COMPUTERS:
A computer is a machine that takes information in, is able to manipulate it in
some way, and outputs new information. There is no single inventor of the
modern computer, although the ideas of British mathematician Alan Turing are
considered eminently influential in the field of computing. Mechanical
computing devices were in existence in the 1800s (there were even rare devices
that could be considered computers in ancient eras), but electronic computers
were invented in the 20th century. Computers are able to make complicated
mathematical calculations at an incredible rate of speed. When they operate
under the instructions of skilled programmers, computers can accomplish amazing
feats.
Some
high-performance military aircraft wouldn't be able to fly without constant
computerized adjustments to flight control surfaces. Computers performed the
sequencing of the human genome, let us put spacecraft into orbit, control
medical testing equipment, and create the complex visual imagery used in films
and video games. If we only examine these grandiose uses of computers, we
overlook how much we rely on them from day to day. Computers let us store vast
amounts of information and retrieve a given piece of it almost instantly. Many
of the things we take for granted in the world wouldn't function without
computers, from cars to power plants to phones.
THE
INTERNET: The Internet, a network of computers covering the entire planet,
allows people to access almost any information located anywhere in the world at
any time. Its effects on business, communication, economy, entertainment and
even politics are profound. The Internet may not have changed the world as much
as the plow, but it's probably on par with the steam engine or automobile.
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the research and development
arm of the U.S. military, created ARPANET in the late 1960s. This network of
computer-to-computer connections was intended for military and academic
research. Other computer networks began to cross the globe in the next few
years, and by the late 1970s computer scientists had created a single protocol,
TCP/IP, that would allow computers on any network to communicate with computers
on other networks. This was, essentially, the birth of the Internet, but it
took 10 or so years for various other networks in the world to adopt the new
protocol, making the Internet truly global.
The
Internet is such a powerful invention that we've probably only begun to see the
effects it will have on the world. The ability to diffuse and recombine
information with such efficiency could accelerate the rate at which further
world-changing inventions are created. At the same time, some fear that our
ability to communicate, work, play and do business via the Internet breaks down
our ties to local communities and causes us to become socially isolated. Like
any invention, the good or ill it accomplishes will come from how we choose to
use it.
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