa sababu ya gharama ya kuajiri programu kufanya kazi ngumu ambazo kompyuta ziliendesha. Kompyuta kama hizo zilipatikana kwa kawaida katika vituo vikubwa vya kompyuta - vinavyoendeshwa na viwanda, serikali, na maabara binafsi - zilizo na wafanyikazi wengi wa programu na wafanyikazi wa msaada (Rogers, 77). Kufikia mwaka 1956, IBM ilikuwa na mainframe 76 za IBM, ikilinganishwa na UNIVAC 46 tu. Katika miaka ya 1960, juhudi za kubuni na kuendeleza kompyuta za haraka zaidi na uwezo mkubwa zaidi zilifikia hatua ya kugeuka na kukamilika kwa mashine ya LARC kwa Maabara ya Mionzi ya Livermore na Shirika la Sperry-Rand na kompyuta ya Stretch na IBM. LARC ina kumbukumbu ya msingi ya maneno 98,500 na mara kwa mara katika sekunde 10 za micro. Stretch ilikuwa na safu kadhaa za kumbukumbu na upatikanaji wa polepole kwa safu za uwezo mkubwa, wakati wa upatikanaji wa haraka zaidi ni chini ya 1 microseconds na uwezo wa jumla katika eneo la maneno milioni 100 (Chposky, 147). Wakati huu wazalishaji wakuu wa kompyuta walianza kutoa uwezo mbalimbali wa kompyuta, pamoja na vifaa mbalimbali vinavyohusiana na kompyuta. Hizi ni pamoja na njia ya kuingia kama vile consoles na kadi feeder; njia ya pato kama vile ukurasa wa kuchapisha, cathode-ray-tube inaonyesha, na vifaa vya graphing; na hiari magnetic-tape na magnetic-diski faili kuhifadhi. Hizi zilitumiwa sana katika biashara kwa ajili ya matumizi kama vile uhasibu, malipo ya mshahara, kudhibiti hesabu, kuagiza vifaa, na kutuma bili. Vipengele vya usindikaji wa kati (CPU) kwa madhumuni hayo havikuwa na haja ya kuwa haraka sana kwa hesabu na zilitumiwa hasa kupata kiasi kikubwa cha rekodi kwenye faili. Idadi kubwa zaidi ya mifumo ya kompyuta ilitolewa kwa ajili ya matumizi makubwa, kama vile katika hospitali kwa ajili ya kufuatilia rekodi za wagonjwa, dawa, na matibabu yaliyotolewa. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika makala ya mwisho ya kitabu cha ""Kemikali Abstracts"" (Kemikali Abstracts) na ""Kemikali Abstracts"" (Kemikali Abstracts) na ""Kemikali Abstracts"" (Kemikali Abstracts) na ""Kemikali Abstracts"" (Kemikali Abstracts) na ""Kemikali Abstracts"" (Kemikali Abstracts) na ""Kemikali Abstracts"" (Kemikali Abstracts) na ""Kemikali Abstracts"" (Kemikali Abstracts)." Mwelekeo wa miaka ya 1970 ulikuwa, kwa kiasi fulani, mbali na vituo vya kompyuta vyenye nguvu sana na vya kati na kuelekea aina pana ya matumizi kwa mifumo ya kompyuta isiyo na gharama kubwa. Utaratibu wa kuendelea wa utengenezaji, kama vile usafishaji wa petroli na mifumo ya usambazaji wa umeme, ulianza kutumia kompyuta zenye uwezo mdogo wa kudhibiti na kudhibiti shughuli zao. Katika miaka ya 1960, matatizo ya programu ya maombi yalikuwa kikwazo kwa kujitegemea kwa mitambo ya kompyuta ya ukubwa wa wastani, lakini maendeleo makubwa katika lugha za programu za maombi yaliondoa vikwazo hivi. Lugha za programu zilipatikana kwa ajili ya kudhibiti aina kubwa ya michakato ya utengenezaji, kwa ajili ya uendeshaji wa kompyuta ya mashine za zana, na kwa ajili ya kazi nyingine nyingi (Osborne, 146). Mwaka 1971 Marcian E. Hoff Jr., mhandisi wa Intel Corporation, alivumbua microprocessor na hatua nyingine katika maendeleo ya kompyuta ilianza. Mapinduzi mapya katika vifaa vya kompyuta yalikuwa sasa yanaendelea, yakihusisha miniaturization ya mzunguko wa mantiki ya kompyuta na utengenezaji wa sehemu kwa kile kinachoitwa mbinu za ushirikiano wa kiwango kikubwa. Katika miaka ya 1950, iligunduliwa kwamba kupunguza ukubwa wa mzunguko wa kompyuta za elektroniki na sehemu za kompyuta za dijiti kungezidisha kasi na ufanisi na kuboresha utendaji. Hata hivyo, wakati huo mbinu za utengenezaji hazikuwa nzuri vya kutosha kutimiza kazi hiyo. Karibu mwaka wa 1960, uchapishaji wa picha za bodi za mzunguko wa conductive ili kuondoa waya ulikuja kuwa na maendeleo makubwa. Kisha ikawa inawezekana kujenga resistors na capacitors katika mzunguko kwa njia ya picha (Rogers, 142). Katika miaka ya 1970, makundi yote, kama vile adders, kusonga registers, na counters, akawa inapatikana juu ya chips ndogo ya silicon. Katika miaka ya 1980, ushirikiano mkubwa sana (VLSI), ambapo mamia ya maelfu ya transistors huwekwa kwenye chip moja, ikawa ya kawaida zaidi. Kampuni nyingi, baadhi mpya katika uwanja wa kompyuta, ilianzisha katika miaka ya 1970 minicomputers programmable zinazotolewa na vifurushi vya programu. Mwelekeo wa kupunguzwa kwa ukubwa uliendelea na kuanzishwa kwa kompyuta za kibinafsi, ambazo ni mashine za programu ndogo na za bei nafuu vya kutosha kununuliwa na kutumiwa na watu binafsi (Rogers, 153). Mojawapo ya mashine hizo ilitengenezwa mnamo Januari 1975. "Mwanzoni mwa mwaka wa 1980, gazeti la ""Electronics"" lilitoa mpango wa jinsi mtu yeyote angeweza kujenga kompyuta yake mwenyewe kwa gharama ya dola 380."" Kompyuta hiyo iliitwa <unk>Altair 8800. Programu yake ilihusisha kubonyeza vifungo na kubadili vifungo vilivyokuwa mbele ya sanduku hilo. Haikuwa na skrini au kibodi, na matumizi yake yalikuwa mdogo sana (Jacobs, 53). Hata hivyo, maagizo mengi yalikuja kwa ajili yake na wamiliki kadhaa maarufu wa kompyuta na makampuni ya utengenezaji wa programu got kuanza yao katika kompyuta kupitia Altair. Steve Jobs na Steve Wozniak, waanzilishi wa Apple Computer, walijenga Altair kwa bei nafuu na kugeuza hobby yao kuwa biashara. Baada ya kuanzishwa kwa Altair 8800, sekta ya kompyuta ya kibinafsi ikawa uwanja mkali wa mashindano. IBM ilikuwa kiwango cha sekta ya kompyuta kwa zaidi ya nusu karne. "Kama mfano, IBM ilianzisha ""mfano wa 60"" wa kompyuta ya kibinafsi mnamo 1975 na inaendelea kuwa na kiwango cha juu cha teknolojia ya kompyuta ya kompyuta ya IBM." Apple ilizindua kompyuta ya kibinafsi ya Apple II, ambayo ilibuniwa na Jobs na Wozniak katika karakana ya Wozniak. Programu ilihitajiwa ili kuendesha kompyuta pia. Microsoft ilitengeneza mfumo wa uendeshaji wa diski (MS-DOS) kwa kompyuta ya IBM wakati Apple ilitengeneza mfumo wake wa programu (Rose, 37). Kwa sababu Microsoft sasa ilikuwa imeweka kiwango cha programu kwa IBMs, kila mtengenezaji wa programu alilazimika kufanya programu yao ipatane na Microsoft. Hii itasababisha faida kubwa kwa Microsoft (Cringley, 163). Lengo kuu la watengenezaji wa kompyuta lilikuwa kufanya kompyuta iwe nafuu iwezekanavyo huku ikiongeza mwendo, kuegemea, na uwezo. Karibu kila mtengenezaji wa kompyuta alifanikiwa kufanya hivyo na kompyuta zikaanza kuonekana kila mahali. Kompyuta zilikuwa katika biashara za kufuatilia hesabu za vitu. Kompyuta zilikuwa katika vyuo vikuu zikisaidia wanafunzi katika utafiti. Kompyuta zilikuwa katika maabara zikifanya mahesabu magumu kwa mwendo wa kasi kwa ajili ya wanasayansi na wanfizikia. Kompyuta ilikuwa imefanya alama yake kila mahali katika jamii na kujengwa sekta kubwa (Cringley, 174). Wakati ujao ni wenye kuahidi kwa ajili ya sekta ya kompyuta na teknolojia yake. Kasi ya processor inatarajiwa kuongezeka mara mbili kila mwaka na nusu katika miaka ijayo. Kama mbinu za utengenezaji ni zaidi kukamilika bei ya mifumo ya kompyuta ni inatarajiwa kushuka kwa kasi. Hata hivyo, kwa kuwa teknolojia ya microprocessor itakuwa kuongezeka, ni gharama za juu itasaidia kushuka kwa bei ya wasindikaji wa zamani. "Kwa maneno mengine, bei ya kompyuta mpya itabaki sawa kutoka mwaka mmoja hadi mwingine, lakini teknolojia itaongezeka kwa kasi. "" - Zachary, 42, kutoka mwisho wa Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Dunia, ""Kampuni ya kompyuta imeongezeka kutoka mwanzo wa kusimama hadi moja ya viwanda kubwa na faida zaidi nchini Marekani." Sasa inajumuisha maelfu ya makampuni, yanayotengeneza kila kitu kuanzia kompyuta zenye kasi kubwa zenye thamani ya mamilioni ya dola hadi karatasi za kuchapisha na diski ndogo. Inawaajiri mamilioni ya watu na inazalisha makumi ya mabilioni ya dola katika mauzo kila mwaka (Malone, 192). Bila shaka, kompyuta imeathiri kila sehemu ya maisha ya watu. Imeathiri jinsi watu wanavyofanya kazi na kucheza. Imefanya maisha ya kila mtu kuwa rahisi kwa kufanya kazi ngumu kwa watu. Kwa kweli, kompyuta ni mojawapo ya uvumbuzi wenye kustaajabisha zaidi katika historia.