Critical Analysis- Computers:The Life Story of a Technology- Part 1

Throughout the history of mankind, humans have always looked for ways to improve their everyday lives, ways in which make their days all a little bit simpler. The book, Computers: The Life Story of a Technology, written by Eric G Swedin and David L. Ferro, presents a fantastic example of how the human race has continually strived to perfect technology. The authors describe the history of how computers come to be in present day, dating back to 35,000 BCE when the first notched bones were used for counting (xi).

Computers: The Life Story of a Technology, illustrates the importance that people and culture have placed upon technology. Throughout the centuries, humans haven't just settled on one or two inventions to fit their needs, the envelope has been very frequently pushed to create bigger and better machines. Computers weren't just developed out of the blue, they were derived from inventions such as the abacus and adding machines, which soon became electronic calculators. In 1890, Herman Hollerith created the Tabulating Machine which was used to tally census results. The machine became so successful that in 1896, Hollerith established the Tabulating Machine Company which later became the company we all know today, IBM. Over the next many decades, IBM became one of the biggest players in developing super computers (21-23).  Though IBM is a major contributor to the development of computers, the idea of the first all electronic computer was derived from the US military. In 1943, an electronic calculating machine was built named Mark I, and in 1945, the ENIAC, which consisted of 49 foot cabinets, 18 vacuum tubes, and weighed 30 tons, was built  (38-43). Not only does this show that the military played a major role in the development of computers, but this also shows that improvements were made each year as newer computers came out. Additionally, it illustrates that computers have come a long way from what they are today.

While some might find this read a bit boring, I actually found it to be quite interesting. Before now, I'd never really known too much about where the idea of a computer even came from or how one was developed. I feel that computers are very much taken for granted in our society, especially with younger generations who have always had such technology in their lives. I am part of one of the last generations that was born and went to elementary school at a time when the average person had no PC or Internet. I still remember playing on the old school Apple computers that had floppy disk drives and no color. It is clear from the book that the invention of the computer in the early years was intended clearly for war and mathematical purposes, and not so much for the use of word processing and especially not for recreational use like today.