Baskadia

A broad range of industrial and consumer products use computers as control systems.

Simple special-purpose devices like microwave ovens and remote controls are included, as

are factory devices like industrial robots and computer-aided design, as well as general-

purpose devices like personal computers and mobile devices like smartphones. Computers

power the Internet, which links billions of other computers and users.

Early computers were meant to be used only for calculations. Simple manual instruments like

the abacus have aided people in doing calculations since ancient times. Early in the Industrial

Revolution, some mechanical devices were built to automate long, tedious tasks, such as

guiding patterns for looms. More sophisticated electrical machines did specialized analog

calculations in the early 20th century. The first digital electronic calculating machines were

developed during World War II. The first semiconductor transistors in the late 1940s were

followed by the silicon-based MOSFET (MOS transistor) and monolithic integrated circuit

chip technologies in the late 1950s, leading to the microprocessor and the microcomputer

revolution in the 1970s. The speed, power and versatility of computers have been increasing

dramatically ever since then, with transistor counts increasing at a rapid pace (as predicted

by Moore's law), leading to the Digital Revolution during the late 20th to early 21st centuries.

Conventionally, a modern computer consists of at least one processing element, typically a

central processing unit (CPU) in the form of a microprocessor, along with some type of

computer memory, typically semiconductor memory chips. The processing element carries

out arithmetic and logical operations, and a sequencing and control unit can change the

order of operations in response to stored information. Peripheral devices include input

devices (keyboards, mice, joystick, etc.), output devices (monitor screens, printers, etc.), and

input/output devices that perform both functions (e.g., the 2000s-era touchscreen).

Peripheral devices allow information to be retrieved from an external source and they enable the result of operations to be saved and retrieved.

1) Etymology

2) History

3)Types

4)Hardware

5)Software

6)Networking and the Internet

7)Unconventional computers

8)Future

9)Professions and organizations

See also

10)Notes

11)References

12)Sources

13)External links