Computing Then and Now: Just how far has mankind come in our quest to develop smarter technology?
By Jordane Delahaye November 24, 2014
The Altair 8800, which is considered by many to be the world's first "personal computer", had no keyboard or monitor. Users had to flip switches on the front panel and watch the LEDs on the front panel light up in response to their commands.
Humanity has been using computing devices for centuries but the dawn of the digital age heralded a technological revolution like no other in human history. Taking advantage of the miniaturization of computing technology and important developments in computer programming, computing devices have become a pervasive aspect of modern society and the industry is only growing. So how far have we come in the computing arms race? Judge for yourself...
Calculators: Then and Now
We've all used an electronic calculator at some point in our lives but they weren't always electric. The calculator is one of the more important inventions in human history and played an important role in the development of the computing industry. In fact, the first use of a microprocessor (Intel 4004 - the world's first microprocessor) was in a calculator. Today the average calculator can compute complicated scientific calculations and is not much bigger than a cellphone.
Personal Computers: Then and Now
Today Xerox is known as the paper/printer company but they were once leaders in the computing field. Founded in 1970, the Xerox Palo Alto Research Centre (PARC) is responsible for the prototypes of many of the developments of the that defined the Personal Computing era. Check out this ad for the Xerox Alto - one of the first PCs:
Needless to say today's PCs are faster, more compact and much more capable than their predecessors. Combine that processing power with the digital abyss that is the internet and there is very little that the modern PC can't do. The offerings today are virtually limitless and can be tailored to suit any most need.
Telecoms: Then and Now
"Can you here me now?" - Most people instinctively think of a cellphone conversation when they hear that phrase but this was not always the case. In fact, the first cellphone was not made commercially available until 1983, over a decade after Alexander Bell (and Elisha Gray) invented the first telephones. Advances in computing also lead to advances in the telecoms industry and today's cellphones are called "smartphones" because of their powerful computing capabilities.
Little Known Fact: It is recorded by Bell that the first words spoken over a telephone were "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you." which were spoken to his assistant during his first successful experiment with the telephone.
Software: Then and Now
The hardware component of computing devices would be useless without the software that tells them what to do. Al-Khwarizmi, who invented the system of problem solving we now know as the algorithm, along with the contributions of Alan Turing and Ada Lovelace and countless other mathematicians and scientists laid the foundation for computer programming and software development. Then Grace Hopper developed the first high-level programming languages and now almost anyone can learn how to write simple computer programs.
Perhaps the most glaring display of software development is in the gaming industry.