Photo of a computer

Computers

Computers are machines that you can program to receive input and to store and manipulate data, providing an output that is in a useful format.

Interestingly mechanical examples of computers have been in existence throughout recorded human history, but electronic versions of computers are introduced and developed throughout the 20 th and 21 st centuries, with the first being brought to the field in 1940.

The first computers were the size of a large room and required as much power as generating several hundred modern personal computers (PCs).

Computers

Contemporary computers are based on integrates circuits and are billions of times more capable than the early computer models and are a small fraction of the size. The simple modern computers are small enough in size to be able to fit into small pocket devices powered by a small battery.

PCs are icons of the information age and are the classic example given by people when they think of computers and they have revolutionised how human civilisation functions today, in both the working field and personal field.

Embedded computers are what is found in devices such as MP3 players and children's toys, right through to fighter aircrafts and industrial robots. Computers are an extremely useful and versatile machines with the ability to store and execute lists of instructions known in computer terms as programs. With enough time and storage capacity all computers from netbooks to supercomputers are able to perform the same computational tasks.

General purpose computers feature four main components: the arithmetic logic unit (ALU), the control unit, the memory and input/output devices (I/O). These different components are connected by busses created by groups of wires. Inside each component are between thousands and trillions of small electrical circuits capable of being turned off or on by an electronic switch.

Each of these circuits represents a “bit” or binary digit of information so that the circuit when on is a “1” and off is “0”. The circuits are arranged in logic gates, therefore one or more is capable of controlling the state of one or more of the other circuits. The ALU, Control Unit and I/O are collectively names the Central Processing Unit (CPU) that are constructed on a single integrated circuit known as a microprocessor.

The CPU managed the different components of a computer and reads then interprets program instructions, transforming them into control signals that can activate other parts of the computer. Some more advanced computers and their CPU can change the order of certain instructions with an improved performance as a result.

You can purchase a range of computers to suit your particular needs, with new and improved technology being introduced on an incredibly fast and regular basis. There are slate computers, that are a flat computer that feature the ability to add external components and work with a touch screen. Netbooks and laptops, desktop PCs and mobile computer devices.

With revolutionary inventions such as the smartphone and motion sensor games consoles, computers are becoming smaller and much more capable of being used for every one of your needs.