History of Computers :: Computing Services Technology Essays

History of Computers For many people living in the 21st century, the computer has become a very important tool for everyone. The computer has the ability to give information, it can help to correct mistakes that people make, and it is able to keep track of many things. It is also able to do many different calculations, this was one of the reasons that sparked the idea of the computer so many years ago. The first computer dates back to about 2000 years ago. With the abacus, a wooden rack holing two horizontal wires with beads strung on them (Meyers 1). This idea came about because man wanted to be able to automate the counting system. Even though this was not an automatic machine, it allowed the user to remember calculations and it also help to perform complex problems (Hoyle). After the creation of the abacus there was not really much advancement on the computer. Until Blaise Pascal working on the first digital computer in 1642 (Meyers 1). Pascal’s dad was a tax collector and he designed the computer so that it would be easier for his father for perform mathematical computations. The machine was called the Pascaline computer. The computer was able to add and after making few adjustments it was able to multiply (Hoyle). In the 1600’s this was remarkable technology at the time but there were disadvantages. If there was a problem with the computer only Pascal would be able to fix it and it would cost a lot. In 1812 a mathematics professor by the name of Charles Babbage became aware 1 that many mathematical calculation were predictable and so therefore it was possible that it could be done automatically.