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• Computers are a fundamental technology in the modern world, appearing in many different forms.

  Most people know them as desktop or laptop PCs, but devices such as smartphones are also essentially computers.

  Computers are distinguished from other electronic devices in being programmable. By loading different software the same computer can carry out radically different tasks from making scientific calculations to playing games, from editing video to surfing the Internet.

• Fast Facts

  1. First Computer: Zuse Z3 introduced in May, 1941
  2. Most common operating systems: Microsoft Windows and Mac OS
  3. Available in desktop and laptop
  4. Computers are an essential home item
  5. Silicon Graphics developed the latest Columbia SuperComputer used by NASA

• Computer Evolution

  Computers have been around since the 1940s, though the personal computer has only existed since the 1970s. In the beginning, computers were massively large machines with a multitude of electronic parts that took up entire rooms. Today's computers are much smaller in terms of bulkiness and parts thanks to the advancement of microprocessors, but have also advanced the ability for many people in the world of all dialects and beliefs to connect to each other through the internet.

• Personal Computer Revolution

  By 1977, the PC market was starting to grow through the development of 'home computers' that allowed families to play games, manage finances, and for educational purposes. The first three to grab significant market share were the Apple II, the Commodore PET and the TRS-80 from Radio Shack. By the mid 1980s, the home computer began to replaced by the PC, which included office/business software programs to allow for full function ability. Today, PC's and Mac's provide more than just educational and game stimulus, they also provide connectivity to the outside world through the internet, and most have the ability to provide high-level entertainment by playing movies and music with CD and DVD readability and streaming of programming available on-line.

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