Computer and Technology
Electronic computers has a long and active background. They came on the scene
in a big way in the 1950s and 1960s.
They were the big mainframe computers. Mechanical computers date back to
about 100 BC. In the 1970s we saw the beginning of the experimental hobbyist
computers that mainly just let you program blinking lights. We saw the beginning
of the smaller and cheaper computers in the 1980s. Since then computers have
become even smaller, faster and larger capabilities.
As a means of providing a little history, modern day computing begain roughly
in the 1930s and 1940s. Digital electronics was used in 1937 by Claude Shannon.
In 1941, Konrad Zuse built the first electromechanical machine that used binary
arithmetic. In 1943, the British built the Colossus computer with thousands of
vacuum tubes to break German wartime codes. In 1946, the US Army built the
ENIAC computer, the first general purpose electronic computer, using decimal
arthmetic.
Technology
Technology applies to the knowledge and usage of tools and crafts. The term
'technology' machines, material objects and systems. It can be applied in a
very general manner or with a more specific association such as medical technology,
construction technology or the newer state-of-the-art-technology. The use of
technology started when mankind began converting natual resources into tools.
It has had a dramatic effect on society and our surroundings.
