Computer | Definition, History, Operating Systems, & Facts
Dec 20, 2024 · A computer is a programmable device for processing, storing, and displaying information. Learn more in this article about modern digital electronic computers and their design, constituent parts, and applications as well as about the history of computing.
Computer - History, Technology, Innovation | Britannica
Dec 20, 2024 · Computer - History, Technology, Innovation: A computer might be described with deceptive simplicity as “an apparatus that performs routine calculations automatically.” Such a definition would owe its deceptiveness to a naive and narrow view of calculation as a strictly mathematical process.
Computer - Technology, Invention, History | Britannica
Dec 20, 2024 · Computer - Technology, Invention, History: By the second decade of the 19th century, a number of ideas necessary for the invention of the computer were in the air. First, the potential benefits to science and industry of being able to automate routine calculations were appreciated, as they had not been a century earlier.
computer - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
A computer is a device for working with information. The information can be numbers, words, pictures, movies, or sounds. Computer information is also called data.
Computer science | Definition, Types, & Facts | Britannica
Nov 20, 2024 · Computer science, the study of computers and computing, including their theoretical and algorithmic foundations, hardware and software, and their uses for processing information. The discipline of computer science includes the study of algorithms and data structures and artificial intelligence.
Personal computer (PC) | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica
Jan 6, 2025 · Personal computer, a digital computer designed for use by only one person at a time. A typical personal computer assemblage consists of a central processing unit, which contains the computer’s arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry on an integrated circuit; computer memory; and various peripheral devices.
Mainframe | Definition & Facts | Britannica
Jan 7, 2025 · Mainframe, digital computer designed for high-speed data processing with heavy use of input/output units such as large-capacity disks and printers. Mainframes have been used for such applications as payroll computations, accounting, business transactions, information retrieval, airline seat
Digital computer | Evolution, Components, & Features | Britannica
digital computer, any of a class of devices capable of solving problems by processing information in discrete form. It operates on data, including magnitudes, letters, and symbols, that are expressed in binary code —i.e., using only the two digits 0 and 1.
John Mauchly | Biography, Computer, & Facts | Britannica
Jan 4, 2025 · John Mauchly (born August 30, 1907, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.—died January 8, 1980, Ambler, Pennsylvania) was an American physicist and engineer, co-inventor in 1946, with John P. Eckert, of the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the first general-purpose electronic computer.
Computer - Home Use, Microprocessors, Software | Britannica
Dec 20, 2024 · Computer - Home Use, Microprocessors, Software: Before 1970, computers were big machines requiring thousands of separate transistors. They were operated by specialized technicians, who often dressed in white lab coats and were commonly referred to …