There is no easy answer to this question due to the many different classifications of computers. The first mechanical computer, created by Charles Babbage in 1822, doesn't resemble what most would consider a computer today. Therefore we will talk about all inventions of computer.
When was the word "computer" first used?
The word "computer" was first used in 1613 in the book The Yong Mans Gleanings by Richard Braithwaite and originally described a human who performed calculations or computations. The definition of a computer remained the same until the end of the 19th century when the industrial revolution gave rise to mechanical machines whose primary purpose was calculating.
When was the First mechanical computer Invented?
In 1882, Charles Babbage, an English mechanical engineer, and polymath originated the concept of a programmable computer. Considered the "father of the computer", he conceptualized and invented the first mechanical computer in the early 19th century.
The input of programs and data was to be provided to the machine via punched cards, a method being used at the time to direct mechanical looms such as the Jacquard loom. For output, the machine would have a printer, a curve plotter, and a bell. The machine would also be able to punch numbers onto cards to be read later. The Engine incorporated an arithmetic logic unit, control flow in the form of conditional branching and loops, and integrated memory, making it the first design for a general-purpose computer that could be described in modern terms as Turing-complete.
The machine was about a century ahead of its time. All the parts for his machine had to be made by hand – this was a major problem for a device with thousands of parts. Eventually, the project was dissolved with the decision of the British Government to cease funding. Babbage's failure to complete the analytical engine can be chiefly attributed to political and financial difficulties as well as his desire to develop an increasingly sophisticated computer and to move ahead faster than anyone else could follow.
Nevertheless, his son, Henry Babbage, completed a simplified version of the analytical engine's computing unit (the mill) in 1888. He gave a successful demonstration of its use in computing tables in 1906.
Invention of First Analog computers
The first modern analog computer was the tide-predicting machine, invented by Sir William Thomson (later to become Lord Kelvin) in 1872. The differential analyzer, a mechanical analog computer designed to solve differential equations by integration using wheel-and-disc mechanisms, was conceptualized in1876 by James Thomson, the elder brother of the more famous Sir William Thomson.
A dozen of these devices were built before their obsolescence became obvious. By the 1950s, the success of digital electronic computers had spelled the end for most analog computing machines, but analog computers remained in use during the 1950s in some specialized applications such as education (slide rule) and aircraft (control systems).
Concept of modern computer
The principle of the modern computer was proposed by Alan Turing in his seminal 1936 paper, On Computable Numbers. Turing proposed a simple device that he called the "Universal Computing machine" and that is now known as a universal Turing machine. He proved that such a machine is capable of computing anything computable by executing instructions (program) stored on tape, allowing the machine to be programmable.
The fundamental concept of Turing's design is the stored program, where all the instructions for computing are stored in memory. Von Neumann acknowledged that the central concept of the modern computer was due to this paper. Turing machines are to this day a central object of study in the theory of computation. Except for the limitations imposed by their finite memory stores, modern computers are said to be Turing-complete, which is to say, they have algorithm execution capability equivalent to a universal Turing machine.
The first personal computer (PC)
In 1975, Ed Roberts coined the term "personal computer" when he introduced the Altair 8800 .Although the first personal computer is considered by many to be the KENBAK-1 , which was first introduced for $750 in 1971. The computer relied on several switches for inputting data and output data by turning on and off several lights.
First Mobile or Laptop computers
The IBM 5100 is the first portable computer, which was released in September1975. The computer weighed 55-pounds and had a five-inch CRT display, tape drive, 1.9 MHz PALM processor, and 64 KB of RAM. The first mobile computers were heavy and ran from mains power. The 50 lb (23 kg) IBM 5100 was an early example. Later portables such as the Osborne 1 and Compaq Portable were considerably lighter but still needed to be plugged in.
The first laptops, such as the Grid Compass, removed this requirement by incorporating batteries – and with the continued miniaturization of computing resources and advancements in portable battery life, portable computers grew in popularity in the 2000s. The same developments allowed manufacturers to integrate computing resources into cellular mobile phones by the early 2000s. These smartphones and tablets run on a variety of operating systems and recently became the dominant computing device on the market. These are powered by System on a Chip (SoCs), which are complete computers on a microchip the size of a coin.
First Computers of different Companies
Commodore - In 1977, Commodore introduced its first computer, the " Commodore PET."
Compaq - In March 1983, Compaq released its first computer and the first 100% IBM-compatible computer, the "Compaq Portable."
Dell - In 1985, Dell introduced its first computer, the "Turbo PC."
Hewlett Packard - In 1966, Hewlett Packard released its first general computer, the "HP-2115."
NEC - In 1958, NEC builds its first computer, the "NEAC 1101."
Toshiba - In 1954, Toshiba introduces its first computer, the "TAC" digital computer.
Apple - The "Apple I" (Apple 1) was the first Apple computer that initially sold for $666.66.
Conclusion
The computer was undoubtedly invented by Charles Babbage and later other scientists upgraded it and gave it a modern look. Computers have a long history. They are always upgraded with new features. I hope you liked the article. Please share it with your friends and family.
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