Computers and Technology
History of the Computer: It's a Binary World - How Computers Count
Many have cursed their computer for taking things too literally! It's easy to blame the computer when something goes wrong.You get to the checkout at the market, and the item you bought 'on special' comes up at the full price. Read more →History of the Computer: Cooling, Part 1 of 2
We have mentioned the provisions made to provide back-up power systems involving generators and banks of batteries (see history of the computer - redundancy). Read more →History of the Computer: Cooling, Part 2 of 2
Computer manufacturers specified the heat load required to be handled, the required flow of conditioned air, and the temperature to be measured at the cabinet entry points. Read more →History of the Computer: Flip-Flops - A Basic Counter
We looked at the Binary system, and basic computer logic elements, in previous articles, "It's a binary world - how computers count" and "How computers add - a logical approach". Read more →History of the Computer: Handshaking, Part 1 of 2
There is still information to be transferred to the I/O unit from the printer, for example a request for the next line of print, or an error message. So we use an OUTPUT cable and an INPUT cable. Read more →History of the Computer: Handshaking, Part 2 of 2
The first thing the I/O unit needs to do, is to see what the printer is doing at the moment. The program which requested the print has long gone and has no idea whether the printer is able to print, or even if there is a printer! Read more →History of the Computer: Real-time Systems, Part 1 of 2
We have mentioned before, in the history of the computer series, that digital computers have been developed as general purpose machines. You buy one of our systems, and you can use it to run a bank, operate the lottery, build a car, or control freight shipments for an airline. Read more →History of the Computer: Real-time Systems, Part 2 of 2
The computer is used to maintain the stock of parts at the lowest possible level, and to do this is able to alert suppliers, or repair shops on the base, when a replacement part is required. Read more →History of the Computer; Analog or Digital?
In 'History of the Computer - the emergence of Electronics', we saw how the development of Radar during the second world war led to an understanding of pulse technology. Read more →History of the Computer; How Computers Add - A Logical Approach
We looked at Number Systems and counting (see It's a Binary World - How Computers Count) last time. As a quick refresher, we saw that computers are made up of many units of 0 and 1, the binary system. Read more →← Previous Next →
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Aphorism
I claim that in losing the spinning wheel we lost our left lung. We are, therefore, suffering from galloping consumption. The restoration of the wheel arrests the progress of the fell disease.