Juan Monroy — Media Technologies: Computers

Computers
- Hardware
  - Monitor
  - Motherboard
  - CPU
  - RAM
  - Expansion cards
  - Power supply
  - Optical disc drive
  - Hard disk drive
  - Keyboard
  - Mouse
- Input
- Software
  - instructions for the hardware
- Output
Mechanical Computers
- gears and levers
- adding machines, calculators, and machines
  - Pascal’s adding machine, 1642
  - Leibniz’s Stepped Reckoner, 1694
  - Babbage’s Difference Engine, 1822
- Jacquard Loom, 1801
- Babbage’s Analytical Engine
Analytical Engine
- Charles Babbage, 1849
- grind out calculations in a mill
- input/output: punch cards
- never completed
- Ada Lovelace: first computer program, 1842
Computers
- Herman Hollerith, Tabulating Machine Company, 1896
  - US Census, 1890
- International Business Machines, 1924
  - Hollerith Machines, 1940s
  - Nazi Germany identify Jews for extermination, 1940s
- human computers
  - ENIAC could do the yearly work of 100 human computers in a matter of hours
Bit
- Binary Digit
- logical values
  - yes/no
  - true/false
  - on/off
- only thing computers actually process
Byte
- combination of bits
- hexadecimal: 4-bits
- most text: 7–8 bits
Byte
- basic computer unit
- a letter of text
- example, American Standard Code for Information Interchange
Bits and Bytes
- 1-bit = 21 = 2 byte combinations
- 2-bit = 22 = 4 byte combinations
- 3-bit = 23 = 8 byte combinations
- 4-bit = 24 = 16 byte combinations
- 5-bit = 25 = 32 byte combinations
- 6-bit = 26 = 64 byte combinations
- 7-bit = 27 = 128 byte combinations
- 8-bit = 28 = 256 byte combinations
Like Morse Code
Storage
- storing bits
- record (write)
- retrieve (read)
Punch Card
- paper card
- sequential
- each hole represents a bit, e.g. “on”
- each “non-hole” represents a different bit, e.g. “off”
Magnetic Storage
- Each bit is “written” on a magnetically-charged metal particle
- read back and loaded to the computer
- non-volatile
  - magnetic tape
  - floppy disk
  - hard disk
- magnetic tape
- floppy disk
- first hard disk drive
  - IBM, 1956
  - size: a car
  - storage: 3.75 megabytes
  - cost: $30,000
- hard disk
  - size: about 2.5 – 3.5 inches
  - storage: 4 terabytes
  - cost: $150
  - disk spins between 5400 and 7200 rpm
  - magnetic head is about 10 nm from disk surface
- Optical Storage
  - binary data stored on a metal disk
  - encased in plastic
  - read/written by laser light or electromagnetic waves
  - CD: Compact Disks (red laser)
  - DVD: Digital Versatile Disk (white laser)
  - Blu-ray (blue laser)
- Processors
  - process and calculate numbers
    - one bit at a time
  - faster than human counting
    - and more accurate
  - faster than mechanical computers
Diodes
- vacuum tubes
- Thomas Edison’s lightbulb, 1883
- John’s Fleming valve, 1904
- Lee deForest’s audion,
ENIAC
- first electronic computer, 1946
- “Giant Brain”
- Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator
- processed calculations for the hydrogen bomb
Colossus
- British, 1943–1945
- World War II
- crack Nazi codes
  - Lorenz cipher
  - non-Morse code transmissions
Big Computers for Big Projects
- governments
- military
- university research
- World War II: to save the world
Univac Computer
- Sperry-Rand Univac, spun off from ENIAC
- used by CBS to project presidential election results, 1952
- effectively and unexpectedly calculated the electoral results
- radio tubes were failing as it calculated results
“Personal” Computer, 1954
Transistor
- Bell Labs, 1947
- semiconductor
- telephone circuits
- transistor radios
- electronic computers
Transistor Based Computers
- TRADIC: Transistorized Airborne Digital Computer, 1950s
- developed for the military
- thousands of calculations without failing
- light enough to be carried on aircraft
Minicomputers
- IBM 360
- powered by transistors
- mid 1960s
- smaller than “mainframe” computers
- cabinet-sized
- cost about $25,000
Minicomputers for Corporations
- banking records
- university enrollments
- airline reservations
- hotel bookings
Integrated Circuit
- Jack Kilby, Texas Instruments
- Phillip Noyce, Fairchild Semiconductors
- developed a set of circuits that could be printed onto each layer of a silicon chip
- Intel, 1969
  - Phillip Noyce
  - Gordon Moore
Microprocessors
- Intel 4004, 1971
- silicon switches
- Gordon Moore’s law
  - every two years…
  - double the number of transistors…
  - in the same circuit.
Microcomputers
- powered by microprocessors
- emerged 1970s
- small central processing unit (CPU)
- desktop and tabletop sized
Technoutopians
- J.C.R. Licklider, “Man-Computer Symbiosis”
- Douglas Englebart, “Augmenting Human Intellect,”1962
- William K. English and Englebart’s “Mother of all Demos,” 1968
  - graphical user interface
  - mouse
  - networking
- Home Brew Computer Club, Stanford University, 1970s
Altair 8800
- microcomputer kit, 1975
- Intel 8800 microprocessor
- 256 bytes of RAM, no storage
- front panel with lights
- mail order, $400–$500
- first personal computer
Apple I
- Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, 1976
- demonstrated at Homebrew Computer Club
- fully assembled circuit board
  - keyboard
  - TV set
- sold for $666.66
Xerox Alto
- Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 1973
- tens of thousands dollars
- Steve Jobs and Apple engineers saw Alto
  - Ethernet
  - GUI: graphical user interface
  - WYSIWYG text editor
  - object-oriented programming
- sparked the GUI computer of the 1980s
Personal Computer
- microcomputers powered by microprocessors
- emerged in 1970s and 1980s
- desktop sized
- keyboard, display, magnetic storage
Macintosh
- Apple, 1984
- based on Xerox Alto computer
  - desktop metaphor
  - graphical user interface
  - WYSIWIYG editing
- 128 kilobytes of RAM
- no storage
IBM
- IBM PC, 1981
- Microsoft DOS
- clones
  - reverse engineered
  - Compaq, PC clone, 1982
- IBM lost market share to clone makers
- Microsoft became the one of the most successful companies in history
Desktop Publishing
- replacement for…
  - Linotype hot-lead
  - Lumitype cold-type
- Apple Macintosh, 1984
- Adobe Postscript, 1983
- WYSIWYG
- laser printers
Nonlinear Video Editing
- changed movie and television news
- Lucasfilm EditDroid, mid–1980s
- replaced Moviola editing system
- high-powered hardware by Sun and Silicon Graphics
- software by Avid and Media100 for personal computers
Renaissance of Apple
- Apple was almost insolvent, 1997
- Steve Jobs returns to Apple, 1997
- develops new non-computer products
  - iPod, 2001
  - iPhone, 2007
  - iPad, 2010
- ushers in post-PC era
Handhelds
- smartphones
- tablets
Wearables
- smart watches
- shirt
- glasses
- wristwatch
- wristbands
- trousers
- hand
- shoes
Digital Media
- modern Media: daguerrotype
- computable data: analytical engine