History of computing hardware: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:16, 11 November 2024

Revision as of 20:19, 11 November 2024

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The '''Analytical Engine''' was programmed using '''punched cards''', a method adapted from the Jacquard loom invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, which controlled textile patterns with a sequence of punched cards.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=d'Ucel |first1=Jeanne |last2=Dib |first2=Mohammed |date=1958 |title=Le métier à tisser |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/40098349 |journal=Books Abroad |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=278 |doi=10.2307/40098349 |jstor=40098349 |issn=0006-7431}}</ref> These cards became foundational in later computing systems as well.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heide |first=Lars |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/book.3454 |title=Punched-Card Systems and the Early Information Explosion, 1880–1945 |date=2009 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |doi=10.1353/book.3454 |isbn=978-0-8018-9143-4}}</ref> Babbage's machine would have featured multiple output devices, including a printer, a curve plotter, and even a bell, demonstrating his ambition for versatile computational applications beyond simple arithmetic.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bromley |first=A.G. |date=1998 |title=Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, 1838 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/85.728228 |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=29–45 |doi=10.1109/85.728228 |issn=1058-6180}}</ref>

'''Ada Lovelace''' expanded on Babbage's vision by conceptualizing algorithms that could be executed by his machine.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Toole |first=Betty Alexandra |date=March 1991 |title=Ada, an analyst and a metaphysician |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/122028.122031 |journal=ACM SIGAda Ada Letters |volume=XI |issue=2 |pages=60–71 |doi=10.1145/122028.122031 |issn=1094-3641}}</ref> Her notes on the Analytical Engine, written in the 1840s, are now recognized as the earliest examples of computer programming.<ref>{{Cite journalbook |last1=Howard |first1=Emily |last2=De Roure |first2=David |date=2015 |titlechapter=Turning numbers into notes |urldate=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2867731.28677462015 |journaltitle=Ada Lovelace Symposium 2015- Celebrating 200 Years of a Computer Visionary on - Ada Lovelace Symposium '15 |chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2867731.2867746 |___location=New York, New York, USA |publisher=ACM Press |pages=13 |doi=10.1145/2867731.2867746|isbn=978-1-4503-4150-9 }}</ref> Lovelace saw potential in computers to go beyond numerical calculations, predicting that they might one day generate complex musical compositions or perform tasks like language processing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Haugtvedt |first1=Erica |last2=Abata |first2=Duane |title=Ada Lovelace: First Computer Programmer and Hacker? |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.18260/1-2--36646 |journal=2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings |date=2021 |publisher=ASEE Conferences |doi=10.18260/1-2--36646}}</ref>

Though Babbage's designs were never fully realized due to technical and financial challenges, they influenced a range of subsequent developments in computing hardware. Notably, in the 1890s, '''Herman Hollerith''' adapted the idea of punched cards for automated data processing, which was utilized in the U.S. Census and sped up data tabulation significantly, bridging industrial machinery with data processing.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Blodgett |first=John H. |title=Herman Hollerith, data processing pioneer |date=1968 |publisher=Drexel University Libraries |doi=10.17918/00004750 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.17918/00004750}}</ref>

The Industrial Revolution's advancements in mechanical systems demonstrated the potential for machines to conduct complex calculations, influencing engineers like '''Leonardo Torres Quevedo''' and '''Vannevar Bush''' in the early 20th century. Torres Quevedo designed an electromechanical machine with floating-point arithmetic,<ref>{{Citation |last=Torres y Quevedo |first=Leonardo |title=Essays on Automatics |date=1982 |work=The Origins of Digital Computers |pages=89–107 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-61812-3_6 |access-date=2024-10-30 |place=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-61812-3_6 |isbn=978-3-642-61814-7}}</ref> while Bush's later work explored electronic digital computing.<ref>{{Citation |title=6 Vannevar Bush, from "As We May Think" (1945) |date=2021 |work=Information |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7312/hayo18620-032 |access-date=2024-10-30 |publisher=Columbia University Press |doi=10.7312/hayo18620-032 |isbn=978-0-231-54654-6|doi-access=free }}</ref> By the mid-20th century, these innovations paved the way for the first fully electronic computers.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Haigh |first1=Thomas |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11436.001.0001 |title=A New History of Modern Computing |last2=Ceruzzi |first2=Paul E. |date=2021-09-14 |publisher=The MIT Press |doi=10.7551/mitpress/11436.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-262-36648-9}}</ref>

==Analog computers==

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* {{Citation |last=Randell |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Randell |editor-last=Metropolis |editor-first=N. |editor-link=Nicholas Metropolis |editor2-last=Howlett |editor2-first=J. |editor2-link=Jack Howlett |editor3-last=Rota |editor3-first=Gian-Carlo |editor3-link=Gian-Carlo Rota |title=A History of Computing in the Twentieth Century |chapter=The Colossus |pages=47–92 |year=1980 |publisher=Elsevier Science |isbn=978-0124916500 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcomputi0000inte/page/47 }}

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| last = Reynolds