How Gadgets Make History
In the article "The Geography of Everyday Life," historian and author Peter Struck argues that,
"one cannot make a history of the 20th century without also taking account of the countless objects that have been designed to make modern life easier and more enjoyable." As these gadgets became increasingly common around world, they have changed what everyday life was like. Whereas before products were labour intensive and relied on human labor to function in a certain way, now they primarily work through electronics. This paper will provide an overview of some of these different technologies that have had significant consequences for our society.
Before the 1960s, computers of any kind were considered to be a science fiction dream. Computers relied on electricity so they were only useful in the cities where electricity was available. The first stand-alone computers came out in the mid-1960s and they used punch cards as their primary input. These computers could input data through a punch card, store that data on magnetic tape, and then process it using an electronic computer.
The use of punch cards changed in 1964 when Joseph Weizenbaum created Eliza. This program was not a stand-alone computer program; it was meant to simulate human conversation by using simple keywords and phrases to respond to user questions. Eliza was a breakthrough in terms of making computers flexible and interactable.
In the following years, it was possible to build more complex computer programs and programming languages. The 1964 book "A Programming Language" by John Backus introduced the first widely used language: Fortran. The language was distributed and could be used to create more complicated programs that could be broken down into smaller steps based on logic. This helped create applications for sequencing life events, such as births and deaths, or other simple computations, such as adding two numbers together or calculating simple averages. Many other programming languages used this method of step-by-step sequences that would eventually lead to more complex processes like simulation games or simulations of living organisms (cellular biology).
One of the most significant steps in the history of computer technology was taking place in parallel with Eliza as well as early programming languages. This was the development of electronic computers, which were able to add features and functions without physically needing to make any changes to the original machine. In other words, a computer could add new memory or more processing power without having to open up the case and add more hardware inside.
The first personal computer was created in 1984 by Apple Computer Inc. The Apple II had limited functionality; it could use applications such as word processors but it had no real storage space that would allow for advanced applications or processes. The first PC with advanced storage space was released by IBM in 1981 and called simply "The PC. One of the most defining parts about the computer was the mouse, which was originally created to operate on a 1980's graphical version of "Microsoft Basic" called "Microsoft-Blank". The mouse allowed users to move their cursor around with the help of a laser pointer and touchpad. At this point in time, computers were still very expensive, with an IBM PC costing as much as $3000. In 1985 IBM released its first IBM PC compatible, later known as a "PC", which used Microsoft-Blank in order to use all of the same programs as the original IBM PC. This model was cheaper than the original and included storage space that could fit 16 megabytes of memory and 128K in RAM or Random Access Memory.
The original IBM PC compatible could not be upgraded to have graphics or other features such as Microsoft Flight Simulator. As a result, computer technology advanced exponentially, but remained behind the original 1980's era computers. The first personal computer that could run the same software as the original IBM PC was released in 1985 by Commodore International with the Commodore Amiga 2000; however even this machine was not able to match its predecessor in terms of versatility. As a result, computers continued to grow and become more useful every year during this time frame.
As computers became more useful, scientists began researching ways to use them for scientific purposes in order to improve certain fields such as biology and medicine. One of the first uses of computers in biology was to do genomic research that is used today for medical purposes. Modern medical research such as genetic sequencing and genomics can now be done faster and more accurately than ever before. Many companies, such as 23andMe, use this technology to collect the data necessary to create catalogs of how specific people are genetically predisposed to certain diseases or conditions.
The ways that computers interact with us have changed how we live our everyday lives, as we use smart phones instead of typewriters or calculators. In fact they have changed daily life so much that many things now require you to go online.
Before the computer was invented, people did almost all of their research on paper. Before the computer, the majority of scientific tools were developed through laboratory testing. For example, to test a new way to make artificial fertilizer, they would separate wheat seeds from their soil and soak them in water for two hours. They would then allow them to dry and put them into a lab where they could be further researched. This procedure is still used today as lab technicians will often have an assistant do this testing for weeks or months at a time before testing actual seeds that may take only a few months or years to grow.
Today, computers are used in labs to do data entry and analysis. Computers have made science faster by doing the lab testing for scientists. "Researchers used to have to go through long, laborious processes of taking the data they'd gathered on paper and entering it into a computer. This process could take days or even months, depending on the task. But now modern researchers can use cloud-based computing to skip that last step entirely." It takes scientists an average of 10 seconds to enter their data into a computer with a keyboard and mouse as opposed to hours or days with a pen and paper. This greatly decreases the time it takes to do lab testing and ultimately allows for faster, more accurate results.
Computers are used for all kinds of different research. Some scientists use computers to study health related topics such as stroke recovery, arthritis pain and both Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Computers are also used to research exercise physiology like how much you can increase your aerobic capacity by running longer distances or jogging on a treadmill everyday. In addition, computers are also used for research relating to the earth like searching for fossils in order to understand the biodiversity that once existed on Earth and its future possibilities. They are also used to study the effects of global warming on plant life in certain localities.
Computer technology has also improved our quality of life by making purchases easier to find and purchase. Stores, such as Amazon and eBay, have helped consumers make more informed decisions without ever leaving the comfort of their home. With sites like Google Shopping and Zappos selling our favorite clothing brands, it's much easier to shop online for items that fit our needs.
In addition, with online shopping it's now possible to buy books at the best prices on the internet with sites like Amazon. In fact, over 40% of all books sold in the United States are purchased from Amazon.com today with another 7% from Barnes & Noble or BAM!.
Conclusion
The computer is one of the most important inventions in modern times. As the use of computers increases, it is important that all citizens be educated on what they are, how they work and their benefits to our everyday lives.
Reference Sources:
http://www.computerhistory.org/4040/positive-invention-pioneers?page=1 http://www.computerhistory.org/archive/earlycomputers/ http://www.computerhistory.org/4045/emersonlabs-computer?page=2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC#History_before_1981 http://en.wikipedia.
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How Gadgets Make History