The Story of Computer: From Abacus to Windows

The need to count and calculate led man to create Abacus. As time passed, our needs increased marking a gradual shift from ordinary calculators to much sophisticated machines called Computers. Not only has it rid us of the labour of calculating big numbers, it has also allowed the world to communicate like never before. The world has shrunk in size and computer through networking has made it possible.

The evolutionary process of computing has covered thousands of years and in our story we begin from the beginning, when early forms of computing were emerging in ancient Egypt, India and China and the subsequent advances that followed them, right upto the modern era of computing. The remaining sections are about huge mechanical computers, transistor computers, Internet age and lastly modern computers. We have given a fair coverage to both software and hardware along with those people who are credited with their creation.

It is worth noting that wars and battles haven't always been destructive but have also stirred the advances in computing. Security needs and the complexities involved in regulating combat strategies led to the development of Mark computer when U.S. Navy and IBM teamed up to build an all-purpose computer to calculate logistics in case of a large scale battle. Second World War laid the ground for its application. Also, Sputnik was a prompted by the cold war. Not to say that university labs have a fundamental role in the research and development of computers.

From the developed nations to the developing nations, computer has infiltrated all. Lack of access in developing world is fast waning and the adoption of computing is encouraged and patronised even by their governments. The application of computers is fast increasing in all walks of life.