Computers
role in our lives
Computers have an immense influence on
our life today. However the
invention of the computer was for different reason: calculating! When the first
computer was invented nobody thought that in the future computers would be used
publically, instead only 6 computers were assumed to be needed in worldwide. They were not faster than modern simple watches
or calculators. It has evolved so much and became immensely vital that nowadays
we cannot imagine even a single day without computers. The invention of
computers has completely changed the world today. Computers took over many
industries such as medicine, manufacturing, space science and etc. with the
help of computers tasks can be performed in seconds which would take many hours
for people doing it manually. After the invention of network, the world has
begun to connect wirelessly. This had some side-effects on our life as well
such as using the internet for violation purposes, negatively affecting the
health, dependency on computers and etc. In the following essay I will be
writing about the significant historical inventions in computer field, and the discovery
of networks and definitely about their role in our life.
The history of computers
Before 1935, a computer was a person
who performed arithmetic calculations. Between 1935 and 1945 the definition of
computer changed to a machine instead of person. The modern machine definition
is based on von Neumann's concept which is a device that accepts input,
processes data, stores data, and produces output. One of the earliest machines
was “Pascaline” or “Arithmatique” invented in 1642. The person who invented
this machine was Pascal, and the the main reason for this discovery was to help
his father with his work as a tax receiver. (Pascaline, 2007)
Later on in 1850 Charles Babbage
designed two classes of engine, Difference Engines, and Analytical Engines. The
unique method of this machine was that it uses only arithmetical addition and
removes the need for multiplication and division which are more difficult to
implement mechanically. His calculators
were decimal digital machines. The other machine which was the Analytical
Engine has many essential features found in the modern digital computer. This
machine was capable of performing some functions which now we call conditional
branching, looping (iteration), microprogramming, parallel processing,
iteration, latching, polling, and pulse-shaping, amongst others, despite the
fact that Babbage never used these terms. Analytical engine had some outputs
such as: hardcopy printout, graph plotting, punched cards. (The history of the
PC, p34)
Another powerful computer
Colossus was invented in 1943 which was mainly used to break codes during World
War 2. The British Colossus was the first ever programmable digital computer. Despite
the fact that Colossus was used few years earlier than ENIAC, it never got the
credit for that because of its secret status while world war. The Colossus
computers were successful and broke numbers of top secret German messages. (Dirk
Rejmenants, 2012)
World's
first electronic, large scale, general-purpose computer, invented by Mauchly
and Eckert in 1946. When it was finished, the ENIAC was the size of an entire
room, weighed thirty tons, and consumed two hundred kilowatts of power. More
than 19,000 vacuum tubes were the principal elements in the computer's
circuitry. The height of the ENIAC was nine feet tall, which has forty two
panels, two feet wide, and one foot thick. They used cables to wire the ENIAC
and three thousand switches were involved in it. The bush differential analyzer
could calculate very hard calculations in 15 minutes but it took only thirty
seconds for ENIAC. (Kevin W. Richey, 1997)
In 1951, the U.S. Census Bureau releases the world’s first publicly
used electronic digital computer, which was UNIAC (Universal Automatic Computer).
It was the discovery of developers of
ENIAC. UNIVAC and other first-generation computers were replaced by transistor
computers. which were smaller, used less power, and very efficient. These were,
in turn, supplanted by the integrated-circuit machines of between 1960 and
1970. The development of the microprocessor created small, powerful computers
such as the PCs, and laptops.5 Modern computers started to be built after these
inventions. (US Census Bureau, 2012)
Invention of internet
Meanwhile, the inventions of such computers led to internet discovery.
The first recorded description of the social interactions that could be enabled
through networking was memos written by J.C.R. Licklider of MIT in 1962.
He imagined a globally interconnected set of computers which would connect the
world together. This concept was just like the today’s Internet. In 1964 Leonard
Kleinrock at MIT published his first book on packet switching
theory. The key step was to
connect all the computers together. To experiment this concept, Thomas Merrill,
Roberts connected the TX-2 computer in Mass. The Q-32 was the first computer
network ever built with dial-up telephone line. But the circuit switched
telephone was not efficient to do this job. So Kleinrock's new idea of the need
for packet switching was recognized. In 1966 Roberts went to DARPA to develop
the computer network concept and quickly put together his plan for the "ARPANET",
publishing it in 1967. After Roberts and
the DARPA funded the concept for specifications for the ARPANET, the packet
switches called Interface Message Processors (IMP's). All this came together in 1969 when BBN installed the
first IMP and the first host computer was connected. Robert Taylor and Ivan
Sutherland were investigating methods of 3-D representations over the net. In
late 1969’s all four host computers connected together and that was the first
step that can be used publicly. FNC
(Federal Networking Council) redefined the term Internet in 1995.
"Internet" refers to the global information system. There was huge
improvement in the internet field over the past two decades. But most
important, it started as the creation of a small band of dedicated researchers,
and has grown to be a commercial success with billions of dollars of annual investment
(Internet Society, 2012)
The CYC Project
After the invention of Internet and more powerful computers people
started to think about creating something that can be similar (not exacly) to
human brains, which will have common sense. It was the CYC project which is the
largest experiment ever. The project began at the Microelectronics and Computer
Technology Corporation in Texas in 1984 under the direction of Douglas Lenat,
with an initial budget of $50 million. At that time Lenat hoped that this
project will improve so much in the future that it can serve as a foundation of
future expert systems. Lenat thought if systems have common sense they will be
prone to make less errors, which would lead to a better performance.
The CYC project need to be improved by putting millions of
information in it which requires “hand-coding.” Over the course of first six
years more than a million assertions have been entered into KB. It was
estimated by Lenat that it would take over centuries for 2 people to increase
the number of assertions to 100 million which would be enough for it to learn
from reading books by itself. Information should be entered in a way that can
answer all related question, which means if a person asks for one question, it
has to have the common sense of relating one situation to another. A simple
example for that could be: 1“CYC can infer "Garcia is wet" from the
statement "Garcia is finishing a marathon run", employing its
knowledge that running a marathon entails high exertion, that people sweat at
high levels of exertion, and that when something sweats it is wet” (Jack Copeland,
2000)
New generations of computers:
As the internet and modern computers are subject to improve its
performance over the course of more than 30 years we need something that can
carry all the date and can control millions of computers: which is
Supercomputers! Supercomputers
are now running our search engines and social networks. Supercomputers are the
brilliant achievement of the digital era. It is known that the supercomputers
of the past are just like laptops of today, although in the past half century
they had fascinating achievements such as: breaking codes, forecasting the weather,
simulating nuclear explosions, and creating new drugs. Lately years
supercomputers have shaped our daily lives more directly. We need the help of
supercomputers in most of our tasks done on the internet, for instance if we
look up for something on Google or watch video on Youtube, it is all run by
supercomputers. (Next-generation supercomputers, 2011)
Computer’s influence
on the society today:
As it is known,
computers are an electronic devices used in almost every field even where it is
most unexpected. This is the main reason why this age is called IT era. These
days computers are the tools for not only engineers and scientists but also
they are being used by millions of people around the world.
Computers’ role in
medicine industry is enormous. As computers get better in performance these fields
tend to improve accordingly. Doctors can look inside people without them ever
being cut. One of the biggest advancement we can look forward to is the use of
internet surgery. “Internet Surgery makes use of fast Ethernet connections and
robotic tools to perform the actual surgery. The surgeon does not have to be
present in the room for this surgery to take place. The surgeon can be in any
corner of the world and still feel exactly what he is doing, and looks at any
tests he wants. With this technology, the surgeon can even practice the surgery
before the actual surgery takes place. This will greatly improve the surgeons
understanding of the procedure and all the risks involved with it.”(Computers
in medicine, 2010)
This advancement leads to another advantage
on the patient’s part. This means that patients can choose a specialist from
any part of the world. They are not limited by geography or extra traveling
costs. “Another advantage of this technology is that it is more precise and
accurate than most human surgeons, so it can increase the likelihood of the
patients survival, especially in complicated surgeries like brain surgery. Even
though there are many advantages to Internet Surgery, it does have some major
risks. The biggest risk is computer failure or network failure. Both of these
situations can happen at any time and can lead to a disastrous situation. A
solution to this is having a backup team in room during the surgery so that if
something goes wrong, they can take over.
Image Guided Surgery will also
help the medical community a great deal.
Image Guided Surgery is different
from Internet Surgery because it does require the surgeon to be present in the
room. It involves building three dimensional models, laser scanning, and
registration so that the surgeon know exactly what he is going to be cutting
through, around, and at. During the actual surgery, the doctor has to wear a
special instrument so that he can see all the images and movies he made during
the pre-surgical process. The surgeon wears a virtual reality type headgear to
see exactly where in the body he is. Therefore, the surgeon will not actually
be looking into where he is making an incision, but into the headgear to see
the map that he has created in order to avoid mishaps.”
(Computers in medicine, 2010) A
small device (palm pilot) yet very efficient and powerful was one of the most influential
tool in medicine. it is used to find the medical records and outcomes. Doctors
can take some notes about the patients health on this device and stick it to
the patients records, so that next time he/she can know the exact health
situation
Banks:
Almost every bank is using computers to keep the record of all the money transaction and other calculations. Moreover it provides speed, convenience and security. It is almost impossible nowadays to keep track of each and every transaction made without computers. People can transfer the money through internet which gives more of a convenience.
Almost every bank is using computers to keep the record of all the money transaction and other calculations. Moreover it provides speed, convenience and security. It is almost impossible nowadays to keep track of each and every transaction made without computers. People can transfer the money through internet which gives more of a convenience.
Communication:
Communication has also influence of internet. Nowadays people are keeping in touch with most of their friends, relatives and people they know by using Facebook or skype and etc. Many years ago people had only one option to send letters which was by post-offices, nowadays it is available to everyone to send e-mails, letters via internet at any time they want. So the internet has made the earth a global village and moreover saves time. This would not be possible without computers. Computer network makes the user capable of accessing remote programs and databases of same or different organizations.
Communication has also influence of internet. Nowadays people are keeping in touch with most of their friends, relatives and people they know by using Facebook or skype and etc. Many years ago people had only one option to send letters which was by post-offices, nowadays it is available to everyone to send e-mails, letters via internet at any time they want. So the internet has made the earth a global village and moreover saves time. This would not be possible without computers. Computer network makes the user capable of accessing remote programs and databases of same or different organizations.
Business:
Computers can help the business run in a cost effective way. They can do business transactions very easily and accurately and keep the record of all the profits and losses. Today computers are found in restaurant, supermarkets and etc. which can help to calculate the cost of the product and selling price to demonstrate the profit or loss. With the help of the computers many companies have advantages because they can keep their cost lower when they are not paying for a employee to do this job and take more time. Because computers allow work to be done faster and more efficiently, it is possible for a company to hire fewer staff. In addition, with networked and relatively inexpensive computers, companies can store data more easily, saving on the time, and avoiding to purchase as many copiers, fax machines, typewriters, and other such items that were used before computers became popular. As a result, some small businesses can be started with a smaller salary costs. (Why computers are so important, 2012)
Computers can help the business run in a cost effective way. They can do business transactions very easily and accurately and keep the record of all the profits and losses. Today computers are found in restaurant, supermarkets and etc. which can help to calculate the cost of the product and selling price to demonstrate the profit or loss. With the help of the computers many companies have advantages because they can keep their cost lower when they are not paying for a employee to do this job and take more time. Because computers allow work to be done faster and more efficiently, it is possible for a company to hire fewer staff. In addition, with networked and relatively inexpensive computers, companies can store data more easily, saving on the time, and avoiding to purchase as many copiers, fax machines, typewriters, and other such items that were used before computers became popular. As a result, some small businesses can be started with a smaller salary costs. (Why computers are so important, 2012)
Negative effects of computers:
Just like everything has two sides, computers are also not an
exception when it comes to side-effects. Some believe people are becoming
increasingly addicted to computers which in turn can lead to replacing the
reality with an online substitute.
Research has shown that nowadays people spend on average of 12
hours of media a day. Due to the high employment rate, most of the people can
afford to buy a personal computer and have the access to WWW (World Wide Web). It
can be demonstrated in the picture of China. According to statistics, more than
40 million people play online games. Which obviously causes 40 million young
people to forget about the true values of the life and replacing it with
internet. It is also true incident that happened in China that one person who
had an infant, was addicted to video games and one day she even forgot about
her child by playing online video games for all day long, which caused death to
her infant.
Another significant drawback of computer use is the negative
effect of computers to people’s health. Studies
have found that the majority of computer workers experience some eye or vision
problems. According to surveys of eye doctors, more than 14% of their patients
have vision problems caused by computer work. It is stated that viewing a
computer screen is different than seeing a typewritten or printed page. Many
times the letters on a computer screen are not as clear as it would be on a
paper.
Computer games have a
negative impact on the development of children, mainly when contributing to aggressive
and anti-social behavior. Playing computer games has a greater negative effect
because it involves interactivity which impacts on learning processes of the
child. This will lead to a poor concentration of a child on study. “Numerous
studies around the effects of violence in television, movies and video games on
children have taken place over the last twenty years. The outcomes of various
studies have shown that there is a negative effect of consuming violent media.
When it comes to computer games, however, research by Douglas
Gentile and Craig Anderson, indicates that violent computer games have an
even stronger effect on children’s behavior because of its interactivity. The
General Aggression Model (GAM) has been developed to integrate recent findings
in aggression theory and research with earlier models. In this model, the
performance of aggression is based on learning, activation and application of
aggression-related knowledge stored in memory. It suggests that violent media
causes short-term increases in aggression. Various studies were performed to
prove this statement, involving exposing young adults to violent computer
games, and testing their reaction to stimuli. The result was a quantifiable
impact on the individual’s ‘internal’ state, the conclusion being that “violent
media increases aggressive cognition (including previously learned aggressive
scripts and aggressive perceptual schemata), by increasing arousal, or by
creating an aggressive affective state.”
The long term effects involve learning processes. The model puts forward the idea that each encounter with violent media, is essentially one more learning trial, since knowledge structures are built on how humans perceive, interpret, judge and respond to events based on interactions in the real (in the family or at school) or perceived (the media) world.” (Michael Heilemann, 2005)
The long term effects involve learning processes. The model puts forward the idea that each encounter with violent media, is essentially one more learning trial, since knowledge structures are built on how humans perceive, interpret, judge and respond to events based on interactions in the real (in the family or at school) or perceived (the media) world.” (Michael Heilemann, 2005)
In conclusion, we have to understand indeed, it took many centuries to get
to this step in the computer industry. When the first personal computers were
invented that was the boost in improving the computer’s performance in the
future. The history of the computer was
full of new ideas, improvements, and investments. The discovery of Internet was
one of the brilliant invention in human life, which is the main reason people
use computers for. Maybe if Internet was not invented, there would not be so
many computers in the world today, or life would not be as interesting as it is
today. As computers are becoming more and more powerful and intelligent after
some implication in this industry such as CYC project, they are being used most
of the industries in today’s world. However, one must understand the consequences
of over-using the computer or being heavily depended on computers as they could
lead to failures for a person in real life if computers are misused. Considering
all the points made above about the advantages and disadvantages of the
computer, it can be stated that overall, computers were so helpful developing
our life, and the use of the computer should be proper so that the
disadvantages will decrease in the future. Hopefully, the improvements in the
computer industry will continue to increase, and continue to make our world a
better place to live!
References:
·
“Pascaline, 2007” http://www.thocp.net/hardware/pascaline.htm
·
“The history of the PC, p34.” Introductory
technology in action 8th edition, 2012
·
“Dirk rejmenants, 2012” http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants/en/colossus.htm
·
“Kevin W. Richey, 1997” http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/ENIAC.Richey.HTML
·
“US Census Bureau, 2012” http://www.census.gov/history/www/innovations/technology/univac_i.html
·
“Internet society, 2012” http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/internet-51/history-internet/brief-history-internet
·
“Jack Copeland, 2000” http://www.alanturing.net/turing_archive/pages/reference%20articles/what_is_AI/What%20is%20AI08.html
·
“Next-generation supercomputers,
2011” http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/nextgeneration-supercomputers/0
·
“Computers in medicine, 2012” http://craignilsen0.tripod.com/
·
“Why computers are so important, 2012” http://www.letusfindout.com/why-are-computers-so-important/
·
“Michael Heilemann, 2005”
http://daniela.supersized.org/archives/42-The-negative-effects-of-violent-computer-games-on-children.html
