The Origins of the Computer

 

Many of us take computers almost for granted nowadays; they’re a ubiquitous presence in offices and homes across the country, used both for work and play on a daily basis. As specialists in IT services in London, we certainly depend on them! However, they weren’t always so common.

The concept of the computer first came from mechanical engineer Charles Babbage, working in the early 19^th Century. His “Difference Engine” was the first mechanical computer, and led the way for others to develop increasingly sophisticated mechanical or analog computers.

The principle of the modern computer, however, came from mathematician Alan Turing. His story is the focus of the new film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and due to reach UK cinemas on the 14^th November.

Whilst he is, today, best known for the bombe machine which broke the Nazi Enigma codes, this work was kept secret for a long time, and it was a paper written before the war which laid out the principles of modern computing. Today, computer scientists attempting to achieve artificial intelligence refer to the Turing Test as the standard to achieve, and the Turing Award is considered to be the highest honour in the computing world.

Leading on from Turing’s work, the first electronic programmable computers were the Colossus, which was also used to break German codes during the war, and the US-built ENIAC. These were, however, gigantic machines and nothing like the computers we use today.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that computers became commercially available; the Ferranti Mark 1 had a console the size of a large desk and a storage capacity that would shock any modern user – eight CRTs (more usually found in television sets) which could each store 32 40-bit words.

The development of integrated circuits and, in turn, microprocessors led to more practical small computers which look a lot more like the PCs of today.

However, even within the last thirty years or so, computing has changed a lot. Bill Gates of Microsoft is alleged to have said, in 1981, that “no one will need more than 637KB of memory for a personal computer” – but today, the average computer comes with around 2GB!

With the speed of change in computing, it’s important to ensure that your business stays on top of developments. That’s why we here at Tristar IT offer expert IT support in London and the surrounding area, helping you to keep your network in top condition. For more information, or for a free quote and IT health check, contact us on 01707 378453.