Computers I: History Of The Computer And Contributing Technologies

The Harvard Mark 1 Computer was constructed by IBM and shipped to Harvard University where it was used by the US Navy. What did the US Navy use this large computer for?

• The Mark 1 was used to calculate the distance from earth to the sun

• The Mark 1 was used to create baby computers that were born from it's electronic transistors

• The Mark 1 was used by the Navy to create an informational database

• The Mark 1 was used by the Navy for gunnery and ballistic calculations

Konrad Zuse is best known for developing the world's first functional program controlled computer. What is the name of this computer?

• The Zee computer

• The Z3 computer

• The Uzi Computer

• The Z Programming Language

I hope that by now it's clear to you that a transistor is not a computer, however it's invention was influential in the course of computer history. The first generation of computers used what?

• Musical instrument's parts

• Cables and wire that are specifically coated to reduce interference

• Vacuum Tubes that control voltage using a series of gates

• Integrated Circuits

"What we didn't realize then was that the integrated circuit would reduce the cost of electronic functions by a factor of a million to one, nothing had ever done that for anything before" - Jack KilbyThe Integrated circuit, otherwise known as the chip or IC, was a necessary invention in order to continue to make technical advances (AKA: make computers faster, smaller and more reliable). The integrated circuit placed all the necessary transistors, capacitors and wires in the same chip made of semiconductor material, known as what?

• A Wafer. Thin chip

• Silicon

• Germanium Crystal

• Plastic and Metals

The one major drawback of Vacuum tubes is that they created heat, consumed a lot of power, and burned out rapidly. In fact, computer engineers had to keep a large stock of these on hand to replace burn outs. That increased maintenance needs and drove up costs. This led to the need to create a more reliable way to control voltage, and thus the transistor was born. Transistors modulate (control) and switch electrical current. What else did the inception of transistors do for computer design?

• Transistors allowed computer to perform the same functions but with less power consumption, less space taken up and less maintenance required

• Transistors led to the development of semiconductor technologies

• Transistors got smaller and thus faster computers could be invented

• Transistors transmit more voltage and electrical current and that made computers faster and more reliable.

GUI or Gooey. The graphical user interface along with the inception of the mouse led to the popularity of the personal computer and it's place in the everyday business and home. Before the development of GUI and mouse as a way to control a computer, people needed to take classes to learn the codes and commands to get things done on a computer, making it impractical for the everyday user. Xerox's invention of the GUI by their development group PARC led Apple to create a computer using this technology. The Lisa computer featured a GUI operating system that caught Microsoft's eye as a possible technology they would like to borrow or steal. Why do you think the use of a GUI operating system made computers more popular for home use?  Who were the two guys that founded Apple and who were the two guys that founded Microsoft? Include this information in you answer.