Discover the birth of the technological world we now live in through the origins of 12 influential computers built between 1939 and 1950.In 1940, a computer was someone who ploughed through grueling calculations each day. A decade later, a computer was a buzzing machine that filled a room. This book tells the story of how our world was reshaped by a dozen such computers — and the geniuses that brought them into being, from Alan Turing to John von Neumann.Th...

The home computer boom of the 1980s brought with it now-iconic machines such as the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, and Commodore 64. Those machines would inspire a generation and foster the creation of a booming British software industry that continues to this day.With the help of hefty government discounts, computers worked their way into primary and secondary schools around the country. Millions more computers appeared in living rooms and bedrooms around the country. Fo...

Discover the history of computing through 4 major threads of development in this compact, accessible history covering punch cards, Silicon Valley, smartphones, and much more.In an accessible style, computer historian Paul Ceruzzi offers a broad though detailed history of computing, from the first use of the word “digital” in 1942 to the development of punch cards and the first general purpose computer, to the internet, Silicon Valley, and smartphones and social net...

Today computers shape every aspect of our lives. In our pockets, we carry mobile phones with computing power that was unimaginable just 50 years ago. Many industries are embracing the promises - and the risks - of artificial intelligence. The world is changing faster than ever, and computing is at the heart of technological development.Dermot Turing explores the history of this rapidly evolving technology, from the Charles Babbage and his experiments with steam powered calculators ...

There is a companion web site asssociated with the book (http://vsicomputer.wordpress.com/). It contains chapter summaries, links to relevant material and posts about items of news relevant to the book's contents. Computers have changed so much since the room-filling, bulky magnetic tape running monsters of the mid 20th century. They now form a vital part of most people's lives. And they are more ubiquitous than might be thought - you may have more than 30 computers in your home: not just ...

Humans have long attempted to mechanize calculations—mathematical and otherwise—and build problem-solving machines. Yet it was not until the 20th century, with the advent of the computer, that such technology truly hit its stride. Indispensable to nearly all industry and increasingly vital to individuals around the globe, the computer has come to be an icon of the modern age. This insightful volume chronicles the history of computing devices, from simple tabulators such as the abacus and t...

Following his blockbuster biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson’s New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed The Innovators is a “riveting, propulsive, and at times deeply moving” (The Atlantic) story of the people who created the computer and the internet.What were the talents that allowed certain inventors and entrepreneurs to turn their visionary ideas into disruptive realities? What led to their creative leaps? Why did som...

“It is possible to invent a single machine which can be used to compute any computable sequence,” twenty-four-year-old Alan Turing announced in 1936. In Turing’s Cathedral, George Dyson focuses on a small group of men and women, led by John von Neumann at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, who built one of the first computers to realize Alan Turing’s vision of a Universal Machine. Their work would break the distinction between numbers that mean thi...

Exploring the often-overlooked history and technological innovations of the world's first true multimedia computer.Long ago, in 1985, personal computers came in two general categories: the friendly, childish game machine used for fun (exemplified by Atari and Commodore products); and the boring, beige adult box used for business (exemplified by products from IBM). The game machines became fascinating technical and artistic platforms that were of limited real-world ...

" Enigma's 'forgotten genius' . . . [the] story of Alan Turing's spymaster boss who led the team that cracked Hitler's WWII codes" ( Daily Mail).The Official Secrets Act and the passing of time have prevented the Bletchley Park story from being told by many of its key participants. Here at last is a book that allows some of them to speak for the first time. Gordon Welchman was one of the Park's most important figures. Like Alan Turing, his pioneer...

Exploring the cultural and technical influence of the Atari VCS video game console, with examples from 6 famous game cartridges like Pac-Man, Combat, and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back!The Atari Video Computer System dominated the home video game market so completely that “Atari” became the generic term for a video game console. The Atari VCS was affordable and offered the flexibility of changeable cartridges. Nearly a thousand of the...

At last - the secrets of Bletchley Park's powerful codebreaking computers.This is a history of Colossus, the world's first fully-functioning electronic digital computer. Colossus was used during the Second World War at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, where it played an invaluable role cracking enemy codes. Until very recently, much about the Colossus machine was shrouded in secrecy, largely because the codes that were employed remained in use by the British securit...