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Computer Facts & Worksheets

Computer is a programmable device that stores, retrieves, and processes data.

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A computer is a programmable device that stores, retrieves, and processes data. The term “computer” was first applied to humans (human computers) who did numerical calculations using mechanical calculators such as an abacus and slide rule. It was later applied to mechanical devices as they began to replace human computers. Computers nowadays are electronic devices that accept data (input), process that data, produce output, and store (storage) the results (IPOS).

See the fact file below for more information on Computer, or you can download our 32-page Computer worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

ETYMOLOGY

  • The word “computer” comes from the Latin word “computare”, which means “to calculate”, “to count”, “to add up”, or “to think together”. As a result, the term “computer” now refers to a “device that does a calculation”.
  • The Oxford English Dictionary first used the term “computer” in a 1613 book called The Yong Man’s Gleanings by English writer Richard Brathwait. He stated, “I haue read the truest computer of Times, and the best Arithmetician that euer breathed, and he reduceth thy dayes into a short number”. 
  • Until the middle of the twentieth century, the word had the same meaning. Women were frequently hired as computers in the latter half of this time since they could be paid less than their male counterparts. 
  • By 1943, the majority of human computers were female.

INVENTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTERS

  • Since the 1920s, the phrase “computing machine” has referred to any device that performs the function of a human computer, that is, that calculates using effective methods. 
  • With the introduction of electronic computing machines in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the term “computing machine” progressively gave way to simply “computer”, initially frequently with the prefix “electronic” or “digital”.

1936 – First Electromechanical Binary Programmable Computer

  • Originally known as the V1, the Z1 began development in 1936 in German engineer Konrad Zuse’s parents’ living room and is widely regarded as the first electromechanical binary programmable computer.

Universal Turing Machine

  • Alan Turing proposed the current computing paradigm in his seminal 1936 study, On Computable Numbers. 
  • Turing designed a simple device he dubbed the “Universal Computing Machine”, today known as a universal Turing machine. 
  • He demonstrated that such a computer could compute anything that anyone could calculate by executing instructions (programs) stored on tape, making the device programmable. 
  • Besides the limits imposed by their limited memory stores, current computers claim to be Turing-complete, which means they can execute algorithms like a universal Turing machine.

1941 – Turing-Welchman Bombe

  • During WWII, the Turing-Welchman Bombe machine was an electromechanical device to decipher Enigma-enciphered signals about enemy military actions. 
  • Alan Turing created the bombe to decrypt encrypted German signals. With the bombe, the Allies knew what the Germans were planning, allowing them to withdraw soldiers from risky situations and invade at the right time.

Z3 Computer

  • The Z3, an early computer designed by German engineer Konrad Zuse who worked in complete isolation from other advances, employs 2,300 relays, does floating point binary arithmetic, and has a word length of 22 bits. 
  • Zuse utilized the Z3 for aerodynamic calculations before it was destroyed in late 1943 during a bombing raid on Berlin.

1942 – Atanasoff–Berry Computer (ABC)

  • John Vincent Atanasoff is often regarded as the “Father of the Computer”. In the 1940s, he constructed the ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) with the help of one of his students, Clifford E. Berry, at Iowa State College. It was recognized as the first electrical digital computer.

First commercial digital computer

  • The Z4 was widely regarded as the world’s first commercial digital computer. Zuse Apparatebau, a business founded by early computer pioneer Konrad Zuse, created and built it. 
  • The Z4 was used to perform calculations for the Grande Dixence Dam.

1943 – Colossus

  • Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer, was built with a single goal: to aid in deciphering Lorenz-encrypted (Tunny) transmissions between Hitler and his generals during WWII.
  • Colossus was a group of computers created by British codebreakers between 1943 and 1945 to aid in the cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher. Colossus performed Boolean and counting operations using thermionic valves.

ENIAC

  • In 1945, ENIAC was the first programmable, electrical, general-purpose digital computer. Other computers had these features, but the ENIAC had them all in one package. It was Turing-complete and capable of solving “a vast class of numerical problems through reprogramming”.

1944 – Harvard Mark I

  • The Harvard Mark I, also known as the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, was a general-purpose electromechanical computer employed in the war effort during the latter stages of WWII. John von Neumann launched one of the first programs on the Mark I on March 29, 1944.

EDVAC

  • One of the first electronic computers was the EDVAC. Moore School of Electrical Engineering in Pennsylvania built it. It was the ENIAC’s successor, along with ORDVAC. It was supposed to be a stored-program computer, as opposed to ENIAC, and was binary rather than decimal.

1952 – IAS Machine

  • The IAS machine was the first electronic computer created at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study. It is frequently referred to as the von Neumann machine because the paper explaining its design was edited by John von Neumann, a mathematics professor at Princeton and IAS.

IBM 701

  • The first IBM computer, the 701, introduced in 1952, was intended for scientific work and research, which led to the invention of FORTRAN programming language. They also produced nineteen computers, a record volume for a computer at that time.

1953  – Manchester TC

  • On November 16, 1953, Richard Grimsdale and Douglas Webb, working under Tom Kilburn at Manchester University in England, demonstrated the “Manchester TC”, a prototype transistorized computer. Ninety-two point-contact transistors and 550 diodes were employed in the 48-bit machine.

IBM 7000 series

  • The IBM 700/7000 series was a line of large-scale computer systems produced by IBM throughout the 1950s and the early 1960s. The series contained various incompatible processor architectures. The vacuum-tube logic used in the 700s was rendered obsolete with the arrival of transistorized 7000s.

1965 – Programma 101

  • Almost 60 years ago, a small team at the Italian company Olivetti accomplished something no one had done before: they developed a computer small enough to fit on a desk and be used by ordinary people. 
  • Programma 101 was widely regarded as the world’s first personal computer.
  • Programma 101 was roughly the size of a typewriter and weighed around 65 pounds. It included 37 keys, a decimal selector wheel, an integrated printer, and 240 bytes of memory. 
  • It could conduct additions, subtraction, multiplications, and divisions and calculate square roots and absolute values of integers.

DDP-116

  • The DDP-116, designed by engineer Gardner Hendrie for Computer Control Corporation (CCC), was unveiled during the 1965 Spring Joint Computer Conference. It was the first commercial 16-bit minicomputer, with 172 units sold. The entry-level computer costs $28,500.

1974 – Altair 8800

  • The Altair 8800 is a 1974 microcomputer built by MITS based on the Intel 8080 CPU. Popular Electronics featured it on the cover of the January 1975 issue, and it was available via mail order through advertisements in the magazine, Radio-Electronics, and other hobbyist magazines.

1976 – Apple I

  • The Apple Computer 1, also known as the Apple I or Apple-1, was an 8-bit desktop computer released by the Apple Computer Company in 1976. 
  • It was initially released as the Apple Computer and was later known as the Apple Computer. Steve Wozniak conceptualized it. 
  • Wozniak’s friend and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs suggested selling the computer.

1977 – Apple II

  • The Apple II was an 8-bit home computer that was one of the world’s first mass-produced microcomputer products. Steve Wozniak was principally responsible for its design; Steve Jobs directed the creation of the Apple II’s foam-molded plastic case, while Rod Holt created the switching power supply.

1981 – IBM PC 5150

  • The IBM PC was the first microcomputer launched in the IBM PC model range and served as the foundation for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. 
  • It was designed by a team of engineers and designers led by Don Estridge in Boca Raton, Florida, and released on August 12, 1981.

1983 – Apple Lisa

  • Lisa was the first commercially available personal computer to use a graphical user interface (GUI). This made it a significant computing milestone since Microsoft Windows, and the Apple Macintosh would soon adopt the GUI as its user interface, establishing it as the new paradigm for personal computing. The Lisa included:
    • A Motorola 68000 microprocessor.
    • 1 MB of RAM.
    • A 12-inch black-and-white monitor.
    • Two 5.25-inch floppy disk drives.
    • A 5 MB “Profile” hard drive.
  • Lisa, particularly its graphical user interface, was inspired by prior work at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center.

1984 – Apple Macintosh

  • During the 1984 Super Bowl, Apple unveiled the Macintosh with a television commercial on totalitarianism in George Orwell‘s novel 1984. The advertisement depicted the downfall of “Big Brother”, a veiled reference to IBM, by the power of personal computing in a Macintosh. 
  • Based on the Motorola 68000 CPU, the Macintosh was the first successful mouse-driven computer with a graphical user interface. It cost $2,500 to buy. 
  • The bundle contained applications such as MacPaint, which used the mouse, and MacWrite, which showcased WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) word processing.

1985 – PC’s Limited Turbo PC

  • By 1985, Dell’s PC’s Limited company was producing Turbo PC IBM clones with an Intel 8088 microprocessor, 640 kilobytes of RAM, a 360-kilobyte drive, a 130-watt power supply, eight expansion slots, and the ability to connect to local area networks (LAN).

1987 – IBM Personal System 2

  • In part, IBM launched the PS/2 line to reclaim dominance of the PC market by introducing the robust yet proprietary Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) on higher-end versions. 
  • These machines were peculiarly incompatible with IBM-compatible hardware standards previously established by IBM and embraced by the PC industry. However, IBM’s earliest PS/2 computers were well received by target market corporate customers, and by September 1988, IBM had sold 3 million PS/2 workstations. 
  • It was barely 18 months after they launched the new line.

1998 – iMac G3

  • The iMac G3, previously known as the iMac, is a series of Macintosh personal computers produced by Apple Computer upon the return of Apple’s temporary CEO and co-founder, Steve Jobs, to the financially distressed business.
  • The iMac was a great success for Apple, reviving the firm and influencing the product designs of competitors. It contributed to abandoning outdated technologies such as the floppy disk, serial ports, and the Apple Desktop Bus in favor of the Universal Serial Bus. 
  • From 1998 through 2001, Apple updated the product line with new technologies and colors, finally superseded by the iMac G4 and eMac.

2000 – Apple G5

  • The Power Mac G5 is a series of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. as part of the Power Mac series from 2003 to 2006. When it was introduced, it was the most powerful computer in Apple’s Macintosh lineup, and the company marketed it as the world’s first 64-bit desktop computer. 
  • It was also the first desktop computer from Apple to use an anodized aluminum alloy enclosure and one of only three computers in Apple’s lineup to use the PowerPC 970 CPU, the others being the iMac G5 and the Xserve G5.

USES AND IMPORTANCE OF COMPUTERS

  • Computers have a significant impact on our lives. Using a computer with an internet connection in everyday life has changed our routines. Examples of activities that can be done on a computer include listening to music, making money online, utilizing internet banking, using social networking sites, running an online business, and attending online classes.
  • Nowadays, computers are used in almost every industry. Everybody can use them to store and maintain accounts and employee information, manage projects, track inventories, and create presentations and reports. 
  • They facilitate communication with people inside and outside the organization by utilizing various technologies such as email.

Computer Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Computer across 32 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Computer, which is a programmable device that stores, retrieves, and processes data.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Computer Facts
  2. The First…
  3. Device for Society
  4. Decode the Message
  5. Computer Specs
  6. Computer History
  7. Binary Code
  8. Computer Devices
  9. Interview
  10. My Computing Device
  11. Poster Making

Frequently Asked Questions

Are laptops and PCs the same?

Laptops are personal computers that you can easily take with you wherever you go. They usually have the same capabilities as desktop computers, which means they can do things like run Microsoft Office and play movies.

What is a computer?

Computers are electronic devices that help you work with information. They can store it, find it, and change it into something else. You can use a computer to write papers, send emails, play games, and look at websites.

How many keys are on a keyboard?

Most keyboards have 101 keys, which are used for typing in letters, numbers, symbols, or functions.

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Link will appear as Computer Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, November 3, 2022

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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