The electronic computer has affected life more than any other invention since the automobile. Although machines for performing mathematical calculations had existed since ancient times, it was not until the 1940s that these machines became electronic rather than mechanical. An important advance was John von Neumann´s realisation, in the 1940s, that a computer could store in its memory not only the numbers to be worked on, but also a programme of instructions telling it what calculations to perform. This made computers tremendously more versatile.
In 1971, Intel Corporation introduced the microprocessor, an integrated circuit (IC) containing the entire central processing unit (CPU) of a computer. The same year, Intel also introduced a computer memory IC, and it became possible to bild small, cheap micro-computers.
The impact of microprocessors was immense. Computers were suddenly much smaller, cheaper, and easier to use.
This led to new computer applications.
The computers of the 1950sand the 1960s had been so large and expensive that they were used only for large computations that could not be done any other way. But the late 1970s saw the advent of the personal computer, a device no larger than a typewriter and only slightly more expensive. Personal coputers were used for Word processing, simple bookkeeping, vídeo games, and other tasks for which older computers would never have been cost-effective. Microprocessors also provided computerised control functions in other kinds of equipment, such as automobile engines, vídeo tape recorders, “intelligent” thermostats, and even wristwatches.
By Andreia
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