TODAY’S ASTONISNING COMPUTERS
Not long ago computers were not very reliable and comparatively slow in
operation. Since then, several generations of complex electronic
computing equipment have been developed, each being significantly better
than the one before it. Almost every day a new use is found for these
astonishing devices to help man.
We know a computer to be a complex electronic device that can store and
process vast quantities of information. Following instructions,
computing equipment will perform calculations such as addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division, and provide the answers to a
large variety of problems in a tiny fraction of time.
A computer is known to be the “heart” of an electronic data processing
system, other parts of equipment being auxiliary.
There are two main types of computing equipment – digital and analogue.
They work differently and yield different results. The digital computer
is performing a much broader range of functions than the analogue one.
The analogue computer, as its name implies, produces analogues or
parallels of the process to be described or the problem to be solved.
Both the digital and analogue computers must be “programmed”. This means
they must be set up in such a way that they can produce a result from
the information fed into them, and the information itself must be
organized so it can be handled by the machines. These devices working
by electronic impulses perform at fantastic speed and with great
precision.
Looking to the future, computer makers see no end to the things they
would like to accomplish. The computer of the future seems to be
developed by using bionics – biological functions of plants and animals
– as a guide in designing electronic circuits.
Nowadays computer makers are working at the problem of introducing small
computers into our everyday life making them personal. They are trying
to develop a computer that will understand human language.
Each new generation of computers opens up new possibilities for basic
and applied research.
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