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This is the Antikythera mechanism, which is considered the first mechanical analog computer, dating back to the first century BC.. Based on the storage and processing technologies employed, it is possible to distinguish four distinct phases of IT development: pre-mechanical (3000 BC – 1450 AD), mechanical (1450 – 1840), electromechanical (1840 – 1940), and electronic (1940 to present).
A human computer, with microscope and calculator, 1952. It was not until the mid-20th century that the word acquired its modern definition; according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first known use of the word computer was in a different sense, in a 1613 book called The Yong Mans Gleanings by the English writer Richard Brathwait: "I haue [] read the truest computer of Times, and the best ...
The history of the personal computer as a mass-market consumer electronic device began with the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s. A personal computer is one intended for interactive individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer where the end user's requests are filtered through operating staff, or a time-sharing system in which one large processor is shared by many individuals.
With an operating speed of 1 MHz, the Pilot Model ACE was for some time the fastest computer in the world. [ 52 ] [ 60 ] Turing's design for ACE had much in common with today's RISC architectures and it called for a high-speed memory of roughly the same capacity as an early Macintosh computer, which was enormous by the standards of his day. [ 52 ]
Global PC sales fell sharply in the first quarter of 2013, according to IDC data. The 14% year-over-year decline was the largest on record since the firm began tracking in 1994, and double what analysts had been expecting. [85] [86] The decline of Q2 2013 PC shipments marked the fifth straight quarter of falling sales. [87] "This is horrific ...
[1] [2] By contrast, software is a set of written instructions that can be stored and run by hardware. Hardware derived its name from the fact it is hard or rigid with respect to changes, whereas software is soft because it is easy to change. Hardware is typically directed by the software to execute any command or instruction.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 20 February 2025. Engineering discipline specializing in the design of computer hardware Not to be confused with Computational engineering. "Hardware engineering" redirects here. For engineering other types of hardware, see Mechanical engineering. For engineering chemical systems, see Chemical ...
The Xfce desktop environment offers a graphical user interface following the desktop metaphor.. In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur.