History of Computers

The definition of a computer has changed over time. The history of computers goes back as far as history itself; but since the 1940s, digital computers as we know them today have changed dramatically. Many years ago, a computer, by definition, was something or someone that computes. Today, a computer is known as a complex electronic machine that can compute as well as perform the tasks of a clerk, such as word processing and organizing.

The first computers that were not human were early forms of counting. These counting devices go back as far as 35,000 B.C. with the use of notched bones. "The earliest notched bones of prehistory are the most ancient known archeological objects which had been used for numerical ends" (Ifrah 9). Another ancient computer is the abacus. The first abacus was invented by the people of Sumer. The Chinese abacus is better known, and was also called the Sau Pau (Ifrah 11).

During the last fifty years or so, computers have become the complex electronic machines that we know today. Many people use these every day, and most don't realize how much they affect their daily life. During the early 20th century, before World War