Computers :: essays research papers fc

DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTERS OVER THE DECADES   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Computer is an electronic device that can receive a set of instructions, or program, and then carry out this program by performing calculations on numerical data or by compiling and correlating other forms of information.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The modern world of high technology could not have come about except for the development of the computer. Different types and sizes of computers find uses throughout society in the storage and handling of data, from secret governmental files to banking transactions to private household accounts. Computers have opened up a new era in manufacturing through the techniques of automation, and they have enhanced modern communication systems. They are essential tools in almost every field of research and applied technology, from constructing models of the universe to producing tomorrow's weather reports, and their use has in itself opened up new areas of conjecture. Database services and computer networks make available a great variety of information sources. The same advanced techniques also make possible invasions of privacy and of restricted information sources, but computer crime has become one of the many risks that society must face if it would enjoy the benefits of modern technology. (Gulliver 12-15)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Imagine a world without computers. That would mean no proper means of communicating, no Internet, no video games. Life would be extremely difficult. Adults would have to store all their office work paper and therefore take up an entire room. Teenagers would have to submit course-works and projects hand-written. All graphs and diagrams would have to be drawn neatly and carefully. Youngsters would never have heard of 'video-games' and will have to spend their free time either reading or playing outside with friends. But thanks to British mathematicians, Augusta Ada Byron and Charles Babbage, our lives are made a lot easier. (Malone 5-6)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are two main types of computers that are in use today, analog and digital computers, although the term computer is often used to mean only the digital type. Analog computers exploit the mathematical similarity between physical interrelationships in certain problems, and employ electronic or hydraulic circuits to simulate the physical problem. Digital computers solve problems by performing sums and by dealing with each number digit by digit. (Cringley 28-30) Hybrid computers are those that contain elements of both analog and digital computers. They are usually used for problems in which large numbers of complex equations, known as time integrals, are to be computed.