computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry
out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation). Modern digital
electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known
as programs, which enable computers to perform a wide range of tasks. The
term computer system may refer to a nominally complete computer that
includes the hardware, operating system, software, and peripheral equipment
needed and used for full operation; or to a group of computers that are linked
and function together, such as a computer network or computer cluster.
A broad range of industrial and consumer products use computers as control
systems, including simple special-purpose devices like microwave
ovens and remote controls, and factory devices like industrial robots.
Computers are at the core of general-purpose devices such as personal
computers and mobile devices such as smartphones. Computers power
the Internet, which links billions of computers and users.
Early computers were meant to be used only for calculations. Simple manual
instruments like the abacus have aided people in doing calculations since
ancient times. Early in the Industrial Revolution, some mechanical devices were
built to automate long, tedious tasks, such as guiding patterns for looms. More
sophisticated electrical machines did specialized analog calculations in the
early 20th century. The first digital electronic calculating machines were
developed during World War II, both electromechanical and using thermionic
valves. The first semiconductor transistors in the late 1940s were followed by
the silicon-based MOSFET (MOS transistor) and monolithic integrated
circuit chip technologies in the late 1950s, leading to the microprocessor and
the microcomputer revolution in the 1970s. The speed, power, and versatility of
computers have been increasing dramatically ever since then, with transistor
counts increasing at a rapid pace (Moore's law noted that counts doubled every
two years), leading to the Digital Revolution during the late 20th and early 21st
centuries.
Conventionally, a modern computer consists of at least one processing
element, typically a central processing unit (CPU) in the form of
a microprocessor, together with some type of computer memory,
typically semiconductor memory chips. The processing element carries out
arithmetic and logical operations, and a sequencing and control unit can
change the order of operations in response to stored information. Peripheral
devices include input devices (keyboards, mice, joysticks, etc.), output devices
(monitors, printers, etc.), and input/output devices that perform both functions
(e.g. touchscreens). Peripheral devices allow information to be retrieved from
an external source, and they enable the results of operations to be saved and
retrieved.
Etymology
A human computer, with microscope and calculator,
1952
It was not until the mid-20th century that the word acquired its modern
definition; according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first known use of the
word computer was in a different sense, in a 1613 book called The Yong Mans
Gleanings by the English writer Richard Brathwait: "I haue [sic] read the truest
computer of Times, and the best Arithmetician that euer [sic] breathed, and he
reduceth thy dayes into a short number." This usage of the term referred to
a human computer, a person who carried out calculations or computations. The
word continued to have the same meaning until the middle of the 20th century.
During the latter part of this period, women were often hired as computers
because they could be paid less than their male counterparts. [1] By 1943, most
human computers were women.[2]
The Online Etymology Dictionary gives the first attested use of computer in the
1640s, meaning 'one who calculates'; this is an "agent noun from compute
(v.)". The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the use of the term to
mean "'calculating machine' (of any type) is from 1897." The Online Etymology
Dictionary indicates that the "modern use" of the term, to mean
'programmable digital electronic computer' dates from "1945 under this name;
[in a] theoretical [sense] from 1937, as Turing machine".[3] The name has
remained, although modern computers are capable of many higher-level
functions.
