History of computing hardware

History of computing hardware


Structured settlements, Mesothelioma, Acne, Life Insurance, Death Insurance, Bextra, Asbestos, Car Insurance, Dental Plans, Private Jets, Debt Consolidation, Credit Cards, Rewards Cards, Equity Loans, Equity Line Credit, Loans, Mortgages, Pay Day Loans, Cash Advance, Bankruptcy, Reduce Debt, Refinance, Jet Charter, Vioxx, Wrongful death, Legal Advice, Taxes, Investing, Bonds, Online Trading, IRA Rollover, Refinance Quotes, Adult Education, Distance Learning, Alcohol Treatment, Rehab, Drug Rehab, Spyware, Cell Phone Plans, Calling Cards, VOIP, Weight Loss, Canadian Pharmacy, Depression, Spam Filter, Lasik, Facelift, Teeth Whitening, Annuity, Anti Virus Protection, Adult Diaper, Free Credit Report, Credit Score, Satellite, Anti Spam Software, Dedicated Hosting, Domain Name, Need Money, Bachelor Degree, Master Degree, Doctorate Degree, Work at Home, Quick Book, Extra Money, Eloan, Malpractice Lawyer, Lenox China, Cancer, Payperclick, Personal Injury Attorney, Lexington Law, Video Conferencing, Transfer Money, Windstar Cruise, Casinos Online, Term Life, Online Banking, Borrow Money, Low Interest Credit Cards, Personal Domain Name, Cellular Phone Rental, Internet Broker, Trans Union, Cheap Hosting, University Degrees Online, Online Marketing, Consolidate, Helpdesk Software, Web Host, Homeowner’s Insurance, Yellow Page Advertising, Travel Insurance, Register Domain, Credit Counseling, Email Hosting, Business Credit, Consumer Credit, Blue Cross, Laptop Computer, texas personal injury lawyer, auto insurance, quotes auto insurance, cheap auto insurance, online auto insurance, new auto insurance, west auto insurance, car auto insurance, company auto insurance, auto insurance houston, discount auto insurance, progressive auto insurance, aaa auto insurance, free auto insurance, online auto insurance quote, mesothelioma survival rates, structured settlement annuity companies, mesothelioma attorneys california, structured settlements annuities, structured settlement buyer, mesothelioma suit, mesothelioma claim, small business administration sba, structured settlement purchasers, wisconsin mesothelioma attorney, houston tx auto insurance, mesotheliama, mesothelioma lawyer virginia, seattle mesothelioma lawyer, selling my structured settlement, mesothelioma attorney illinois, selling annuity, mesothelioma trial attorney, injury lawyer houston tx, baltimore mesothelioma attorneys, mesothelioma care, mesothelioma lawyer texas, structered settlement, houston motorcycle accident lawyer, structured settlement investments, mesothelioma lawyer dallas, caraccidentlawyer, structured settlemen, houston mesothelioma attorney, structured settlement sell, new york mesothelioma law firm, cash out structured settlement, mesothelioma lawyer chicago, lawsuit mesothelioma, truck accident attorney los angeles, asbestos exposure lawyers, mesothelioma cases, MESOTHELIOMA LAW FIRM, DONATE CAR TO CHARITY CALIFORNIA, DONATE CAR FOR TAX CREDIT, DONATE CARS IN MA, DONATE YOUR CAR SACRAMENTO, HOW TO DONATE A CAR IN CALIFORNIA, SELL ANNUITY PAYMENT, DONATE YOUR CAR FOR KIDS, ASBESTOS LAWYERS, STRUCTURED ANNUITY SETTLEMENT, ANNUITY SETTLEMENTS, CAR INSURANCE QUOTES COLORADO, NUNAVUT CULTURE, DAYTON FREIGHT LINES, HARDDRIVE DATA RECOVERY SERVICES, DONATE A CAR IN MARYLAND, MOTOR REPLACEMENTS, CHEAP DOMAIN REGISTRATION HOSTING, DONATING A CAR IN MARYLAND, DONATE CARS ILLINOIS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS FLORIDA, BEST CRIMINAL LAWYER IN ARIZONA, CAR INSURANCE QUOTES UTAH, LIFE INSURANCE CO LINCOLN, HOLLAND MICHIGAN COLLEGE, ONLINE MOTOR INSURANCE QUOTES, ONLINE COLLEDGES, PAPERPORT PROMOTIONAL CODE, ONLINECLASSES, WORLD TRADE CENTER FOOTAGE, MASSAGE SCHOOL DALLAS TEXAS, PSYCHIC FOR FREE, DONATE OLD CARS TO CHARITY, LOW CREDIT LINE CREDIT CARDS, DALLAS MESOTHELIOMA ATTORNEYS, CAR INSURANCE QUOTES MN, DONATE YOUR CAR FOR MONEY, CHEAP AUTO INSURANCE IN VA, MET AUTO, FORENSICS ONLINE COURSE, HOME PHONE INTERNET BUNDLE, DONATING USED CARS TO CHARITY, PHD IN COUNSELING EDUCATION, NEUSON, CAR INSURANCE QUOTES PA, ROYALTY FREE IMAGES STOCK, CAR INSURANCE IN SOUTH DAKOTA, EMAIL BULK SERVICE, WEBEX COSTS, CHEAP CAR INSURANCE FOR LADIES, CHEAP CAR INSURANCE IN VIRGINIA, REGISTER FREE DOMAINS, BETTER CONFERENCING CALLS, FUTURISTIC ARCHITECTURE, MORTGAGE ADVISER, CAR DONATE, VIRTUAL DATA ROOMS, AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT ATTORNEY, AUTO ACCIDENT ATTORNEY, CAR ACCIDENT LAWYERS, DATA RECOVERY RAID, MOTOR INSURANCE QUOTES, PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER, CAR INSURANCE QUOTES, ASBESTOS LUNG CANCER, INJURY LAWYERS, PERSONAL INJURY LAW FIRM, ONLINE CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEGREE, CAR INSURANCE COMPANIES, BUSINESS VOIP SOLUTIONS
Devices have been used to aid computation for thousands of years, mostly using one-to-one correspondence with fingers. The earliest counting device was probably a form of tally stick. Later record keeping aids throughout the Fertile Crescent included calculi (clay spheres, cones, etc.) which represented counts of items, probably livestock or grains, sealed in hollow unbaked clay containers. The use of counting rods is one example.

he abacus was initially used for arithmetic tasks. The Roman abacus was developed from devices used in Babylonia as early as 2400 BC. Since then, many other forms of reckoning boards or tables have been invented. In a medieval European counting house, a checkered cloth would be placed on a table, and markers moved around on it according to certain rules, as an aid to calculating sums of money.

The Antikythera mechanism is believed to be the earliest mechanical analog "computer", according to Derek J. de Solla Price. It was designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was discovered in 1901 in the Antikythera wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, and has been dated to circa 100 BC. Devices of a level of complexity comparable to that of the Antikythera mechanism would not reappear until a thousand years later.

Many mechanical aids to calculation and measurement were constructed for astronomical and navigation use. The planisphere was a star chart invented by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī in the early 11th century. The astrolabe was invented in the Hellenistic world in either the 1st or 2nd centuries BC and is often attributed to Hipparchus. A combination of the planisphere and dioptra, the astrolabe was effectively an analog computer capable of working out several different kinds of problems in spherical astronomy. An astrolabe incorporating a mechanical calendar computer and gear-wheels was invented by Abi Bakr of Isfahan, Persia in 1235. Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī invented the first mechanical geared lunisolar calendar astrolabe, an early fixed-wired knowledge processing machine with a gear train and gear-wheels, circa 1000 AD.

The sector, a calculating instrument used for solving problems in proportion, trigonometry, multiplication and division, and for various functions, such as squares and cube roots, was developed in the late 16th century and found application in gunnery, surveying and navigation.

The planimeter was a manual instrument to calculate the area of a closed figure by tracing over it with a mechanical linkage.

The slide rule was invented around 1620–1630, shortly after the publication of the concept of the logarithm. It is a hand-operated analog computer for doing multiplication and division. As slide rule development progressed, added scales provided reciprocals, squares and square roots, cubes and cube roots, as well as transcendental functions such as logarithms and exponentials, circular and hyperbolic trigonometry and other functions. Aviation is one of the few fields where slide rules are still in widespread use, particularly for solving time–distance problems in light aircraft. To save space and for ease of reading, these are typically circular devices rather than the classic linear slide rule shape. A popular example is the E6B.

In the 1770s Pierre Jaquet-Droz, a Swiss watchmaker, built a mechanical doll (automata) that could write holding a quill pen. By switching the number and order of its internal wheels different letters, and hence different messages, could be produced. In effect, it could be mechanically "programmed" to read instructions. Along with two other complex machines, the doll is at the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and still operates.

The tide-predicting machine invented by Sir William Thomson in 1872 was of great utility to navigation in shallow waters. It used a system of pulleys and wires to automatically calculate predicted tide levels for a set period at a particular location.

The differential analyser, a mechanical analog computer designed to solve differential equations by integration, used wheel-and-disc mechanisms to perform the integration. In 1876 Lord Kelvin had already discussed the possible construction of such calculators, but he had been stymied by the limited output torque of the ball-and-disk integrators. In a differential analyzer, the output of one integrator drove the input of the next integrator, or a graphing output. The torque amplifier was the advance that allowed these machines to work. Starting in the 1920s, Vannevar Bush and others developed mechanical differential analyzers.

source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer