who invented computers?

[AndreRIO]

?? http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[NDC]

Here Who Invented Computers (http://van.hep.uiuc.edu/van/qa/section/Everything_Else/Information/973978946.htm)

[dos7]

in the broadest sense of the term "computer" it was the first person(s) who ever counted with rocks or berries or whatever, the abacus was the evolution of this early technology, any machine that can deal with either on/off , 1 or 0's, quantifying nothingness and something. Look up things like ENIAC & Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine.

dos7

[hallam2003]

I don't think you can answer this question in the context presented: it depends on wht you classify as a "computer"

Hallam

[captpete]

The general consensus is that Charles Babbage invented what meets the most generally accepted definition of a computer.

[MiKe85]

I never thought an individual created the first "computer." For some reason i've always thought it was a major company or corporation that did it.

[daveleau]

Nice Info NDC! (As usual)

Like his article says, it depedns on your definition of a computer...

If you want to know who invented the internet...well, that's easy... Al "I love telling lies" Gore. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[superraton01]

the first modern computer was the apple 1.
5 of those were built in wood boxs in
steve jobs garage by jobs and wozniak.
the first mass distribution computer was
the apple II. the apple 1 now sells for
$35,000, the apple II for $250 and both
arenow valuable antiques saved by collectors.

[alphageek]

Give this link a shot...
http://www.cs.iastate.edu/jva/jva-archive.shtml

It says that John Atanasoff invented the first electronic digital computer at Iowa State University.

I've also heard that some British code-breaking machine was the the first computer (I don't know if it was digital or not).

[zskillz]

babbage never actually successfully made either of his "engines"... however, he is credited with the idea of getting a machine to computation (like a computer)

-Z

[hallam2003]

I think some big school, Harvard maybe, got the plans to babbage's machines, build at least one of them, and it worked, so even it he never actually built it, if he had....

Hallam

[nunyadam]

While this man did not invent the computer he did invent the integrated circuit that make's what we have now possible. Most of you have probably have never heard his name ,or know that he has recieved the nobel prize.
do a little research and see if you think we should all say THANK YOU to Jack Kilby.
http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/kilbyctr/jackstclair.shtml


nunya

[RustyGT]

Agreed abacus and Babbage. But.
I'd suggest you look for a history of IBM.

There you should find, the tabulating machines made in the mid 1890's and on ,first used to collate the Census of the time.
These machines were used for many years until IBM came into being in the 1920's.

The idea that an operator could sit at a console, feeding raw data on cards to a machine, that would then be able to offer statistics is not new.

That IBM was leasing these m/c's to their customers, and charging them a fortune for the cards they were using, is not new either.

In fact IBM were in court for many years, during the '20/'30's for monopoly practices.

More things change!

So who invented the computer?
A.The mechanicals?
B.The marketing?
C.Operating Systems?
D.All above?

IBM.
Cheers R.

[This message has been edited by RustyGT (edited 07-04-2001).]

[rh71]

Wow, you sound like an IBM employee... or a stockholder http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by rh71 (edited 07-03-2001).]

[Hellmund]

As long as we're being informative I'd thought I'd add something. Do you know why we call mistakes/errors bugs? It's from the computer designed in Australia called "CSIRX" (I think that's what it was called. It used relays instead of transistors and a moth got caught in a relay and caused a problem and "bug" was born. I don't think the name is right though(the CS one) thing.

[samwichse]

I always heard that with the first big huge computers like ENIAC, they would have to occationally go through and spray for bugs like moths and such, which they called "debugging", then when something screwed up, it started being called a bug.

[Hellmund]

Well that was what my TAFE teacher taught out class. He was probaly wrong though, he was convinced soccer is football.....long story http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[doggabone]

(I could not allow "they Army" remain un-corrected http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif)

From http://www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/halloffame/1997/eniac.shtml


The first programmers started out as "Computers." This was the name given by the Army to a group of over 80 women working at the University of Pennsylvania during World War II calculating ballistics trajectories - complex differential equations - by hand.


So - in an etymological sense - did the Army invent computers http://www.sysopt.com/forum/redface.gif?

There is a reasonably good SF book by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling called "The Difference Engine" which hypothesizes what life might have been like, had Babbage's work actually come to practical use in the Victorian era. Fun Sunday read If you like thinking about this stuff http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif.

[This message has been edited by doggabone (edited 07-04-2001).]

[doggabone]

O wait http://www.sysopt.com/forum/biggrin.gif.

This is really worth checking out if you've ever been stuck on even the simplest coding *adopts who me? look* - http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/univac/univacky.html