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Questions and Answers
What are the functions of a computer?
Computers are programmable machines that convert raw data into useful information.
What was a feature of first-generation computers?
What does the information processing cycle do?
It converts data collected from a customer order form into information used to fulfill the order.
The first electronic digital computer was known as the __________.
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Match the following early computers with their creators:
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Which computer was the first commercially available?
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Study Notes
Functions of a Computer
- Computers are programmable machines that transform raw data into useful information.
- The information processing cycle processes data collected and converts it into actionable information.
Evolution of Computer Hardware
- Early computers utilized vacuum tubes, similar in appearance to incandescent light bulbs, which generated excessive heat and were unreliable.
- First-generation computers were large and used manual switches for data processing.
First-Generation Computers
- Z1-Z3 (1936-1941): Developed by Konrad Zuse in Germany, these were mechanical, programmable computers that lacked government support and were ultimately destroyed during WWII.
- Atanasoff-Berry Computer (1942): Created by Professor John Atanasoff and student Clifford Berry at Iowa State College; although not fully functional, it led to a patent dispute with John Mauchly, establishing Atanasoff as the inventor of the electronic digital computer.
- Colossus (1944): Designed by Tommy Flowers in the United Kingdom for code-breaking purposes, used to interpret encrypted German messages; kept secret and destroyed after the war until revealed in the 1970s.
- Harvard Mark I (1944): Developed by Howard Aiken and programmed by Grace Hopper for U.S. Navy gunnery and ballistic calculations, operational until 1959.
- ENIAC (1946): First working digital general-purpose computer, created by Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania.
- UNIVAC (1951): The first commercially available computer, notable for predicting the outcome of the 1952 U.S. presidential election.
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Description
Test your knowledge of the fundamental concepts of computers with this quiz based on Chapter 1 of 'Visualizing Technology'. Explore the functions of computers, the evolution of hardware, and how data is represented in binary code. This quiz covers various types of personal computers and other computing devices.
