The role of computers in modern society. The role of computers in the modern world

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Computer in the modern world

Introduction.

The computer quickly entered our lives. Just a few years ago it was rare to see any kind of personal computer - they existed, but they were very expensive, and not even every company could have a computer in their office. And now? Now every third home has a computer, which has already become deeply embedded in a person’s life. Modern computers represent one of the most significant achievements of human thought, the influence of which on the development of scientific and technological progress can hardly be overestimated. For many people, a computer is no longer a luxury, but a necessary item in their home or work environment.

So, while researching the literature, I set myself the following goals:

1. consider the history of the computer;

2. study the meaning and application of a personal computer;

3. talk about the impact of a computer on human health.

Chapter 1. The invention of the personal computer.

The history of the computer is closely related to attempts to facilitate and automate large amounts of computing. Even simple arithmetic operations with large numbers are difficult for the human brain. Therefore, already in ancient times, the simplest calculating device appeared - the abacus. In the 17th century The slide rule was invented to facilitate complex mathematical calculations. In 1642, Blaise Pascal designed an eight-bit adding mechanism. In 1820, the Frenchman Charles de Colmar created an adding machine capable of multiplication and division. All the basic ideas that underlie the operation of computers were outlined back in 1833 by the English mathematician Charles Babbage. He developed a design for a machine for performing scientific and technical calculations, where he foresaw the basic devices of a modern computer, as well as its tasks. To input and output data, Babbage proposed using punched cards - sheets of thick paper with information printed using holes. Babbage's ideas began to really come to life at the end of the 19th century. In 1888 American engineer Herman Hollerith designed the first electromechanical calculating machine - the tabulator. She could read and sort statistical records encoded on punch cards. In 1896, Herman Hollerith founded his company, which became the basis for the future - International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) - a company that made a huge contribution to the development of world computer technology. Further developments in science and technology made it possible to build the first computers in the 1940s. In February 1944, at one of the IBM enterprises (IBM), in collaboration with scientists from Harvard University, the Mark-1 machine was created by order of the US Navy. It was a monster weighing about 35 tons. "Mark-1" was based on the use of electromechanical relays and operated with decimal numbers encoded on punched tape. In 1946 Americans built the first computer - ENIAC. Its weight was 30 tons, it required 170 square meters of space to accommodate it. The machine contained 18 thousand vacuum tubes. The machine counted in the binary system and performed five thousand addition operations or three hundred multiplication operations per second. The car's electronic lamps often failed. To replace them in 1947, Americans John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Bradford Shockley proposed using semiconductor elements they invented - transistors. The improvement of the first types of computers led in 1951 to the creation of the UNIVAC computer, intended for commercial use. The active introduction of transistors in the 1950s was associated with the birth of the second generation of computers. Computers began to use storage devices made of magnetic cores capable of storing large amounts of information. In 1959, integrated circuits (chips) were invented, in which all electronic components, along with conductors, were placed inside a silicon wafer. The use of chips in computers makes it possible to shorten the paths of current during switching, and the speed of calculations increases tens of times; reduce dimensions. The appearance of the chip marked the birth of the third generation of computers. In 1970, Intel employee Edward Hoff created the first microprocessor by placing several integrated circuits on a single silicon chip. With the microprocess, microcomputers appear - fourth-generation computers that can fit on the user’s desk. In the second half of the 1970s, the most successful examples of microcomputers from the American company Apple appeared, but personal computers became widespread with the creation in August 1981 by IBM of the IBM PC microcomputer model. Over the last decades of the 20th century, microcomputers have made a significant evolutionary journey, greatly increasing their speed and the volume of processed information, but they were not able to completely displace minicomputers and large computing systems - mainframes. Moreover, the development of large computing systems has led to the creation of a supercomputer - a super-efficient and super-expensive machine capable of calculating a model of a nuclear explosion or a major earthquake. At the end of the 20th century, humanity entered the stage of formation of a global information network that is capable of combining the capabilities of various computer systems.

Chapter 2. The meaning and application of PC.

2.1. Personal computers.

What is meant by the concept in the modern sense of a personal computer? This question can be answered if we clearly formulate all its main features.

The very definition of “personal” must be understood correctly; it does not mean that a computer belongs to a person as personal property. The definition of “personal” arose because a person got the opportunity to communicate with a computer without the mediation of a professional programmer, independently, personally. It is not necessary to know a special computer language. The existing software in the computer will provide a favorable “friendly” form of dialogue between the user and the computer.

We can identify five formal signs that will help us determine whether a given computer is personal or not.

1. The control method is simple, visual, convenient, and does not require deep knowledge in the field of computer technology. All technical means (display, keyboard, manipulator, printing device, etc.) that ensure interaction between a person and a computer are made so that even a child can work on them without fear. Communication between a person and a computer is organized in a dialogue mode.

2. A large number of software tools have been developed for various applications. This will relieve the user of the need to compose a program in computer language himself.

3. Small-sized, high-capacity external memory devices allow the replacement of one drive with another. Such devices include: floppy disk drives and hard drives, cassette recorders.

4. Due to its small size and weight, comparable to a TV, no special equipment is required for installation, just enough space on your desktop.

5. The design of the personal computer and its external design are attractive in color and shape, and satisfy ergonomic indicators. For the first time during the development of computer technology, this feature is included as the main one in defining an entire class of computers.

2.2. Application of PC in human life.

“Everything is in man, everything is for man!

Only man exists, after all

the rest is the work of his hands and his brain."

M. Gorky.

A computer is also the work of a person’s hands and brain. The process of human interaction with computers has been going on for more than 40 years. Until recently, only specialists - engineers, mathematicians - programmers, operators - could participate in this process. In recent years, there have been dramatic changes in the field of computing. Thanks to the development and implementation of microprocessors in the computer structure, small-sized, user-friendly personal computers appeared. The situation has changed; the role of a user can be not only a computer specialist, but also any person, be it a schoolchild or a housewife, a doctor or a teacher, a worker or an engineer.

Household personal computers are used at home. Their main purpose: providing simple calculations, performing the function of a notebook, maintaining a personal file cabinet, a teaching tool for various disciplines, a tool for accessing public information funds via telephone channels, etc.

It became widespread as a means of entertainment - an organizer and partner in various games. Professional personal computers are used in a specific professional field; all software and hardware are focused on a specific profession.

However, regardless of the professional orientation of computers, their main purpose is to perform routine work: they search for information in various reference and normative documentation and archives, draw up standard forms of documentation, keep a diary or laboratory journal, record research results, remember and provide information on the user upon request. given professional activity, etc.

2.3. Computers as a means of communication between people.

If at least two people work on one computer, they already have a desire to use this computer to exchange information with each other. On large machines that are used simultaneously by dozens or even hundreds of people, special programs are provided for this, allowing users to send messages to each other, and the administrator to notify users about news in the system. As soon as it became possible to connect multiple machines into a network, users jumped at the opportunity to expand their social circle. Programs are created designed to exchange messages between users located on different machines.

The most universal means of computer communication is e-mail. It allows you to forward messages from almost any machine to any machine, since most known machines running on different systems support it. Email is similar to regular mail in many ways. With its help, a letter - a text provided with a standard header (envelope) - is delivered to a specified address, which determines the location of the machine and the name of the addressee, and is placed in a file called the addressee's mailbox, so that the addressee can get it and read it at a convenient time . At the same time, there is an agreement between email programs on different machines on how to write the address so that everyone understands it. E-mail turned out to be in many ways more convenient than regular, “paper” mail. If a group of people united by common interests wants to maintain a discussion on some topic for a long time, they create such a list, assign a name to it, after which all messages sent addressed to this name, are sent to all group members. But on a large scale this is very impractical.

To avoid these inconveniences, when communicating with very large groups of people, a system independent of e-mail is used - a computer conference. A computer conference can be useful for those who want to learn about new products, books or films; through it it is very convenient to disseminate information about noticed errors in programs and ways to fix them, it is simply irreplaceable for those who like to chat about their favorite topic with like-minded people in all corners of the Earth, and, of course, for scientific discussions. With the help of a conference, you can discuss a topic of interest in a group that would have cost an unpredictable amount of time and effort to gather in one place for a personal conversation. In the lists of groups you can find groups for specialists in ancient Greek culture and for lovers of rock music, and for exchanging culinary recipes. The conference programs are smart enough to send one copy of the message per machine, no matter how many users on that machine are reading it.

Chapter 3. Computer – friend or foe?

Parents are most often concerned about the impact of computers on vision and the harm of radiation. In addition, many have heard about computer fans who are completely immersed in an artificial virtual world, preferring it to real life. And naturally, they worry whether the same will happen to their child.

So should I buy a computer? Or wait? And how long to wait? And won't it be too late? Or is it premature? After all, the age at which a child begins to communicate with a computer is

is an important factor that gives rise to many other problems

for parents.

Let's compare two situations.

Child at the computer. He does not wander aimlessly through the streets with unknown people, he is at home, does not run, does not jump, does not scatter pencils, markers, does not paint with them anywhere, does not cut his mother’s favorite dress into small pieces. He is busy, does not pester adults, and perhaps even learns something (through training programs) or develops (through developmental programs) or simply receives a charge of positive emotions.

There is no computer. But there are so many problems! Sit the child down for homework, go for a walk with him, then do something, then clean everything up or force him to do it himself, etc. And at the same time, you still need to educate him, strain your nerves and mental strength.

It is not for nothing that many parents, having bought their child a personal computer, or even a pocket electronic game, breathed a sigh of relief. The attractiveness of a computer cannot be compared either with a TV or with any other activity. But do we, adults, know what problems arise in a child who is left alone with a computer day after day?

First of all, let's touch on the phenomenon of computer phobia. What it is? This is a computer-related state of uncertainty, indecision, irritability, and fear. A child, starting to master a computer, is afraid that he will not be able to cope with its demands; when communicating with a computer for a long time, he may also experience an unaccountable fear of unknown things, some alien force. Children who lack self-confidence perceive the computer as a “threatening stimulus” that aggravates the general state of anxiety.

The opposite phenomenon of computer phobia is excessive enthusiasm for the computer, when you literally have to make a fuss in order to tear the child away from the computer.

The fact is that the computer world into which the young user of a personal computer immerses and creates is so colorful, dynamic, and entertaining that over time it begins to be perceived as real. The so-called “Pygmalion syndrome” occurs. According to Greek mythology, the sculptor Pygmalion, having created a beautiful statue of a girl, fell in love with her. Young children are very emotional, impressionable, they, in essence, unlike adults, do not clearly distinguish between art and reality, which is why they so easily and trustingly immerse themselves in the life of the characters on the computer screen as in the real world, and over time, more willingly than in the real one.

On the one hand, this is good. When a child is familiar with a computer, it is easier for him to reveal himself and choose a behavior or self-learning strategy.

However, on the other hand, the habit of acting in a computer, virtual world can disrupt an adequate perception of the non-computer, real world. It should be remembered that a child moves more easily from images of specific objects and toys to images formed by computer means than vice versa. The transition from computer to real things becomes more difficult the more the child is captivated by the game. And this, in turn, can cause deviations in personality development such as withdrawal and autism*.

In different groups of people, under the influence of long-term studies on a PC, psychologists have established a variety of changes in mental development: some people experienced an increase in their level of intelligence, while others experienced a decrease in it.

The positive results of communicating with a computer include the formation of business motivation, improvement of logical and operational thinking, and the ability to predict. In addition, the computer has a large range of visual tools and contributes to the development of artistic design abilities and spatial concepts. Check out the painting options! You can create not only colors, but also the finest shades of colors. You can easily wash what you don't need. And most importantly, you can experiment endlessly. If you want, create a linear drawing, or if you want, combine colored shapes, paint a ready-made pattern, or create your own. Nowadays, many exciting programs have been created with educational games designed taking into account the age, individual capabilities and personal inclinations of children.

Educational programs allow children to develop abstract, logical thinking. They give him the opportunity to change the solution strategy at his discretion, use material of different levels of complexity and various types of computer assistance.

Short description

Currently, a larger amount of literature has been published on this topic, in which you can learn about the emergence of the computer, its use in various fields of human activity, learn how to use a computer in specific programs, and learn how to properly organize your workplace.
So, while researching the literature, I set myself the following goals:
1. consider the history of the computer;
2. study the meaning and application of a personal computer;

Computers in the modern world

Modern life cannot be imagined without computers. Technologies permeate the entire civilized world. The invention of microprocessor technology became the third information revolution of mankind after the invention of printing in the middle of the 16th century. and electricity at the end of the 19th century. These phenomena radically changed people's lives, their worldview, areas of production, communication and leisure.

Since 1947 Since the invention of the first computer, computers have been constantly improving, from generation to generation, and now it’s even scary to imagine how huge and slow the familiar ancestor of such a familiar machine was a couple of decades ago. And nowadays, even a 3-year-old computer is becoming obsolete. Over the course of several dozen centuries, both the composition and speed of computers and software have improved, making it much easier to work with a computer in our time. Moreover, when raising technology to the next level, several ways of improvement open up at once. New programs are being created, replacing old ones, and the most used ones are being improved. Nowadays, computer technology is taking on more and more diverse shapes and methods of application, and continues to be introduced into new areas of life.

Computers, laptops, computer consoles, gaming devices, mobile phones, communicators, pocket computers and other equipment, constantly being improved, are in steady demand among almost all segments of the population.
Nowadays, every person needs to know the basics of both the use and design of a computer. Having knowledge helps to operate the device correctly and reduces the risk of damage from improper use. But if your computer still fails, then contact a service center, for example this http://computerservis174.ru, and they will help you return the equipment to a working condition. With computer knowledge, it is easier both to get a job and to use it more or less independently without breakdowns and the help of specialists. Programs make it possible to simplify and speed up the execution of such a task and reduce the likelihood of computational errors (but do not eliminate them, since in any business the human factor is important). In addition, it is interesting to know the composition of your favorite toy, which you can stare at for hours, day after day and night after night, and ways to improve it. And in our time, 90% of modern teenagers know the main types of PCs; if not for games, then they are necessary for study and work.

Thus, computer technologies have now firmly entered our lives and there are strong trends towards improvement in them, which is reflected in our lives, regardless of whether we study these phenomena in educational institutions or become interested ourselves.
Nowadays, every person more or less often encounters computer technology. And some cannot imagine life and work without a mobile phone, computer and the Internet. This includes study, work, and leisure. And the entire computer industry, which has become firmly established in life, forces us to study computer science and know the structure and use of computers.

Computers entered our lives quite quickly, taking a strong place in it; now it is difficult to imagine any production without a computer. But literally 15 years ago they were a rarity and a very expensive pleasure. Only a few companies had the opportunity to purchase a personal computer. Now every home has its own personal computer.

The idea of creating artificial intelligence arose many years ago, but, as noted earlier, it began to be realized only in the 20th century. The world has never stood at one place in its evolutionary development - people’s behavior has changed, their habitat has changed, and along with it, changes have occurred in the technologies themselves, they are becoming more and more improved. Computers became smaller and smaller until they reached what they are today.

The invention of the computer can be called one of the most significant human inventions. As a result of their rapid evolution from giant to small, handheld devices, computers have become ubiquitous. Now they control the operation of all kinds of devices, plot routes and monitor the flight of aircraft, control the expenses of the family budget, and are used for leisure time. However, this is only a small part of the capabilities that a computer has. This picture and the rapidly advancing progress in the field of technology makes us understand that the current situation is only an approximate picture of what awaits us in the near future.

Today, the computer is a popular device for communication, having the advantage of cheap communication. Thanks to new technologies, the lives of all people are improving, including people with disabilities, because thanks to the spread of computers in everyday life, they can not only get a job, but also learn and realize themselves

With the right and competent selection of games, computers can be used to develop children's thinking. Scientists noted that children who had experience communicating with technology developed logical thinking faster and better, and improved motor skills of their hands and eyes.

Despite the large number of advantages, computers also cause harm. Today, Internet addiction is a disease that has become widespread. It develops in people who spend too much time on social networks. This once again proves that every thing and every invention requires competent and correct use.

We can confidently assure that the computer is already superior to humans in everything. He is able to solve problems of any complexity and size many times faster and with better quality, while avoiding mistakes. But one of the most important advantages of a computer is, perhaps, its memory. Memory is a big competitor to human memory. Initially, it was very small, but quickly crossed the bar and in its size surpassed the capabilities of human memory.

However, in one area of activity the computer is still inferior to humans - in creativity. Currently, a modern computer is not capable of creating anything new, that is, something that has not been entered into its memory by a person.

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Personal computers, history of creation, place in the modern world

Introduction

When our ancestor first took a stick to knock fruit from a tree, he extended his arm. When man invented a lever to move a heavy stone, he increased his physical strength. A telescope increased a man's vision, and a bicycle increased his speed. But the man didn’t stop there. The lever was replaced by a powerful crane, the telescope was replaced by a telescope, the bicycle was replaced by a car. Airplanes, rockets, and television appeared.

To create, you had to count. Count more and more. Then a man invented a computer. True, before inventing it, man invented many simpler devices that made calculation easier. And if all previous inventions increased our physical strength, speed, and visual power, then the computer increased our mental capabilities.

Computers have become firmly established in our production activities and currently there is no need to prove the feasibility of using computer technology in process control systems, design, scientific research, administrative management, in the educational process, banking, healthcare, service industries, etc.

At the same time, recent years, both abroad and in our country, have been characterized by a sharp increase in the production of mini- and micro-computers (personal computers)

Local computer networks can be built on the basis of mini and personal computers, which allows solving complex problems in production management.

Research has shown that of all the information generated in an organization, 60-80% is used directly in the same organization, circulating between departments and employees, and only the remaining part, in a generalized form, goes to ministries and departments. This means that computer equipment, dispersed across departments and workplaces, must function in a single process, and employees of the organization must be able to communicate using subscriber means with each other, with a single or distributed data bank. At the same time, high efficiency in the use of computer technology must be ensured.

The solution to this problem was greatly facilitated by the emergence of microelectronic devices of medium and large degrees of integration, personal computers, and equipment with built-in microprocessors.

The history of development and capabilities of computers will be discussed below.

1 . StoryWithcomputer construction

1.1 Mechanical calculating machines

Babbage computer generation calculating

Often the laurels of the first designer of a mechanical calculator are mistakenly given to the famous mathematician Blaise Pascal. In fact, it is reliably known that the German astronomer and mathematician Wilhelm Schickard, who twenty years before Pascal, in a letter to his friend Johannes Kepler in 1623, wrote about a machine that could subtract, add, divide and multiply. But the version that Schickard is the pioneer in this area is not correct: in 1967, unknown notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, who built the same thing as Schickard, but more than 120 years before him, were discovered.

The first mechanical calculating device that did not exist on paper, but worked, was a calculating machine built in 1642 by the outstanding French scientist Blaise Pascal. Pascal's mechanical "computer" could add and subtract. “Pascalina” - as the car was called - consisted of a set of vertically mounted wheels with numbers from 0 to 9 printed on them. When the wheel turned completely, it engaged with the adjacent wheel and turned it by one division. The number of wheels determined the number of digits - for example, two wheels made it possible to count up to 99, three - up to 999, and five wheels made the machine “know” even such large numbers as 99999. Counting on Pascaline was very simple.

In 1673, the German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz created a mechanical adding device that not only added and subtracted, but also multiplied and divided. Leibniz's machine was more complex than Pascalina. The number wheels, now geared, had teeth of nine different lengths, and calculations were made by the clutch of the wheels. It was the slightly modified Leibniz wheels that became the basis for mass calculating instruments - arithmometers, which were widely used not only in the 19th century, but also relatively recently by our grandparents.

Arithmometers are widely used. They even performed very complex calculations, for example, calculations of ballistic tables for artillery firing. There was also a special profession - a counter - a person who worked with an adding machine, quickly and accurately following a certain sequence of instructions (this sequence of instructions later became known as a program). But many calculations were carried out very slowly - even dozens of meters had to work for several weeks and months. The reason is simple - with such calculations, the choice of actions to be performed and the recording of the results were made by a person, and the speed of his work is very limited.

1.2 Babbage's ideas

Of all the inventors of past centuries who contributed to the development of computer technology, the Englishman Charles Babbage came closest to creating a computer in the modern sense.

Babbage's desire to mechanize calculations arose in connection with the dissatisfaction he experienced when faced with errors in mathematical tables used in a variety of fields.

In 1822, Babbage built a prototype model of a computing device, calling it the “Difference Engine”: the operation of the model was based on the principle known in mathematics as the “method of finite differences”. This method allows you to calculate the values of polynomials using only the addition operation and not perform multiplication and division, which are much more difficult to automate. This provided for the use of a decimal number system (and not binary, as in modern computers).

However, the Difference Engine had rather limited capabilities. Babbage's reputation as a pioneer in the field of automatic calculations was won mainly due to another, more advanced device, the Analytical Engine (which he came up with the idea for in 1834), which has surprisingly much in common with modern computers.

It was assumed that this would be a computing machine for solving a wide range of problems, capable of performing basic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. It was envisaged that the machine would have a “warehouse” and a “mill” (in modern computers they correspond to memory and a processor). Moreover, it was planned that it would work according to a program specified using punched cards, and the results could be printed (and even presented in graphical form) or on punched cards. But Babbage was unable to complete the work on creating the Analytical Engine; it turned out to be too complex for the technology of that time.

Historians claim that the first person to formulate the idea of a machine that could perform calculations automatically (that is, without direct human intervention thanks to a built-in program) was Charles Babbage 1 . He not only proclaimed the idea of an automatic computing machine, which was not obvious at the time, but also devoted his entire life to its development. One of his merits was that he anticipated the functional design of computing devices. According to Babbage, his Analytical Engine had the following functional units:

b “warehouse” for storing numbers (in modern terminology, memory);

ь “mill” (arithmetic device);

b a device that controls the sequence of operations in a machine (Babbage did not give it a name, the term control device is now used);

b data input and output devices.

Babbage's ideas were decades ahead of the emergence of an elemental base suitable for the practical implementation of computers - actually working designs appeared only in the middle of the 20th century. The fundamental principles of computer architecture were summarized and systematically outlined in 1946 in the classic paper by A. Burks, G. Goldstein, and J. Neumann, “A Preliminary Consideration of the Logical Design of an Electronic Computing Device.” In it, in particular, the structure of the computer was clearly and logically justified.

All functional blocks of a computer have a completely natural purpose and form a simple and logical structure. The latter turned out to be so successful that it has largely survived to this day. It is even commonly referred to as von Neumann architecture.

Thus, any computer contains the following functional blocks:

b arithmetic-logical unit ALU;

b control device CU;

b different types of memory;

b information input devices and

b information output devices.

Due to the enormous successes in the miniaturization of electronic components, in modern computers the ALU and control unit have been structurally combined into a single unit - a microprocessor. In general, the term processor almost everywhere, with the exception of detailed literature, has supplanted references to its components ALU and control unit.

While the list of functional blocks itself has remained virtually unchanged for more than half a century, the methods of their connection and interaction have undergone some evolutionary development.

2 . Computer generations

2 .1 First generation computers

First generation. (1945-1954) - vacuum tube computers (like those in old televisions). These are prehistoric times, the era of the emergence of computer technology. Most of the first generation machines were experimental devices and were built to test certain theoretical principles. The weight and size of these computer dinosaurs, which often required separate buildings for themselves, have long become a legend.

The founders of computer science are rightfully considered to be Claude Shannon, the creator of information theory, Alan Turing, a mathematician who developed the theory of programs and algorithms, and John von Neumann, the author of the design of computing devices, which still underlies most computers. In those same years, another new science related to computer science arose - cybernetics, the science of management as one of the main information processes. The founder of cybernetics is the American mathematician Norbert Wiener.

2 .2 Second generation computers

In the second generation of computers (1955-1964), transistors were used instead of vacuum tubes, and magnetic cores and magnetic drums, the distant ancestors of modern hard drives, began to be used as memory devices. All this made it possible to sharply reduce the size and cost of computers, which then began to be built for sale for the first time.

But the main achievements of this era belong to the field of programs. On the second generation of computers, what is now called an operating system first appeared. At the same time, the first high-level languages were developed - Fortran, Algol, Cobol. These two important improvements made writing computer programs much easier and faster; Programming, while remaining a science, acquires the features of a craft.

Accordingly, the scope of computer applications expanded. Now it was no longer only scientists who could count on access to computing technology; computers found application in planning and management, and some large firms even computerized their accounting, anticipating the fashion by twenty years.

2.3 Third generation computers

In the third generation of computers (1965-1974), integrated circuits began to be used for the first time - entire devices and units of tens and hundreds of transistors, made on a single semiconductor crystal (what is now called microcircuits). At the same time, semiconductor memory appeared, which is still used in personal computers as RAM throughout the day.

During these years, computer production acquired an industrial scale. IBM, which had become a leader, was the first to implement a family of computers - a series of computers that were fully compatible with each other, from the smallest, the size of a small closet (they had never made anything smaller then), to the most powerful and expensive models. The most widespread in those years was the System/360 family from IBM, on the basis of which the ES series of computers was developed in the USSR.

Back in the early 60s, the first minicomputers appeared - small, low-power computers affordable for small firms or laboratories. Minicomputers represented the first step towards personal computers, prototypes of which were released only in the mid-70s. The well-known family of PDP minicomputers from Digital Equipment served as the prototype for the Soviet SM series of machines.

Meanwhile, the number of elements and connections between them that fit in one microcircuit was constantly growing, and in the 70s, integrated circuits already contained thousands of transistors. This made it possible to combine most of the computer components into a single small part - which is what Intel did in 1971, releasing the first microprocessor, which was intended for desktop calculators that had just appeared. This invention was destined to produce a real revolution in the next decade - after all, the microprocessor is the heart and soul of our personal computer.

But that’s not all - truly, the turn of the 60s and 70s was a fateful time. In 1969, the first global computer network was born - the embryo of what we now call the Internet. And in the same 1969, the Unix operating system and the C programming language appeared simultaneously, which had a huge impact on the software world and still maintains its leading position.

2.4 Fourth generation computers

Unfortunately, the harmonious picture of generational change is further disrupted. It is generally believed that the period from 1975 to 1985. belongs to fourth generation computers. However, there is another opinion - many believe that the achievements of this period are not so great as to consider it an equal generation. Supporters of this point of view call this decade belonging to the “third and a half” generation of computers, and only from 1985, in their opinion, should we count the years of the life of the fourth generation itself, which is still alive today.

One way or another, it is obvious that since the mid-70s there have been fewer and fewer fundamental innovations in computer science. Progress is proceeding mainly along the path of developing what has already been invented and invented, primarily through increasing power and miniaturization of the element base and the computers themselves.

And, of course, the most important thing is that since the beginning of the 80s, thanks to the advent of personal computers, computing technology has become truly widespread and accessible to the public. A paradoxical situation arises: despite the fact that personal and minicomputers still lag behind large machines in all respects, the lion's share of innovations of the last decade - graphical user interfaces, new peripheral devices, global networks - owe their appearance and development to precisely this “frivolous” technology. Large computers and supercomputers, of course, are by no means extinct and continue to develop. But now they no longer dominate the computer arena as they once did.

2.5 Fifth generation computers

Basic requirements for 5th generation computers: Creation of a developed human-machine interface (speech recognition, image recognition); Development of logic programming for creating knowledge bases and artificial intelligence systems; Creation of new technologies in the production of computer equipment; Creation of new computer architectures and computing systems.

The new technical capabilities of computer technology should have expanded the range of tasks to be solved and made it possible to move on to the tasks of creating artificial intelligence. One of the components necessary for creating artificial intelligence is knowledge bases (databases) in various areas of science and technology. Creating and using databases requires high speed computing systems and a large amount of memory. General purpose computers are capable of performing high-speed calculations, but are not suitable for performing high-speed comparison and sorting operations on large volumes of records, usually stored on magnetic disks. To create programs that fill, update, and work with databases, special object-oriented and logical programming languages were created that provide the greatest capabilities compared to conventional procedural languages. The structure of these languages requires a transition from traditional von Neumann computer architecture to architectures that take into account the requirements of the tasks of creating artificial intelligence.

2.6 Generations of supercomputers

The class of supercomputers includes computers that have the maximum performance at the time of their release, or the so-called 5th generation computers.

The first supercomputers appeared already among the second generation computers; they were designed to solve complex problems that required high computing speed. These are LARC from UNIVAC, Stretch from IBM and CDC-6600 (CYBER family) from Control Data Corporation, they used parallel processing methods (increasing the number of operations performed per unit of time), command pipelining (when during the execution of one command the second is read from memory and prepared for execution) and parallel processing using a complex processor structure consisting of a matrix of data processors and a special control processor that distributes tasks and controls the flow of data in the system. Computers that run multiple programs in parallel using multiple microprocessors are called multiprocessor systems.

A distinctive feature of supercomputers are vector processors equipped with equipment for parallel execution of operations with multidimensional digital objects - vectors and matrices. They have built-in vector registers and a parallel pipelined processing mechanism. If on a conventional processor the programmer performs operations on each vector component in turn, then on a vector processor he issues vector commands at once

Until the mid-80s, the list of the largest supercomputer manufacturers in the world included Sperry Univac and Burroughs. The first is known, in particular, for its UNIVAC-1108 and UNIVAC-1110 mainframes, which were widely used in universities and government organizations.

Following the merger of Sperry Univac and Burroughs, the combined UNISYS continued to support both mainframe lines while maintaining upward compatibility in each. This is a clear indication of the immutable rule that supported the development of mainframes - preserving the functionality of previously developed software.

Intel is also famous in the world of supercomputers. Paragon multiprocessor computers from Intel in the family of multiprocessor structures with distributed memory have become as classic as computers from Cray Research in the field of vector-pipeline supercomputers.

In our time, the time of general computerization, all over the world there is a steady increase in the proportion of people working in the information sector in comparison with production. So, for example, in the USA a hundred years ago, 5% of workers were employed in the information sector and 95% in production, and today this ratio is close to 50 to 50, and such a redistribution of people continues. Automation and computerization of the information sphere, in general, lags behind the automation of the production sector. Now it is no longer enough for a person that a computer quickly and accurately solves the most complex calculation problems; today a person needs the help of a computer for quick interpretation and semantic analysis of a huge amount of information. These problems could be solved by the so-called “artificial intelligence”. The question of creating artificial intelligence arose almost simultaneously with the beginning of the computer revolution. But many questions arise on the way to its creation: the fundamental possibility of creating artificial intelligence based on computer systems; will the artificial intelligence of a computer, if it can be created, be similar to the human in the form of perception and comprehension of the real world or will it be an intelligence of a completely different quality; the ability to represent knowledge in computer systems and many others. Many problems have not been solved, and not the least of these problems are problems that philosophy could help solve.

3 . Place in the modern world

3.1 Evolutionary process

The evolutionary process that led to modern microcomputers was extremely fast. Although a large number of discoveries and inventions were involved in the creation of the machine known as the “personal computer,” a few events that were significant milestones in the history of science should be mentioned to put the full picture in its perspective.

Not so long ago, just three decades ago, a computer was a whole complex of huge cabinets that occupied several large rooms. All she did was count pretty quickly. It took the wild imagination of journalists to see “thinking units” in these giant adding machines, and even to scare people with the fact that computers were about to become more intelligent than humans.

The overestimation of human capabilities at that time is understandable. Imagine: steam locomotives were still chugging along on the railways, helicopters were just appearing, and they were looked at as a curiosity; Rarely has anyone seen television yet; only narrow specialists knew about computers... and suddenly there was a sensation - the machine translated from language to language! Even if it’s only a couple of short sentences, she translates herself! There was something to be amazed by. In addition, the computer was rapidly improving: its size was sharply reduced, it worked faster and faster, acquired more and more new devices, with the help of which it began to print text, draw drawings and even draw pictures. It is not surprising that people believed all sorts of fiction about a new technical miracle. And when one sarcastic cyberneticist himself composed vaguely mysterious poems, and then passed them off as the work of a machine, they believed him.

3.2 Modern computers

What can we say about modern computers, compact, fast, equipped with arms - manipulators, display screens, printing, drawing and drawing devices, image and sound analyzers, speech synthesizers and other “organs”! At the world exhibition in Osaka, computerized robots were already walking up the stairs, carrying things from floor to floor, playing sight on the piano, and talking with visitors. It seems that they are about to equal a person in their abilities, or even surpass him.

Yes, computers can do a lot. But, of course, not everything. First of all, smart machines can effectively help a student in his studies. For some reason, it is believed that computers are needed primarily in mathematics, physics, and chemistry lessons, i.e. when studying those sciences that seem to be closer to technology, but in Russian language lessons, traditional “technical” means - blackboards, chalk and rags - are sufficient.

Of course, language is immeasurably more complex than any mathematical, chemical or physical system of symbols. Language covers all areas of human knowledge without exception, and this knowledge itself is impossible without it. Language is the designer and expresser of our thinking, and thinking is the most complex of all that is known to us, at least until today. However, computers are increasingly invading the humanities, and this process will continue at an accelerating pace.

3.3 Computer family

The family of computers - electronic technical devices for processing information - is quite large and diverse. There are small calculating devices - microcalculators that fit in wristwatches, ballpoint pens: tiny number buttons that need to be pressed with a needle or the point of a pencil, and several operations - four operations of arithmetic, calculating percentages, raising to a power, extracting roots. That's all - the possibilities for working with the language are not enough.

Larger computers are the size of a calendar card and just as flat. There are no buttons on them, and there are no moving parts at all. Everything is simply printed, and the indicator numbers are on liquid crystals. You touch the printed numbers - they are lined up on an indicator made of crystals; energy - from the printed strip - photocell. Such a “machine” can neither be broken nor smashed, except perhaps torn.

There are calculators the size of a notebook, the size of a medium-sized book. Their capabilities are increasing: the device performs a whole range of complex algebraic operations, it has RAM, so that the work can already be easily programmed.

There are even models of pocket calculators with external memory - a whole set of ferromagnetic plates on which you can write a rather complex program with a large amount of initial data. As necessary, the plates are introduced into the receiver of the machine, it “swallows” them and processes the information no worse than the first computing cabinets - mastodons. But the baby fits in your pocket!

So imperceptibly, a real computer with wide capabilities grows from a simple electronic counter. And now a desktop computer appears with a solid external memory, a display screen and an alphabetical keyboard. This is already a personal, individual computer, the capabilities of which are quite sufficient for working with the language. And the convenience cannot be better: the program is recorded on a small diskette, information is entered directly from the keyboard, where there are numbers and the alphabet (Russian or Latin), everything you need is displayed right there on the display screen. No hassle with punched cards or punched tapes, no worries about computer time, no waiting for your program to work and the results to be obtained - everything is here, everything is at hand, everything is in front of your eyes.

There are individual computers with memory on a CD. This is a small iridescent disc the size of a small record player, only it is “played” not with a needle, but with a laser beam. One such disk contains so much information that if it were printed in a book, entire volumes would be needed. But if the capabilities of an individual computer are still not enough, you have to turn to large computers.

Conclusion

COMPUTER - electronic computers. The computer calculates the design of the spacecraft and controls its flight. The computer predicts the weather. To do this, he has to process a lot of information received both on Earth and from space - from artificial Earth satellites. The computer helps design new cars, airplanes, factories. A computer on a livestock farm helps select the best feed composition and determine its portions, and controls the temperature, humidity and lighting of greenhouses. The computer calculates the wages that parents receive. The computer is even used in movies. With its help, you can draw anything, then film it, and the viewer will never guess that it actually doesn’t exist.

Of course, the possibilities of a computer are not limitless. Moreover, he only does what man has taught him. And the computer has already learned a lot. In any case, a person armed with a computer can create such miracles that Aladdin with his magic lamp or old Hottabych with his wonderful beard could not even dream of. You can just play with the computer. It replaces an entire hall of slot machines, as it allows you to play not just one, but many different games. The computer helps historians reconstruct and decipher ancient manuscripts written on parchment, birch bark or clay tablets.

Computers sell airline and train tickets, instantly telling cashiers in different parts of the city and even in different cities which plane or train has available seats.

The computer also has a place in school. It can replace a chemical laboratory, clearly showing on the screen what will happen if you combine some substances. It can be used to easily demonstrate how a steam engine works or how a rocket takes off. It will make learning a foreign language easier. The computer will help you make a list of all the books in the library (such a list is called a catalog) and instantly find in it all the books of any author or on any topic.

The use of computers has made it possible in recent years to create a new method for obtaining images of the internal parts of opaque bodies. This method is called tomography. It produces images of much better quality than fluoroscopy.

By entrusting computers with mechanical, routine work, we free people for creative activity. In order for computers to solve the necessary problems, people must constantly transfer their knowledge to computers in the form of accurate information, strict rules, error-free algorithms and effective programs. That is why knowledge of the basics of computer science and computer technology, understanding of their role in the life of society and people’s activities become an element of human culture, an integral part of general education, and an academic subject.

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Sakhalin Regional Institute for Retraining and Advanced Training

Department of New Information TechnologiesEast Lyceum

Personal computers. History of creation. Place in the modern world. Performed

Supervisor

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

2006

Content.

Introduction.

1.1 Mechanical calculating machines.

1.2 Babbage's ideas.

Chapter II. Generations of computers.

2.1 First generation computers.

2.3 Third generation computers.

2.4 Fourth generation computers.

2.5 Fifth generation computers.

2.6 Generation of supercomputers.

Chapter III. Place in the modern world.

3.1 Evolutionary process.

3.2 Modern computers.

3.3 Computer family.

Conclusion.

Application.

Appendix 1. Structure of computers in the first and second generations.

Appendix 2. Structure of third-generation computers.

Appendix 3. Structure of fourth generation computers.

Introduction

When our ancestor first took a stick to knock fruit from a tree, he lengthened his arm. When man invented a lever to move a heavy stone, he increased his physical strength. The telescope increased the man's vision, and the bicycle increased his speed. But the man didn’t stop there. The lever was replaced by a powerful crane, the telescope was replaced by a telescope, the bicycle was replaced by a car. Airplanes, rockets, and television appeared.

To create, you had to count. Count more and more. Then man came up with a computer. True, before inventing it, man invented many simpler devices to facilitate calculations. And if all previous inventions increased our physical strength, speed, and visual power, then the computer increased our mental capabilities.

Computers have firmly entered our production activities and at present there is no need to prove the feasibility of using computer technology in process control systems, design, scientific research, administrative management, in the educational process, banking, healthcare, service sector, etc.

At the same time, recent years, both abroad and in our country, have been characterized by a sharp increase in the production of mini- and micro-computers (personal computers)

Based on mini and personal computers, local computer networks can be built, which allows solving complex problems in production management.

Research has shown that of all the information generated in an organization, 60-80% is used directly in the same organization, circulating between departments and employees, and only the remaining part, in a generalized form, goes to ministries and departments. This means that computer equipment, dispersed across departments and workplaces, must function in a single process, and employees of the organization must be given the opportunity to communicate using subscriber means with each other, a single or distributed data bank. At the same time, high efficiency in the use of computer technology must be ensured.

The history of development and capabilities of computers will be discussed below.

Chapter I. History of the creation of computers.

1.1 Mechanical calculating machines

The laurels of the first designer of a mechanical calculator are often mistakenly given to the famous mathematician Blaise Pascal. In fact, it is reliably known that the German astronomer and mathematician Wilhelm Schickard, who twenty years before Pascal, in a letter to his friend Johannes Kepler in 1623, wrote about a machine that could subtract, add, divide and multiply. But the version that Schickard is the pioneer in this area is not correct: in 1967, unknown notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, who built the same thing as Schickard, but more than 120 years before him, were discovered.

The first mechanical calculating device that did not exist on paper, but worked, was a calculating machine built in 1642 by the outstanding French scientist Blaise Pascal. Pascal's mechanical "computer" could add and subtract. “Pascalina,” as the car was called, consisted of a set of vertically mounted wheels with numbers from 0 to 9 printed on them. When the wheel turned completely, it engaged with the adjacent wheel and turned it by one division. The number of wheels determined the number of digits - so, two wheels made it possible to count up to 99, three - up to 999, and five wheels made the car “know” even such large numbers as 99999. Counting on the Pascaline was very simple.

In 1673, the German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz created a mechanical calculating device that not only added and subtracted, but also multiplied and divided. Leibniz's machine was more complex than Pascalina. The number wheels, now geared, had teeth of nine different lengths, and calculations were carried out by the clutch of the wheels. It was the slightly modified Leibniz wheels that became the basis for mass calculating instruments - arithmometers, which were widely used not only in the 19th century, but also relatively recently by our grandparents.

Arithmometers are widely used. Even very complex calculations were performed on them, for example, calculations of ballistic tables for artillery firing. There was also a special profession - a counter - a person who worked as a adding machine, quickly and accurately following a certain sequence of instructions (this sequence of instructions later became known as a program). But many calculations were carried out very slowly - even dozens of counters had to work for several weeks and months. The reason is simple - with such calculations, the choice of actions to be performed and the recording of results were made by a person, and the speed of his work is very limited.

1.2Babbage's ideas.

Of all the inventors of past centuries who contributed to the development of computer technology, the Englishman Charles Babbage came closest to creating a computer in the modern sense.

Babbage's desire to mechanize calculations arose in connection with the dissatisfaction he experienced when faced with errors in mathematical tables used in a wide variety of fields.

IN 1822.Babbage built a test model of a computing device, calling it the “Difference Engine”: the operation of the model was based on the principle known in mathematics as the “finite difference method”. This method allows you to calculate the values of polynomials using only the addition operation and not perform multiplication and division, which are much more difficult to automate. This provided for the use of a decimal number system (and a non-binary one, as in modern computers).

However, the Difference Engine had rather limited capabilities. Babbage's reputation as a pioneer in the field of automatic calculations was won mainly thanks to another, more advanced device, the Analytical Engine (the idea for which he came up with in 1834.), which has surprisingly much in common with modern computers.

Historians claim that the first person to formulate the idea of a machine that could perform calculations automatically (that is, without direct human intervention thanks to a built-in program) was Charles Babbage 1. He not only proclaimed the idea of an automatic computing machine, which was not obvious at that time, but also devoted his entire life to its development. One of his merits was that he anticipated the functional design of computing devices. According to Babbage, his Analytical Engine had the following functional units:

“warehouse” for storing numbers (in modern terminology, memory);

"mill" (arithmetic device);

a device that controls the sequence of operations in a machine (Babbage did not give it a name, the term control device is now used);

data input and output devices.

Babbage's ideas were decades ahead of the emergence of an elemental base suitable for the practical implementation of computers - actually working designs appeared only in the middle of the 20th century. The fundamental principles of computer architecture were summarized and systematically outlined in 1946 in the classic paper "A Preliminary Consideration of the Logical Design of an Electronic Computing Device" by A. Burks, G. Goldstein and J. Neumann. In it, in particular, the structure of the computer was clearly and logically justified.

All functional blocks of a computer have a completely natural purpose and form a simple and logical structure. The latter turned out to be so successful that it has largely been preserved to this day. It is even commonly referred to as von Neumann architecture.

Thus, any computer contains the following functional blocks:

arithmetic-logical unit ALU;

control device CU;

different types of memory;

input devices and

information output devices.

Due to the enormous successes in the miniaturization of electronic components, in modern computers the ALU and control unit have been structurally combined into a single unit - a microprocessor. In general, the term processor has almost everywhere, with the exception of detailed literature, supplanted references to its components ALU and control unit.

While the list of functional blocks itself has remained virtually unchanged for more than half a century, the methods of their connection and interaction have undergone some evolutionary development.

Chapter II. Generations of computers.

2.1 First generation computers.

First generation (1945-1954) - computers using vacuum tubes (like those that were in old televisions). These are prehistoric times, the era of the emergence of computer technology. Most of the first generation machines were experimental devices and were built to test certain theoretical principles. The weight and size of these computer dinosaurs, which often required separate buildings for themselves, have long become a legend.

The founders of computer science are rightfully considered to be Claude Shannon, the creator of information theory, Alan Turing, a mathematician who developed the theory of programs and algorithms, and John von Neumann, the author of the design of computing devices, which still underlies most computers. In the same years, another new science related to computer science emerged - cybernetics, the science of management as one of the main information processes. The founder of cybernetics is the American mathematician Norbert Wiener.

2.2 Second-generation computers.

In the second generation of computers (1955-1964), transistors were used instead of vacuum tubes, and magnetic cores and magnetic drums - distant ancestors of modern hard drives - were used as memory devices. All this made it possible to sharply reduce the size and cost of computers, which then began to be built for sale for the first time.

But the main achievements of this era belong to the field of programs. The second generation of computers saw the first appearance of what is today called an operating system. Then the first high-level languages were developed - Fortran, Algol, Cobol. These two important improvements made it much easier and faster to write computer programs; Programming, while remaining a science, acquires the characteristics of a craft.

Accordingly, the scope of computer applications expanded. Now it was no longer just scientists who could count on access to computer technology; computers found use in planning and management, and some large firms even computerized their accounting, anticipating the fashion by twenty years.

2.3 Third generation computers.

During these years, computer production acquired an industrial scale. IBM, which had become a leader, was the first to implement a family of computers - a series of computers that were fully compatible with each other, from the smallest, the size of a small closet (they had never made smaller ones at that time), to the most powerful and expensive models. The most widespread in those years was the System/360 family from IBM, on the basis of which the ES series of computers was developed in the USSR.

Meanwhile, the number of elements and connections between them that fit in one microcircuit was constantly growing, and in the 70s, integrated circuits already contained thousands of transistors. This made it possible to combine most of the computer components in a single small part - which is what she did in 1971. Intel, releasing the first microprocessor, which was intended for desktop calculators that had just appeared. This invention was destined to produce a real revolution in the next decade - after all, the microprocessor is the heart and soul of our personal computer.

But that’s not all - truly, the turn of the 60s and 70s was a fateful time. IN 1969. the first global computer network was born - the embryo of what we now call the Internet. And at the same time 1969At the same time, the Unix operating system and the C programming language appeared, which had a huge impact on the software world and still retain their leading position.

2.4 Fourth generation computers.

Unfortunately, the ongoing pattern of generational change is being disrupted. It is generally believed that the period from 1975 to 1985. belongs to fourth generation computers. However, there is another opinion - many believe that the achievements of this period are not so great as to consider it an equal generation. Supporters of this point of view call this decade belonging to the “third and a half” generation of computers, and only with 1985., in their opinion, the years of life of the fourth generation itself, which is still alive to this day, should be counted.

One way or another, it is obvious that since the mid-70s there have been fewer and fewer fundamental innovations in computer science. Progress is proceeding mainly along the path of developing what has already been invented and thought up - primarily through increasing the power of miniaturization of the element base and the computers themselves.

And, of course, the most important thing is that since the beginning of the 80s, thanks to the advent of personal computers, computing technology has become truly widespread and accessible to everyone. A paradoxical situation arises: despite the fact that personal computers are still lagging behind large machines in all respects , the lion's share of innovations of the last decade - graphical user interface, new peripheral devices, global networks - owe their appearance and development to this “frivolous” technology. Large computers and supercomputers, of course, are by no means extinct and continue to develop. But they no longer dominate the computer arena as they once did.

2.5 Fifth generation computers.

The new technical capabilities of computer technology should have expanded the range of tasks to be solved and made it possible to move on to the tasks of creating artificial intelligence. One of the components necessary for creating artificial intelligence is knowledge bases (databases) in various areas of science and technology. To create and use databases, a high-speed computing system and a large amount of memory are required. General purpose computers are capable of performing high-speed calculations, but are not suitable for performing high-speed comparison and sorting operations on large volumes of records usually stored on magnetic disks. To create programs that fill, update, and work with databases, special object-oriented and logical programming languages were created that provide greater capabilities compared to conventional procedural languages. The structure of these languages requires a transition from the traditional von Neumann computer architecture to architectures that take into account the requirements of the tasks of creating artificial intelligence.

2.6 Generations of supercomputers.

The class of supercomputers includes computers that have the maximum performance at the time of their release, or the so-called 5th generation computers.

The first supercomputers appeared among the second generation computers (1955 - 1964, cm. computers of the second generation), they were designed to solve complex problems that required high computing speed. These are LARC from UNIVAC, Stretch from IBM and "CDC-6600" (CYBER family) from Control Data Corporation, they used parallel processing methods (increasing the number of operations performed per unit of time), command pipelining (when during the execution of one command the second is read from memory and prepares for execution) and parallel processing using a complex processor structure consisting of a matrix of data processors and a special control processor that distributes tasks and controls the flow of data in the system. Computers that run multiple programs in parallel using multiple microprocessors are called multiprocessor systems.

A distinctive feature of supercomputers are vector processors equipped with equipment for parallel execution of operations with multidimensional digital objects - vectors and matrices. They have built-in vector registers and a parallel pipeline processing mechanism. If on a regular processor the programmer performs operations on each vector component in turn, then on a vector processor he issues vector commands at once

Until the mid-80s, the list of the largest supercomputer manufacturers in the world included SperryUnivac and Burroughs. The first is known, in particular, for its UNIVAC-1108 and UNIVAC-1110 mainframes, which were widely used in universities and government organizations.

Following the merger of SperryUnivac and Burroughs, the combined UNISYS continued to support both mainframe lines while maintaining upward compatibility in each. This is clear evidence of the immutable rule that supported the development of mainframes - maintaining the functionality of previously developed software.

Intel is also well known in the world of supercomputers. Paragon multiprocessor computers from Intel, a family of multiprocessor structures with distributed memory, have become as classic as computers from Cray Research in the field of vector-pipeline supercomputers.

In our time, the time of general computerization, all over the world there is a steady increase in the proportion of people working in the information sector in comparison with production. So, for example, in the USA a hundred years ago, 5% of workers were employed in the information sector and 95% in production, and today this ratio is close to 50 to 50, and such a redistribution of people continues. Automation and computerization of the information sphere, in general, lags behind the automation of the production sector. Now it is no longer enough for a person that a computer quickly and accurately solves the most complex calculation problems; today a person needs the help of a computer for quick interpretation and semantic analysis of a huge amount of information. These problems could be solved by the so-called “artificial intelligence”. The question of creating artificial intelligence arose almost simultaneously with the beginning of the computer revolution. But on the way to its creation, many questions arise: the fundamental possibility of creating artificial intelligence based on computer systems; will the artificial intelligence of a computer, if it can be created, be similar to the human one in the form of perception and comprehension of the real world or will it be an intelligence of a completely different quality; the ability to represent knowledge in computer systems and many others. Many problems have not been solved, and not the least of these problems are problems that philosophy could help solve.

Chapter III. Place in the modern world.

3.1 Evolutionary process.

The evolutionary process that led to modern microcomputers was extremely fast. Although a large number of discoveries and inventions were involved in the creation of the machine known as the “personal computer”, a few milestones in the history of science should be mentioned to put the full picture in perspective.

Not so long ago, just three decades ago, a computer was a whole complex of huge cabinets that occupied several large rooms. And all she did was count quite quickly. It took the wild imagination of journalists to see “thinking units” in these giant adding machines, and even to scare people with the fact that computers were about to become more intelligent than humans.

The overestimation of human capabilities at that time is understandable. Imagine: steam locomotives were still chugging along the railways, helicopters were just appearing, and they were looked at as a curiosity; Rarely has anyone seen television; only narrow specialists knew about computers... and suddenly there was a sensation - the machine translated from language to language! Even if it’s only a couple of short sentences, she translates herself! There was something to be amazed by. In addition, the computer was rapidly improving: its size was sharply reduced, it worked faster and faster, acquired more and more new devices, with the help of which it began to print text, draw drawings and even draw pictures. It is not surprising that people believed all sorts of fiction about a new technical miracle. And when one sarcastic cyberneticist himself composed vaguely mysterious poems, and then passed them off as the work of a machine, they believed him.

3.2Modern computers.

What can we say about modern computers, compact, fast, equipped with arms - manipulators, display screens, printing, drawing and drawing devices, analyzers of images, sounds, speech synthesizers and other “organs”! At the world exhibition in Osaka, computerized robots were already walking up and down the stairs, carrying things from one floor to another, playing sight on the piano, and talking with visitors. So it seems that they are about to equal a person in their abilities, or even surpass him.

Yes, computers can do a lot. But, of course, not everything. First of all, smart machines can effectively help a student in his studies. For some reason, it is believed that computers are needed primarily in mathematics, physics, and chemistry classes, i.e. when studying those sciences that seem to be closer to technology, but in Russian language lessons, traditional “technical” means - blackboards, chalk and rags - are sufficient.

Of course, language is immeasurably more complex than any mathematical, chemical or physical system of symbols. Language covers all areas of human knowledge without exception, and this knowledge itself is impossible without it. Language is the designer and expresser of our thinking, and thinking is the most complex of all that we know, at least to this day. However, computers are increasingly invading the humanities, and this process will continue at an accelerating pace.

3.3 Computer family.

The family of computers - electronic technical devices for processing information - is quite large and diverse. There are small calculating devices - microcalculators that fit in wristwatches, ballpoint pens: tiny number buttons that need to be pressed with a needle or the tip of a pencil, and several operations - four operations of arithmetic, calculating percentages, raising to a power, extracting roots. That's all - the capabilities for working with the language are rather limited.

Larger computers are the size of a calendar card and just as flat. There are no buttons on them, and there are no moving parts at all. Everything is simply printed, and the indicator numbers are in liquid crystals. You touch the printed numbers - they line up on an indicator made of crystals; energy - from the printed strip - photocell. Such a “machine” cannot be broken or broken, except perhaps torn.

There are calculators the size of a notebook, the size of a medium-sized book. Their capabilities increase: the device performs a whole range of complex algebraic operations, it has RAM, so that the work can already be easily programmed.

There are even models of pocket calculators with external memory - a whole set of ferromagnetic plates on which you can write a rather complex program with a large amount of initial data. As needed, the plates are introduced into the receiver of the machine, it “swallows” them and processes the information no worse than the first mastodon computing cabinets. But the little one fits in your pocket!

So imperceptibly, a real computer with wide capabilities grows from a simple electronic meter. And now a desktop computer appears with a solid external memory, a display screen and an alphabetical keyboard. This is already a personal, individual computer, the capabilities of which are quite sufficient for working with the language. And the convenience - you can’t imagine anything better: the program is recorded on a small floppy disk, information is entered directly from the keyboard, where there are numbers and the alphabet (Russian or Latin), everything you need is displayed right there on the display screen. No hassle with punched cards or paper tapes, no worries about computer time, no waiting for your program to work and the results to be obtained - everything is here, everything is at hand, everything is in front of your eyes.

There are individual computers with memory on a CD. This is a small iridescent disc the size of a small record player, only it is “played” not with a needle, but with a laser beam. One such disk holds so much information that if it were printed in a book, entire volumes would be needed. But if the capabilities of an individual computer are still not enough, you have to turn to large computers.

Conclusion.

Computers - electronic computers. The computer calculates the design of the spacecraft and controls its flight. The computer predicts the weather. To do this, he has to process a lot of information received both on Earth and from space - from artificial Earth satellites. The computer helps to design new cars, planes, factories. A computer on a livestock farm helps to choose the best composition of feed and determine its portions, controls the temperature, humidity and lighting of greenhouses. The computer calculates the wages that parents receive. The computer is even used in movies. With its help, you can draw anything, then film it, and the viewer will never guess that it actually doesn’t exist.

Of course, the possibilities of a computer are not limitless. Moreover, he only does what man taught him. And the computer has already learned a lot. In any case, a person armed with a computer can create such miracles that Aladdin with his magic lamp or old Hottabych with his wonderful beard could not even dream of. You can just play with the computer. It replaces a whole hall of slot machines, as it allows you to play not just one, but many different games. The computer helps historians reconstruct and decipher ancient manuscripts written on parchment, birch bark or clay tablets.

Computers sell airline and train tickets, instantly telling cashiers in different parts of the city and even in different cities which plane or train has free seats.

The computer also found a place in school. It can replace a chemical laboratory, clearly showing on the screen what will happen if you combine some substances. It can be used to easily demonstrate how a steam engine works or how a rocket takes off. It will make learning a foreign language easier. The computer will help you make a list of all the books in the library (this list is called a catalog) and instantly find all the books of any author or on any topic.

The use of computers has made it possible in recent years to create a new method for obtaining images of the internal parts of opaque bodies. This method is called tomography. It allows you to obtain images of much better quality than fluoroscopy.

Application.

Appendix 1. Structure of computers in the first and second generations.

Appendix 2. Structure of third generation computers.

Appendix 3. Structure of fourth generation computers.