Essential Guide to Computing: The Story of Information Technology, The

Introduction

The origins of computing

The story of computing's development is as fascinating as anything in history. In just more than 50 years, we have gone from some sketchy ideas and concepts to a world in which the number of computing devices is reckoned in the hundreds of millions and growing fast.

• Early computing devices

  The concept of a mechanical calculator dates to the Sixteenth Century, and was realized in fits and starts in various ways over the succeeding centuries. By the end of the 1800s, companies were producing devices that were sophisticated and reliable. But, even as businesses and scientists came to rely on these machines, it was obvious that the use of gears and levers would always limit their functionality. Most important, ...