The world's very first computer: history of development, date of creation. Who was the first in the world to invent and create a computer? What did the first computer look like, why did the first computers take up so much space? Who was the first in the world to invent a computer? When, what year

The history of the creation of a modern computer does not even go back a hundred years, although the first attempts to make counting easier were made by man 3000 BC in Ancient Babylon. However, today not every user knows what he looked like. It's worth noting that it had little in common with a modern personal device.

Although the first computer was not introduced to the public until the end of World War II, work on it began at the beginning of the 20th century. But that's it computing machines, created before ENIAC, never found practical application, however, they also became certain stages in the movement of progress.

• Russian researcher and scientist A. Krylov developed the first machine that solved differential equations in 1912.
• 1927 USA, scientists developed the first analog device.
• 1938 Germany, Konrad Tzue created the Z1 computer model. Three years later, the same scientist developed next version The Z3 computer, which was more similar to modern devices than others.
• 1941 USA, the first automatic computer “Mark 1” was created under a subcontract agreement with IBM. Successively, at intervals of several years, were created following models: "Mark II", "Mark III/ADEC", "Mark IV".
• 1946 USA, presented to the publicthe very first computer in the world- ENIAC, which was practically applicable in military calculations.
• 1949 Russia, Sergei Lebedev presented the first Soviet computer in drawings; by 1950, MESM was built and put into mass production.
• 1968 Russia, A. Gorokhov created a project for a machine containing a motherboard, an input device, a video card and memory.
• 1975 USA, the first serial computer Altair 8800 was created. The device was based on an Intel microprocessor

As you can see, developments did not stand still and progress moved by leaps and bounds. Very little time passed and massive, ridiculous devices were transformed into the modern personal computers we are familiar with.

ENIAC- the very first computer in the world

I would like to pay a little more attention to this device. It was he who was awarded the title of the world's first computer, despite the fact that some models had been developed before it. This is due to the fact that ENIAC became the first computer to find practical application. It is worth noting that the machine was put into operation in 1945 and was finally disconnected from power in October 1955. Agree, 10 years of continuous service is a considerable period for the first computer that has found practical application.

How the computer was used

Initially the very first computer in the worldwas created to calculate firing tables required for artillery troops. The teams of calculations could not cope with their work, since the calculations took time. Then, in 143, a project for an electronic computer was presented to the military commission, which was approved, and active construction of the machine began. The process was completed only in 1945, so it was not possible to use ENIAC for military purposes and it was taken to the University of Pennsylvania to carry out calculations in the development of thermonuclear weapons.

Mathematical modeling has become challenging task for the first computer, so the formation of models took place according to the most simplified schemes. Nevertheless desired result succeeded in achieving and the possibility of creating a hydrogen bomb was proven precisely with the help of ENIAC. In 1947, the machine began to be used for calculations using the Monte Carlo method.

In addition, in 1946, an aerodynamic problem was solved at ENIAC; physicist D. Hartree analyzed the problem of air flowing around an aircraft wing at supersonic speeds.

In 1949, Von Neumann calculated the constants Pi ande.ENIAC presented the data with an accuracy of 2 thousand decimal places.

In 1950, a computer made a numerical calculation of the weather forecast, which turned out to be quite accurate. Despite the fact that the calculations themselves took a lot of time.

The creators of the machine

It is difficult to name the sole creator of the first computer. A large team of engineers and programmers worked on ENIAC. Initially, the creators of the project were John Mauchly and John Eckert. Mauchly was a faculty member at the Moore Institute at the time, and Eckert was enrolled as a student there. They began developing a computer architecture and presented the computer project to the commission.

In addition, the following people took part in the creation of the machine:

• battery development - Jack Davey;
• data input/output module – Harry Husky;
• multiplication module - Arthur Burks;
• division module and root extraction - Jeffrey Chuan Chu;
• Lead Programmer – Thomas Kite Sharples;
• function tables - Robert Shaw;
• scientific consultant - John von Neumann.

Also, a whole staff of programmers worked on the machine.

Device Settings

As already stated above,the world's first computerwas completely different from modern devices. It was a very massive structure, consisting of more than 17 thousand lamps of 16 types, more than 7 thousand silicon diodes, 1.5 thousand relays, 70 thousand resistors and 10 thousand capacitors. As a result, the weight of the first operating computer was 27 tons.

Specifications:

• device memory capacity – 20 number of words;
• the power consumed by the machine is 174 kW;
• computing power 5000 addition operations per second. For multiplication, the machine used multiple addition, so the performance dropped and amounted to only 357 operations.
• clock frequency – 100 kHz;
• punched card tabulator for input and output of information.

To carry out the calculations we used decimal system dead reckoning, although binary code was already known to scientists.

It is worth noting that during the calculation process, ENIAC required so much electricity that the nearest city was often left without power for many hours. To change the calculation algorithm, reconnection of the device was required. Von Neumann then improved the computer and added to it a memory containing the main computing programs, which significantly simplified the process of programmers’ work.

ENIAC became a zero generation computer. In its design it is impossible to guess the prerequisites for creating modern devices. The calculation processes were also not as productive as scientists might have wanted. Nevertheless, it was this machine that proved that it was possible to create a completely electronic computer and gave impetus to further development.

Some details todaythe very first computer in the worldare kept in the National Museum of American History. The complete structure takes up too much space to be presented for review. Despite the fact that this was one of the first attempts to create a working machine, the computer remained in working order for 10 years and at the time of its creation played a huge and irreplaceable role in the development of computer technology.

Subsequently, the machines became smaller and smaller, and their capabilities more and more extensive. The first Apple 1 was released in 1976. And the first computer game was released back in 1962. Even now, the development of computer technology does not stand still. What do you think awaits us in the future?

The term “the world’s first computer” can be understood in several ways: various models. On the one hand, these are gigantic machines created in the middle of the 20th century.

On the other hand, humanity became directly acquainted with computers, and even got the opportunity to use them in everyday life, much later.

And the history of the first personal computers begins in the mid-1970s.

In our material we will tell you about the creation of the first prototypes modern computers and hefty computing machines that scientists call the first computers.

The first "giants" of computing technology

At the very beginning of the computer era, in the 1940s, several independently developed models of huge computing devices were created.

All were developed and assembled by scientists from the USA and took dozens of square meters area.

By modern standards, such equipment can hardly be called a computer.

However, at that time, there were no more powerful machines that could perform calculations at a speed much faster than the average person.

Rice. 1 One of the first computers, UNIVAC, is brought into the installation room.

Mark-1

The programmable device "Mark-1" is rightfully considered the world's first computer.

The computer, developed in 1941 by a group of 5 engineers (including Howard Aiken), was intended for military purposes.

After completing the work, checking and adjusting the computer, it was transferred to the US Air Force. The formal launch of the Mark-1 took place in August 1944.

The main part of the computer, the total cost of which exceeded 500 thousand dollars, was located inside a metal case and consisted of more than 765 thousand parts.

The length of the equipment reached 17 meters

Height – 2.5 m, as a result of which a huge room was allocated for it Harvard University. Other device parameters include:

• total weight: more than 4.5 tons;
• length of electrical cables inside the housing: up to 800 km;
• length of the shaft synchronizing the computing modules: 15 m;
• power of the electric motor that drove the computer: 5 kW;
• calculation speed: addition and subtraction - 0.33 s, division - 15.3 s, multiplication - 6 s.

“Mark-1” could be called a huge and powerful adding machine - this is the version adhered to by those who consider the ENIAC model to be the founder of computer technology.

However, thanks to the ability to execute user-defined programs in automatic mode(which, for example, the German Z3 computer created a little earlier could not do), it is the Mark-1 that is considered the first computer.

Working with punched paper tape, the machine did not require human intervention.

Although, due to the lack of support for conditional jumps, each program was recorded on a long and looped tape roll.

After the device’s power became insufficient to complete the new tasks that customers set for the developers, one of the computer’s authors, Howard Aiken, continued to work on new models.

So, in 1947, the second version, “Mark-2”, was created, and in 1949, “Mark-3”.

The last version, called Mark IV, was released in 1952 and was also used by the US military.

Rice. 2 The first computer Mark-1.

ENIAC

The ENIAC computer was intended to perform approximately the same tasks as the Mark-1.

However, the result of the development was a truly multitasking computer.

The first launch of the device took place almost at the end of 1945, so it was already too late to use it for military purposes in World War II.

And the most complex computer at that time, which, according to contemporaries, worked “at the speed of thought,” participated in other projects.

One of them was a simulation of a hydrogen bomb explosion.

The operating frequency of these elements reached 100 thousand pulses every second.

In order to increase the reliability of such a number of devices, the developers used a method designed for the operation of musical electric organs.

After this, the accident rate decreased several times, and out of 17 thousand lamps, no more than two burned out in a week.

In addition, an equipment safety monitoring system was developed, which included checking each of the 100 thousand small parts.

Computer settings:

• total development time: 200 thousand man-hours;
• project price: $487 thousand;
• weight: about 27 tons;
• power: 174 kW;
• memory: 20 alphanumeric combinations;
• operating speed: addition - 5 thousand operations per second, multiplication - 357 operations per second.

A tabulator was used to input and output data to the ENIAC at speeds of 125 and 100 cards per minute, respectively.

During the tests, the computer processed more than 1 million punched cards.

And the only serious drawback of the machine, which sped up the calculation process hundreds of times compared to its predecessor, even for its time, was its size - almost 2 times larger than that of the Mark-1.

Rice. 3 The second ENIAC computer in the world.

EDVAC

The improved EDVAC computer (also created by Eckert and Mosley) could carry out calculations not only on the basis of punched cards, but also using a program contained in the memory.

This opportunity arose as a result of the use of mercury tubes that store information and binary system, which significantly simplified the calculations and the number of lamps.

The result of the work of a group of American scientists was a computer with a memory of about 5.5 KB, consisting of the following elements:

• devices for reading and writing information from magnetic tape;
• an oscilloscope for monitoring the operation of a computer;
• a device that receives signals from control elements and transmits them to computing modules;
• timer;
• devices for performing calculations and storing information;
• temporary registers (in modern terminology - “clipboards”), storing one word at a time.

A computer occupying an area of ​​45.5 square meters. m., spent about 0.000864 seconds on addition and subtraction and 0.0029 seconds on multiplication and division.

Its mass reached only 7.85 tons - much less compared to ENIAC. The power of the device is only 50 kW, and the number of diode lamps was only 3.5 thousand pieces.

Rice. 4 Advak computer.

You may be interested in:

Domestic developments

In the 1940s, domestic science also carried out developments to obtain electronic computers.

The result of the work of the laboratory named after S. A. Lebedev was the first MESM model on the Eurasian continent.

Following it, several other computers appeared, no longer so famous, although they made a significant contribution to scientific activity THE USSR.

MESM

The abbreviation MESM, a computer created from 1948 to 1950, stood for “Small Electronic Computing Machine”.

The computer received this name due to the fact that at first it was just a prototype of a “large” device.

However, the positive test results obtained led to the creation full-fledged computer, collected in a two-story monastery building.

The first launch took place in November 1950, and the first serious problem was solved in January of the following year.

Over the next 6 years, MESM was used for complex scientific calculations, then used as teaching aid, and finally dismantled in 1959.

The operating parameters of the device were as follows:

• number of lamps: 6 thousand;
• three-address command system with 20 binary digits;
• memory: constant for 31 numbers and 63 commands, RAM of the same size;
• performance: frequency 5 kHz, execution of 3 thousand operations per second;
• area: about 60 sq. m.;
• power: up to 25 kW.

Rice. 5 Soviet computer entry level MESM,

BESM-1

Work on another Soviet computer was carried out at the same time as on MESM.

The device was called the Large Electronic Calculating Machine and worked at triple speed - up to 10 thousand operations per second - while reducing the number of lamps to 730 pieces.

The number of digits for the numbers that the computer operated was 39 units, and the accuracy of calculations reached 9 digits.

As a result, the machine could work with numbers from 0.000000001 to 1000000000. Just like MESM, big device was released in one copy.

The car, the designer of which was also S. A. Lebedev, was considered in 1953 the fastest in Europe. While the best computer The American IBM 701 is recognized throughout the world.

IBM's first commercial computer performed up to 17 thousand operations per second.

Rice. 6 The first full-fledged computer in the USSR BESM-1.

BESM-2

The improved version, BESM-2, became not only the next most fast computer in the country, but also one of the first serial Soviet devices of this type.

From 1958 to 1962, Soviet industry produced 67 computer models.

On one of them, calculations were carried out for the rocket that delivered the pennant of the Soviet Union to the Moon. The speed of BESM-2 was 20 thousand operations per second.

Wherein RAM reached, in terms of modern units, about 11 KB and worked on ferrite cores.

Rice. 7 Soviet computer BESM-2.

The first mass-produced models

By the early 1970s, computer technology had developed to the point where it was possible to purchase a computer for personal use.

Previously, only large organizations could do this, since the cost of equipment reached tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars in the USA and approximately the same amount in rubles for the USSR.

As computers get smaller, they become truly personal.

And the first among them can be called a prototype that did not leave a big mark in history, but was still released in the amount of several thousand copies - Xerox Alto.

The release date of the first model was 1973.

Among the advantages were a decent memory of 128 KB (expandable to 512 KB) and a storage device of 2.5 MB.

The disadvantage is a huge “system unit” the size of a modern one for A3 format.

It was the dimensions that prevented production from becoming quite widespread, although organizations purchased the computer because of its convenient GUI.

Rice. 8 The Xerox Alto computer is powerful, but expensive.

On the territory of the USSR in 1968, they also tried to create a prototype of a PC.

Omsk engineer Gorokhov patented computing device, the functionality of which was roughly equivalent to the first personal machines of the 1970s.

However, not a single really working model has been created, not to mention mass production.

And the first mass-produced PC (albeit with limited functionality) became the Altair 8800, produced since 1974.

It can be called the prototype of the first modern computers with - it was the Intel chipset that was installed on motherboard COMPUTER.

The cost of the assembled model was just over $600, and about $400 when disassembled.

This low cost led to massive demand, and the Altair sold in the thousands.

In this case, the device was just a system unit that had neither a monitor, nor a keyboard, nor sound card.

All of these peripherals were developed later, and buyers of the first Altair 8800 models could only operate it using switches and lights.

Rice. 9 Altair 8800 model with monitor and keyboard combined together.

Few people know that the mathematical foundations of computer science and computer technology appeared in the Russian Empire. Who invented the first Russian computer, what BESM is, who benefits from the machine instead of the proletariat, and why there is not a single significant computer manufacturer in the country - T&P publish a chapter from Lauren Graham’s book “Can Russia Compete?” , published by Mann, Ivanov and Ferber.

The Russians were pioneers in the development of computing devices, electronic computers (computers), mathematical foundations computer science. IN last years existence of the Russian Empire, Russian engineers and scientists made important steps on the path of development of computing devices. During the Soviet period, a whole group of mathematicians, among them Vladimir Kotelnikov, Andrei Kolmogorov, Israel Gelfand and others, made a significant contribution to the development of information theory. Soviet scientists and engineers created the first digital electronic computer in continental Europe. When American and Soviet engineers began collaborating on space exploration, in some cases the Soviet engineers "calculated" problems much faster than their American counterparts. However, in subsequent years, interest in computers increasingly moved to the commercial plane, and Soviet Union couldn't stand the competition. Soviet scientists working in the field of computing technology were forced to abandon their developments and adopt IBM standards. Today, not a single significant computer manufacturer from Russia is represented on the international market.

“Few in the West know that two years earlier, Russian logician Viktor Shestakov put forward a similar theory of ladder circuits based on Boolean algebra, but he did not publish his work until 1941.”

Russians began to show scientific activity quite early in the development of computers, information theory and computers. Even before the 1917 revolution, Russian engineers and scientists had made significant progress in this area. Russian naval engineer and mathematician Alexei Krylov (1863–1945) was interested in the application mathematical methods in shipbuilding. In 1904 he created automatic device for solving differential equations. Another young engineer, Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich (1888–1940), also working in St. Petersburg, worked on vacuum tubes and their use in radio engineering. Around 1916, he invented one of the first two-position relays (the so-called cathode relay) based on an electrical circuit with two cathode tubes.

One of the pioneers of information theory in the West was Claude Shannon. In 1937, he defended his master's thesis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in which he demonstrated that relay complexes, combined with the binary number system, could be used to solve problems in Boolean algebra. results scientific works Shannon form the basis of the theory of digital networks for computers. But few in the West know that two years earlier, in 1935, Russian logician Viktor Shestakov put forward a similar theory of ladder circuits based on Boolean algebra, but he did not publish his work until 1941, four years after Shannon. Neither Shannon nor Shestakov knew anything about each other's work.

The first electronic computer in continental Europe was created in secrecy in 1948–1951 in a place called Feofaniya near Kyiv. Before the revolution, there was a monastery here, surrounded by oak forests and flowering meadows, abundant with berries, mushrooms, and wild animals and birds were found here. IN early years During the Soviet era, a psychiatric hospital was located in the monastery buildings. Converting religious institutions into research or medical institutions was a fairly common practice in the Soviet state. During World War II, all of the hospital's patients were killed or disappeared, and the buildings were destroyed. In spring and autumn, the road to this place was so damaged that it was impossible to drive along it. Yes and in good weather I had to bounce over bumps. In 1948, the dilapidated buildings were handed over to electrical engineer Sergei Lebedev to create an electronic computer. In Feofaniya, Lebedev, 20 engineers and 10 assistants developed the Small Electronic Computing Machine (MESM) - one of the fastest computers in the world, which had many interesting characteristics. Its architecture was completely original and did not resemble the architecture of American computers, which were the only ones in the world that were superior to it at that time.

“He usually took his papers and the candle into the bathroom, where he spent hours writing ones and zeros.”

Alisa Grigorievna Lebedeva about the life of her husband, the founder of computer technology in the USSR Sergei Lebedev, in Moscow in 1941 during the bombing of German aircraft.

Sergei Lebedev was born in 1902 in Nizhny Novgorod (later renamed Gorky, but not so long ago his former historical name was returned to him). His father was a school teacher, he was often transferred from place to place, so Sergei spent his childhood and youth in different cities, mainly in the Urals. Then his father was transferred to Moscow, and there Sergei entered the Moscow Higher Technical School named after Bauman, known today as the Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman. There Lebedev became interested in high voltage technology, an area that required good mathematical training. After graduation, he worked as a teacher at Bauman University, studying research work in the laboratory electrical networks. Lebedev was an avid climber and later named one of his computers after Europe's highest peak, Elbrus, which he successfully conquered.

In the late 1930s, Lebedev became interested in the binary number system. In the fall of 1941, when Moscow was plunged into complete darkness, fleeing fascist air raids, his musician wife recalled that “he usually took his papers and a candle to the bathroom, where he spent hours drawing ones and zeros.” Later during the war he was transferred to Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), where he worked for the military industry. Lebedev needed a computer capable of solving differential and integral equations, and in 1945 he created Russia's first electronic analog computer. At the same time, he already had the idea of ​​​​creating a digital computer based on the binary number system. Interestingly, as far as we know, at that time he was not familiar with the scientific developments in this area of ​​either his compatriot Shestakov or the American Claude Shannon.

Mastering the first personal computers at the Department of Electrical Systems and Networks of St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University

In 1946, Lebedev was transferred from Moscow to Kyiv, where he began work on a computer. In 1949, Mikhail Lavrentyev, a leading mathematician and member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, who was familiar with Lebedev's work, wrote a letter to Stalin asking him to support work in the field of computer technology, while emphasizing its importance for the country's defense. Stalin instructed Lavrentiev to create a laboratory for modeling and computer technology. Lavrentiev invited Lebedev to head this laboratory. Lebedev now has funding and status. At the same time, Stalin's order demonstrated the role of political power—indeed, the importance of one man—in advancing technology in the Soviet Union.

Lebedev developed MESM just three or four years after creating the world's first electronic computer ENIAC in the USA and simultaneously with the British EDSAC. By the early 1950s, MESM was used to solve problems in the fields of nuclear physics, space flight, rocket science, and electrical power transmission.

In 1952, following the creation of MESM, Lebedev developed another computer - BESM (short for Large (or High-speed) Electronic Computing Machine). It was the fastest computer in Europe, at least for some period, capable of competing with the world's best developments in this field. It was a triumph. BESM-1 was produced in a single copy, but subsequent models, especially BESM-6, were produced in hundreds and used for different purposes. Production of BESM-6 was discontinued in 1987. In 1975, during the joint Soyuz-Apollo space project, Soviet specialists processed the parameters of the Soyuz orbit on BESM-6 faster than the Americans.

But after such a promising start in the field of computing, Russia today lags behind the industry leaders. The reason for this failure can only be understood by analyzing the history of the industry, taking into account the social and economic factors that influenced its transformation. In leading Western countries, the field of computing after World War II was shaped by three main driving forces: academia, government (for military applications), and business. The role of the scientific community and government was especially important at the initial stage, the role of business emerged later. The field of computer technology in the Soviet Union was successful as long as the development of these devices primarily depended on the achievements of scientific thought and government support. Government support for computing technology was unlimited if it was used for air defense or nuclear weapons research. However, then business became the main driving force in the West. Symbolically, this transition point is General Electric's decision in 1955 to purchase IBM 702 computers to automate payroll and other paperwork at its Schenectady plant and Bank of America's decision in 1959 to automate processes (using the Stanford ERMA computer). research institute).

“The concept of cybernetics contradicts the theory of dialectical materialism of Marx, and characterized computer science as a particularly harmful attempt by Western capitalists to make more profit by replacing workers."

These decisions marked the beginning of large-scale computerization of the banking and business sphere. In the 1960s and 1970s, electronic computers became commercial product, this entailed a reduction in their cost, improvements in terms of ease of use, which the market demanded. The Soviet Union, with its planned economy and centralized, non-competitive market, could not keep up with the technological improvements taking place. As a result, in the 1970s the USSR abandoned its initially impressive attempt to develop its own independent course in computing and adopted IBM standards. From that moment on, in the field of computer technology, the Russians found themselves and continue to remain in the position of catching up and never again became leaders. Sergei Lebedev died in 1974. Another leading scientist, developer of the first Soviet computers Bashir Rameev deeply regretted the decision to adopt the IBM architecture until his death in 1994. The Soviet computing industry was not brought down by a lack of knowledge in this area, it was brought down by the irresistible force of the market.

Another factor, although not decisive in this particular case, was ideology. In the 1950s, Soviet ideologists were very skeptical about cybernetics and called it “the science of obscurantists.” In 1952, one Marxist philosopher branded this field of knowledge as "pseudoscience", questioning the claim that computers could help explain human thought or social activity. In another article published a year later, entitled "Who Does Cybernetics Serve?", the anonymous author, writing under the pseudonym "Materialist", argued that the concept of cybernetics contradicted Marx's theory of dialectical materialism, and characterized computer science as a particularly harmful attempt by Western capitalists to extract more. profits by replacing wage workers with machines.

Although such ideological accusations could theoretically have a negative impact on the development of computer technology in the USSR, the development of computers, given the interest of the military-industrial complex in them, continued at the same pace8. As one of the Soviet scientists in this field told me in 1960, “We were doing cybernetics, we just didn’t call it cybernetics.” Moreover, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, cybernetics took a 180-degree turn in the Soviet Union and began to be extolled as a science serving the purposes of the Soviet state.

In 1961, a collection was even published entitled “Cybernetics - at the service of communism.” Cybernetics departments have opened in many Russian universities. A more serious political threat to the development of computing technology in the USSR arose with the advent of personal computers. The Soviet leadership liked computers while they were huge units in central government, military and industrial departments, but they were much less enthusiastic when computers moved into private apartments and ordinary citizens were able to use them to disseminate information uncontrollably. In an attempt to exercise control over the transfer of information, the state has long prohibited ordinary citizens from owning printers and copying machines. A personal computer with a printer was equivalent to a small printing press. But what could the Soviet authorities do about it?

The most heated debates among members of the Soviet leadership over computers occurred in the mid and late 1980s. In 1986, I discussed this problem with the leading Soviet scientist in this field, Andrei Ershov. He was frank, agreeing that the Communist Party's desire to control information was hindering the development of the computer industry. Then he said the following: “Our leadership has not yet decided what a computer looks like: a printing press, a typewriter or a telephone, and much will depend on this decision. If they decide that computers are like printing presses, they will want to continue to control the industry the same way they currently control all printing presses. Citizens will be prohibited from buying them; they will only be in institutions. On the other hand, if our leadership decides that computers are like typewriters, they will be allowed to be owned by citizens, the authorities will not seek to control every device, although they may try to control the dissemination of information that is produced with their help. And in the end, if management decides that computers are like telephones, most citizens will have them and they can do whatever they want with them, but online data transmission will be checked from time to time.

“Today in Russia there is not a single computer manufacturer that is a significant player in the international market, despite the fact that the Russians can rightfully claim that they were among the pioneers in the field.”

I am convinced that eventually the government will have to allow citizens to own and control personal computers. Moreover, it will become obvious that personal computers are not like any previous communication technology: not like printing presses, not like typewriters, not like telephones. On the contrary, they are a completely new type of technology. The time will soon come when any person anywhere in the world will be able to communicate almost continuously with any other person anywhere in the world. This will be a real revolution - not only for the Soviet Union, but for you too. But here its consequences will be most significant.”

This statement clearly confirms what a difficult problem computers were for the Soviet state. However, this issue quickly lost its relevance. Five years after this conversation with Ershov, the Soviet Union collapsed, and with it control over communication technologies(however, this did not affect control over funds mass media, in particular over television). In modern Russia, the computer industry has never caught up with the lag that it experienced in the last years of the Soviet state. As we have seen, this lag was caused more by an inability to compete in the market than by political control, although the latter played a role. Today in Russia there is not a single computer manufacturer that is a significant player in the international market, despite the fact that the Russians can rightfully claim that they were among the pioneers in the development of computing technologies.

Today it is impossible to imagine daily life without a computer, it performs many functions necessary for a person, such as: finding information, calculating something, creating various types programs and so on.

Initially, the computer was a computing machine, which also had to study and store information, while giving orders to other mechanisms. Translated from English, the word “computer” means to calculate; the first meaning of the word gave the name to a person who deals with complex calculations.

The very first computer

The first computer was created in the USA by Howard Aixn in 1941. IBM Company appointed Howard to create a computer model based on the ideas of Charles Babbage. On August 7, 1944, a computer was launched for the first time, which was called “Mark 1”.

“Mark 1” consisted of glass and steel, the body was about 7 meters in length, and the height was 2.5 meters, the weight was more than 5 tons. The first computer had 765 thousand mechanisms and switches, 800 kilometers of wire.

To enter information, a special perforated tape made from paper.

This is how “Mark 1” was smoothed:

The second version of the very first computer in the world was “ENIAC”. Creator of this device is John Mauchley. The computer, created in 1942, was of no interest to anyone, but in 1943 the American military funded this project and gave it to him name "ENIAC". This type the device looked like this: the weight was 27 tons, the memory was 4 Kilobytes, there were 18,000 lamps and other parts, its area was 135 square meters, and around it there was a large number of wires HDD This machine did not have one, so it was regularly restarted, programmed manually, and switches had to be updated. "ENIAC" often failed and overheated.

This is what ENIAC looked like:

The Atanasov-Berry digital computing device was designed in 1939, at that time the mechanism was created only for calculations linear equations . In 1942, the machine was tested for the first time and worked successfully. The developer had to stop working due to conscription into the army. The author insisted that the computer be called "ABC".

The mechanism worked on the basis of binary arithmetic, the method of solution was the Gaussian method. Inner memory stored coefficients of equations, the results were on punched cards.

"ABC" had 30 identical arithmetic mechanisms, each with a series of vacuum tubes that were connected to each other. Each mechanism had three inputs and two outputs. The device changed numbers using a rotating drum, and contacts were connected here. For reversible action the machine did everything in reverse.

This version of the founding computer was closer to modern PCs. The Atanasov-Berry device could also calculate binary arithmetic and flip-flops, the only difference being that this mechanism did not have special program for storage.

The device of John Atanasov and Clifford Berry was initially not popular; few people knew about the creation of this mechanism. That is why won the championship"ENIAC". Having studied the ENIAC device, Atanasov became increasingly convinced that many of his ideas were borrowed from this company. The author decided to defend his rights in the 1960s. Having decided the case in court, in 1973 it was established that “ABC” is the fundamental “computer”.

The first computers in Russia

The first computer in the USSR is considered to be MESM (Small Electronic Computing Machine). The developer of this computer is Sergei Alekseevich Lebedev. Work on MESM began in the late summer of 1948. In 1951, the machine was tested and then began its work to improve various industries.

The machine was a binary counting system with a fixed point before the most significant digit, the system's memory was made up of trigger cells designed for 31 numbers and 63 commands, it could perform 3 thousand operations every minute, there were 6 thousand electronic tubes in total, the volume of the mechanism was 60 square meters, the power was 25 kW.

"Spring" (electronic computer), began production in 1959, the creator of this machine considered V.S. Pauline. In 1978, the car was renamed the Kvant Research Institute. It was first tested and began operation in 1951. The mechanism had two processors, could perform 300 thousand operations every minute, had 80 thousand transistors, 200 diodes.

History of computers

First generation can be considered computers created on vacuum tubes(1946-1956). The fundamental one was Mark 1, released by IBM in 1952. Some of the first computers were created in the USA for military purposes. Initial Soviet mechanism was invented in 1951 by Lebedev, under the name MESM.

Second generation(1956-1964) came with the creation of the transistor in 1948. Modern organization The computer was proposed and implemented by John von Neumann, after which similar devices filled the whole world. Only later, a little later, it was decided to change electric lamps to transistors. Started using operating systems. Also in 1959 IBM company releases its own mechanism based on a transistor.

Third generation(1964-1970) is marked by the replacement of transistors with integration microcircuits. Close to today's PC was the creation integrated circuit Marciana Edward Hoffa from Intel. When the first microprocessor appeared computer power has increased, the volume of mechanisms has decreased, they take up less space, several programs are created on one system.

Fourth generation refers to the present time. First apple computer created in 1976 by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, who requested manual input encodings. The first computer in history that looks like appearance today's PC consisted of: a keyboard and a screen, its volume was relatively small. When entering any data, the information immediately appeared on the screen.

4th generation computers look like multiprocessor, small-sized servers that can perform 500 million operations every minute; programs can run on multiple devices.

First games on the computer

The seminal computer game was created in 1940. "Nimatron" is the first electronic relay gaming machine. The machine was created by Edward Condon. The game is designed for two players, one of whom is the system, you need to extinguish the lamps, the one who extinguishes the last one wins.

The second game in line, “Rocket Simulator,” was cathode ray tube, which is closest to current games. The game was created in 1947 by Thomas Goldsmith and Astle Ray Mann. The idea is that you need to hit the target for the “projectile” to explode.

How a computer works, computer classification

The first computer contained: a microprocessor, an input device, a random access memory device, a permanent storage device, and an output device.

The first computers were used as Memory device and for calculating various types of calculations. Initially, few people were interested in this mechanism, because it was considered very expensive: it consumed a lot of energy, sometimes took up a lot of space, and it required more than one, or even a dozen, people to operate the machine.

Classification by purpose:

Mainframe computers– are designed to solve problems related to production, and are sometimes used for military purposes.

Small electronic machines– based on solving various local problems, most often used in universities.

Microcomputers– used since the 90s, for scientific purposes, study and everyday life.

Personal computers Designed for everyday use, for work, Internet access and other functions.

In fact, a computer can be classified more flexibly according to other parameters or types. The classification we have given is only one of the possible ones. In the picture you can see a more expanded version of the classification.

For us, for people who have moved into the 21st century, which was described in many scientific books, which was dreamed of by science fiction writers of the past, the Internet is a completely familiar thing. For us, going online and getting to some site is now as easy as for people of the past to light a candle or go outside. But once upon a time, quite recently (and we even remember this time), the Internet was a fantastic invention, and we could not even think that we would use it, participate in it, and even create it.

Now we don’t think about it, but once upon a time there was a man who invented the Internet, invented and created the first website in the world. And it is about this man and his inventions that we will tell you.

Tim Berners-Lee's very first website in the world

The person to whom we owe the modern Internet is the English scientist, Oxford graduate and winner of many scientific awards, Tim Berners-Lee. It is thanks to him that we can now so easily get to any site, get absolutely any information from the web and.

In 1990, Berners-Lee published the first website in the world. It is still available at the same address info.cern.ch. This site contains information on English language, which talks about the then new technology for transferring HTTP data via World Wide Web, about URLs and markings HTML text. All this turned out to be the foundation modern Internet and is still relevant today. In the same year, the world's first browser was created, which was called the World Wide Web.

The inspiration to create the world's first website came to Berners-Lee while working at the European Nuclear Research Centre. There he invited his colleagues to store information with hyperlinks. Tim Berners-Lee dreamed that every text ever written by a person would be filled with hyperlinks leading to other interesting and explanatory material.

However, for the sake of fairness, it should be said that Tim Berners-Lee was not visited by the Internet muse on empty space. Other scientists worked before him and expressed their ideas and hypotheses regarding information storage. Thus, Vennevar Bush back in the 40s of the last century came up with a theory about how to index human memory for quick search it contains the necessary data. And Theodore Nelson came up with the so-called “branching text,” that is, text with links. But all this was a theory, and it only became reality in the 90s.

Today Tim Berners-Lee is the head of the World Wide Web Consortium.