History
and Future of Computers
According
to Shaikh, A., & Karjaluoto, H., the broader term "information
technology/systems" refers to a set of systems, technologies, processes,
business applications, and software (Shaikh, A., & Karjaluoto, H., 2015). Computers started from telephone switches in the 1900s when engineers
realized they could be used for performing calculations. Early computers were large,
expensive machines, costing millions of dollars, occupied entire rooms, and
were used for government and business purposes. In the 1950s, computer chips
were invented and frequently improved to have lower costs. Over the years,
people began purchasing desktop and laptop computers for home use, and
computers started appearing in the form of electronic tablets, book readers,
and smartphones in the 2000s. Today computers have evolved, and billions of embedded computers (electronic devices with computers inside them) are manufactured every
year. Costs range from pennies to millions of dollars (Vahid, F. & Lysecky,
S.,2017). The very term information technology comes from data or information
that is stored, sent, or retrieved with devices such as computers, tablets,
smartphones, or other electronic technology.
Since the 1900s, when computers were just a
series of switches and evolved from large mainframes to desktops, computers
have always relied on the major hardware components to perform necessary
computing tasks. The functions of a modern computer system are required to
perform mathematical calculations, run application software, open a web
browser, and create PowerPoint documents.
Adding eggs or stirring ingredients, are
instructions in a recipe. Similarly, computers execute
(or run) programs consisting of directions, like
multiplying numbers or showing a number on a screen. Through the industrial
age, Mathematical thinking became increasingly important, which enabled
people to live and work successfully. Many people believe, creating a sequence
of instructions to solve a problem, or computational thinking will become
increasingly important for everyday life (Vahid, F. & Lysecky, S.,2017). People
use computers to create or build web pages, software programs, or even
applications using both low-level programming languages such as Machine and
Assembly language to compile high-level programming languages. There have been
many high-level programming languages developed over the years. The most
popular languages include C, C++, Java, Python, and Javascript. Each of the
languages has different strengths or weakness and are used for different
purposes (Vahid, F. & Lysecky, S.,2017). User interaction can also send
lines of commands to an interpreter, or batch processing can perform program
execution without human intervention.
Application
software plays a vital role in any computer, for without the operating system,
we wouldn't be able to perform any of the tasks needed. Without the operating
system, we wouldn't have a graphical interface and would be back to typing
commands in a command box as in the days of MS-DOS. Most of the tasks I perform
daily for work, such as creating spreadsheets, word documents, creating graphics,
reading/sending an email, or even creating training for our enterprise, need
application software to complete.
A collection of data organized to enable efficient information
retrieval is called a database. (Vahid, F. & Lysecky, S.,2017). The main purpose of a database is storing
and managing large capacities of data. Database software plays an important
role in our current society. No financial transactions, ecommerce, airline
reservations, or even buying groceries at the local supermarket would be
possible without databases (Hey, T. & Papay, G., 2015).
Computers
store/retrieve information from database applications such as MySQL, Microsoft
Access, or Oracle. At Blue Shield, company
and member data are stored in an Oracle multidimensional database, and database
managers perform management tasks on the database and the data stored inside. Member
claims information is stored along with provider information, claim status, and
costs.
The future of computer
technology will bring many changes and new technologies. Pysicist and
Co-Founder of String Theory has predicted the end of the “Age of Silicon” will
be within the next ten years once silicon chips get down to 5mm. What’s next? Possibly protein computes, DNA computers,
optical computes, quantum computers or molecular computers (Kaku,M, 2013).
Whatever the future brings I’m excited to see what exciting new technology it
will bring.
References
Shaikh,
A., & Karjaluoto, H. (2015). Making the most of information technology
&
systems
usage: A literature review, framework and future research agenda.
Computers in Human
Behavior, 49, 541-566. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.03.059
Hey, T., & Pápay, G. (2014). The
Computing Universe: A Journey through a Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139032643.
Michio
Kaku: Tweaking Moore’s Law and Computers of the Post-Silicon Era.Big Think.April
13, 2012.YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm6ScvNygUU
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