Computers

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My essay on computers very good :)

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Computers make our lives completely different. Our current significant developme
nt is due to computers in many areas. Examples of these areas are business, medi
cine, environment, technology, education and also our daily lives. Computers are
one of the most important elements to make our modern society. In this essay, I
would like to address the development of computer technology by using brief his
tory which is the transition of computers, and the significance of computers by
examining their use in the areas of our daily lives and in business world.
First of all, I would like to describe the developing history of computers becau
se we use computers almost everyday and personal computers are one of the most i
mportant tools to make our lives more convenient. Personal Computers have the gr
eatest influence to our daily lives. However we got Personal Computers only a fe
w decades ago. Therefore I think it is necessary to introduce the history of com
puters before we get PC. According to Cheryl Price*, there are four major genera
tions of developing computers.
The first generation began in 1946 when the ENIAC system became operational. ENI
AC stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator and was built by th
e University of Pennsylvania. ENIAC is the significance because it is the first
general purpose electronic computer system and also it was used for research, no
t commercial applications. The first computer was costing $US400.000 to build, f
unded by the US government. Also ENIAC weighed around 30 tones and stood two sto
ries tall. It operated using 18.000 vacuum tubes and could perform 500 basic ari
thmetic functions per second. Moreover it had difficulty in handling alphabetic
information and was programmed through an external plug board and it did not hav
e the facility for magnetic storage. This meant that if the program needed to be
changed it could only be done with great difficulty - almost like rewriting the
machine itself. Those difficulties could be hard to imagine for us, because now
adays we can buy computers, which even carry everywhere cost only $NZ3.000.
Other computers followed ENIAC, but in 1951 this first generation of computers w
as improved dramatically because of inventing UNIVAC I. There were some computer
s between ENIAC and UNIVAC I, but UNIVAC I had the greatest difference between o
thers, because it was the first machine purpose-built for commercial electronic
data processing. It still operated using vacuum tubes, (therefore it clarified i
n the first generation) but was capable of handling numeric and alphabetic infor
mation equally well. Another advancement was the input was via magnetic tapes an
d a primitive magnetic storage device was used to store the program. Those were
the biggest problems for ENIAC.
The second generation started in 1959 when transistors became commercially avail
able until 1964. Transistors are much smaller than vacuum tubes, greater reliabi
lity and use less power. These properties resulted in smaller, more powerful and
faster computers, about twenty times faster than ENIAC. Then, the third generat
ion came in the late 1960s when silicon chips were used instead of transistors.
These early computer chips were the equal of hundreds of transistors. Technology
kept improving with the equivalent of thousands of transistors on one chip.
The forth computer generation was created during the 1970s, however there is no
clear date as to when this took place or clear technological distinction between
third and fourth generations. The identifying feature of this generation is the
number of circuits that can be packed into a single chip - several hundred thou
sand on each. This technology has led to the mass usage of personal computers, a
great increase in the power of the computer and dramatic reduction in cost.
Those impressive development of technology above allows to us have personal comp
uters today. Also, the computer technology has still been improving right now. T
he future generation is anticipated to be able to make logical decisions for its
elf, learn from its mistakes (artificial intelligence) and to carry out several
processes at the same time within the one central processing unit (parallel proc

essing). In the fifth generation, computers process data with light pulses inste
ad of electrical pulses. Therefore, computers literally operate "at the speed of
light" and process data hundreds of times faster than the computers of today. B
esides the fact everyone can have personal computers nowadays, the communication
style is also changing significantly. It is the common to use the Internet and
E-mail to communicate each other for people in today. It is easy to understand t
he importance of the Internet in our daily lives. Because most of us use it almo
st everyday, it can be showed that the Internet is the most efficient and econom
ical way to communicate with others.
Secondly, I would like to mention about other kinds of computers in our daily li
ves. It is very easy to find computers around our daily lives because they are u
sed everywhere in this modern society. In general, people tend to think that "Pe
rsonal Computer" is the representation of computers. However it is just one type
of computers. There are many types of computers supporting our normal lives. It
can be said that people think without using computerized products, they cannot
live like they think normal. It is showed that many people are under the care of
computers so naturally. For instance, you might wake up by computerized alarm c
lock, which turns on the time you have set last night. Then you could have a bre
akfast, which is heated by microwave. Most people might not realize those produc
ts, which have microcomputers inside, however there are many utensils with micro
computers. It is easy to find one of them in your house, once you look through y
our living room. In addition, there are more understandable examples in many mod
ern houses. More and more houses have security systems recently and air conditio
ning systems too. Those high-tech computer systems are essential for many people
s' safer lives. Most people obtain the many kinds of benefits from computers eve
ryday but sometimes we use them without notice. They are the obvious evidence th
at those computers are too close to our daily lives.
Thirdly, I would like to state the role of computers in business world. It could
be said that our modern business world is based on computing systems a lot. On
the contrary, it is hard to find the companies, which have never used computers.
In general, most associations use computers for accounting because computers ar
e especially good at dealing with figures or numbers it is easier and more effic
ient to introduce computer systems in a long view. Computers contribute business
worlds run faster and more effective. There are many different areas using comp
uters in business world such as word processing, presentation, network systems a
nd managing information, which are relevant for the company. Therefore I would l
ike to mention about the significance of computer networks in business.
Nowadays, it is becoming more common using network systems in many companies. It
can be said that LAN is one of the fundamental methods for most associations, n
ot only big ones, but also there are plenty of practical uses for small organiza
tions. LAN (Local Area Network) systems can provide great effects for companies
because they link many different types of computers each other. It can be said t
hat LAN is similar to the Internet because both of them are networks, which are
built for connecting independent computers. There are many kinds of protocols to
consist networks such as the star network, the ring network, the bus or liner n
etwork and so on. The network systems produce marvelous effects for companies be
cause it enables them to share the CPU (Central Processing Unit), as in a shared
logic system and also share files and data and the ability to send electronic m
essages from one terminal to another. Those sharing of the important information
in companies contribute valuable time and work forces in the business world.
In conclusion, those examples, which I mentioned above, shows computers play the
significant roles in our society. It can be said that our modern lives cannot e
xist without computers. Even though computers participate actively and play more
and more important roles in our world, they are still one of the useful tools f
or human beings so far. However, computers are developing right now and in the f
uture, to be sure, it will be difficult to imagine the performance of computer i

n the future.

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