Computer History

A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.

The abacus does not qualify.

Actually a computer is something that performs mathematical calculations.
The first computers were human:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer#History_of_computing

But still, the abacus probably doesn't qualify. But a human with an abacus would.

But a human with an abacus would.

That's like saying a person with a pen and a piece of paper is a computer.

That's like saying a person with a pen and a piece of paper is a computer.

Yes

Yes

No there human.

You don't seem to get that the term computer is older than the electronic machines we today call computers. Up to the early 20th century a computer was a human being. They were essentially made obsolete by the very thing that also took over their name, electronic computers.

But that doesn't change the fact that even today, a human doing calculations, be it with an abacus, pen and paper, or just with his brain, is computing and therefore is a computer.

A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.

Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century (1940–1945). These were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs). Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small enough to fit into a wristwatch, and can be powered by a watch battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". The embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are however the most numerous.

The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore computers ranging from a mobile phone to a supercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.

Try reading the next section of that wikipedia article.
"The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to a person who carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued to be used in that sense until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century onwards though, the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, describing a machine that carries out computations."

Try reading the next section of that wikipedia article.
"The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to a person who carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued to be used in that sense until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century onwards though, the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, describing a machine that carries out computations."

If I agree will you stop posting?

No of course not, but I'll stop hassling you on this subject.

No of course not, but I'll stop hassling you on this subject.

lol good for you! 

Teach: to help others learn
Teacher: a person who teaches.


Compute:make a mathematical calculation

Computer can be taken to mean "a Person who calculates". The fact that the word has been sodomized into the technical vernacular of PC techs doesn't mean that the word takes on that jargonism in general usage.

So I take it people can't compute then? when I say 2+2=4, it's sheer luck that I end up with the same result as a computer; sicne people can't compute.

Give me a break. "Compute" basically means to "calculate" so I take it that all cold calculating killers use a computer for the "calculating" bit?

Also if the Abacus isn't a computer I'd like to know why it get's a paragraph in my encyclopedia article for "computer".

Teach: to help others learn
Teacher: a person who teaches.


Compute:make a mathematical calculation

Computer can be taken to mean "a Person who calculates". The fact that the word has been sodomized into the technical vernacular of PC techs doesn't mean that the word takes on that jargonism in general usage.

So I take it people can't compute then? when I say 2+2=4, it's sheer luck that I end up with the same result as a computer; sicne people can't compute.

Give me a break. "Compute" basically means to "calculate" so I take it that all cold calculating killers use a computer for the "calculating" bit?

Also if the Abacus isn't a computer I'd like to know why it get's a paragraph in my encyclopedia article for "computer".

ok I stand corrected. Sorry BC and Pragma you were right.

[Moderator]

A PC and an Abacus if both left sitting alone with no Human intervention are not calculators or computers...

Pass the pipe.

A PC and an Abacus if both left sitting alone with no Human intervention are not calculators or computers...

Pass the pipe.

I agreed to seem more accessible.