History of the Computer Industry in America

Only once in a lifetime will a new invention come about to touch


every aspect of our lives.   Such a device that changes the way we work,


live, and play is a special one, indeed.   A machine that has done all


this and more now exists in nearly every business in the U.S. and one


out of every two households (Hall, 156).   This incredible invention is


the computer.   The electronic computer has been around for over a


half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years.  


However, only in the last 40 years has it changed the American society.  


>From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor,


the computer has changed nearly every aspect of peopleÕs lives for the


better.


        The very earliest existence of the modern day computerÕs


ancestor is the abacus.   These date back to almost 2000 years ago.   It


is simply a wooden rack holding parallel wires on which beads are


strung.   When these beads are moved along the wire according to


"programming" rules that the user must memorize, all ordinary arithmetic


operations can be performed (Soma, 14).   The next innovation in


computers took place in 1694 when Blaise Pascal invented the first


Òdigital calculating machineÓ.   It could only add numbers and they had


to be entered by turning dials.   It was designed to help PascalÕs father


who was a tax collector (Soma, 32).


        In the early 1800Õs, a mathematics professor named Charles


Babbage designed an automatic calculation machine.   It was steam powered


and could store up to 1000 50-digit numbers.   Built in to his machine


were operations that included everything a modern general-purpose


computer would need.   It was programmed by--and stored data on--cards


with holes punched in them, appropriately called ÒpunchcardsÓ.   His


inventions were...