Computers are electronic devices that perform calculations or store and retrieve information according to instructions provided by a software program. They can be used for a wide variety of tasks, from simple data processing to complex scientific and engineering calculations. Early computers were often large, expensive, and difficult to use. However, advances in technology have led to the development of smaller, more powerful, and more user-friendly computers.
The first computers were created in the early 1800s. They were called mechanical calculators, and they could only be used by mathematicians and scientists. In 1876, Charles Babbage designed a machine called the Analytical Engine, which could be programmed to perform any calculation that could be done by hand. However, the machine was never completed. In 1937, John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry developed the first electronic computer, called the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC). However, this machine was not actually built until 1973. In 1941, Konrad Zuse designed and built the first programmable computer. The first computers were large enough to fill a room and used vacuum tubes for circuitry. These early machines were very slow compared with today’s standards; it could take hours or even days to run a single calculation.
The invention of the transistor in 1947 led to smaller and faster computers that used less electricity than vacuum tube-based machines. The first transistorized computer was built in 1953 at Bell Laboratories. In 1957 FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation), one of the earliest high-level programming languages was introduced commercially (by IBM). This made it possible for non-specialists to write programs for computers without having an in-depth knowledge of how they worked internally.. In 1959 integrated circuits were invented; these are collections of electronic components on a single silicon chip no larger than 1/8 inch square.. The microprocessor was invented in 1971; this is a complete computer on one tiny chip.. As microprocessors became more powerful during the 1970s , 1980s ,and 1990s , personal computers became increasingly popular . By 1995 there were an estimated 35 million personal computers worldwide connected together by telephone lines forming what is known as cyberspace or “the information superhighway”